The gold medal was nearly his. Home favourite Matthew Hudson-Smith hurtled towards the finish line. Yet then, out of nowhere, a blur zoomed past. Zambian sprinter Muzala Samukonga suddenly found a furious burst of speed—from well behind the race leader—to snatch victory in Birmingham’s 2022 Commonwealth 400m sprint.
The crowd’s amazement quickly turned to shock and concern, however. Samukonga collapsed, vomiting and shaking violently. Dangerously exhausted, he was wheeled away for medical care.
The prophet Elijah knew that feeling too. He had just claimed a huge victory against false prophets who were leading Israel astray. “Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God,” he prayed (1 Kings 18:37), and fire rained down from heaven.
But then, as he asked God to end the severe drought, he couldn’t have looked less like a champion. He “bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees” (v. 42). Wearied and weak, Elijah huddled up like a small child. Yet Scripture describes this prayer as “powerful and effective” (See James 5:16–18).
Have you ever felt like Elijah, trying to pray when life’s race has drained you? Powerful prayers rise when we are weakest. For powerful prayers are not prayed by powerful people, but by weak people to their all-powerful God. In weakness, we entrust our needs to the One who can rain both fire and water from the sky (vv. 38, 45). God never lacks power.
By Chris Wale
REFLECT & PRAY
What weakness, exhaustion and need can you bring to God today? How does it encourage you to know that it is He, not you, who makes your prayers powerful?
Heavenly Father, I come before You just as I am: weak, worn out and in desperate need of Your loving care. Please work powerfully in my life today.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Ancient Near Eastern culture was predominantly polytheistic, with many gods or deities believed to coexist in a hierarchy, each with different powers. Baal was seen as a god of fertility and storms and was depicted as a warrior carrying a thunderbolt. The gods were also viewed as having human characteristics, such as needing sleep or going on journeys, which could make it difficult to get their attention. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah, therefore, taunts the prophets of Baal with their own beliefs—mocking their seeming inability to get their god’s attention—before demonstrating Yahweh’s supreme power in realms they’d claimed were Baal’s (fire, lightning, and storms).
Monica La Rose
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