Powerful prayer

Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again." Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!" – 1 Kings 18.37-39

The contest dragged on all day. Baal’s prophets had done all they could do. The prayed and cried out and yelled and cut themselves to try to get Baal’s attention – and nothing.

So then Elijah stepped up. He prepared the altar. Then he had the altar and the sacrifice and then had twelve barrels of water poured on top of the whole thing soaking the animal and the woods and wetting the rocks until a trench of water filled up around it.

And then he prayed this simple prayer. No shouting, no crying, no cutting, no begging – he just prayer a simple little prayer. Twenty-eight little words was all he prayed. He wanted the people to know that the Lord was God and that He turned the hearts of the people back to him.

And God answered in a mighty way. He sent down a fire so hot it burnt up the sacrifice, the wood and the stones of the altar, and even licked up the water in the trench.

And the people acknowledged the Lord as God.

Talking to God doesn't have to be long or eloquent or deep or profound. It doesn't have to be loud or dramatic. Elijah simply talked to his God, and his God answered.

And the wonderful thing is that our God is the same God who answered Elijah’s prayer. He is just as willing to answer our prayers as He was for Elijah. We can pray with the same kind of confidence that Elijah did assured that God will answer.