I HEAR THE SOUND OF A HEAVY RAIN!

  

The prophets of Baal were all dead, slaughtered after the fire of God fell on Mt. Carmel. Afterwards, Elijah told Ahab to “go, eat and celebrate, for I hear the sound of a heavy rain” (1 Kings 18:41).

The sky, however, was a bright blue, with no clouds anywhere. How could Elijah say such a thing? What he said was not based on what he was seeing with the natural eye, nor on what he thought might happen. Elijah was speaking by faith, saying what he knew God had told him would happen.

“I hear the sound of a heavy rain.” In the original language the word for “sound” is often translated in other passages to be “voice” and frequently “voice of the Lord” (Genesis 3:8). Elijah was not being presumptuous; he was not confessing something for which there was no basis. He had heard the voice of the Lord!

At the very beginning of this chapter, God told Elijah, “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.” The Lord’s word was still alive in Elijah’s spirit even though the sky was cloudless. Elijah knew what was about to happen because he had heard the voice of the Lord say it!

This is a colossal truth for all of us. When the Lord quickens a promise to you and His Spirit brings it alive in you, the combination of the Word and the quickening of the Spirit is God’s voice speaking to you. That’s the basis for you to step out in faith: “I hear the sound of a heavy rain.”

Presumption and wishful thinking are not a basis to step out in faith. God’s Word is true and when He speaks it into our heart and spirit, we then have the right to step out in faith.

Elijah heard the sound of God’s voice in the promise that took him to Zarephath, and from that voice he dared to step out in faith and declare, “The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil shall not run dry.” It was the same reassuring voice that said to him, “I will send rain on the land,” and it was with that confidence that Elijah could say, “I hear the sound of a heavy rain.”

The only problem with all of this was that there still was not a cloud in the sky! Elijah went to the top of Mt. Carmel and “bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees” (18:42).

This is the posture of an expectant mother about to give birth and it is also the spiritual posture of intercession. Elijah assumed the position of the persistent intercessor (*see note below) and said to his servant, “Go and look toward the sea” (18:43). The servant returned and said, “There is nothing there.” Six times the servant looked and each time he came back with the same report, “I don’t see anything.” On the seventh time the servant said, “A cloud the size of a man’s hand is rising from the sea” (18:44).

Elijah immediately sent a message to Ahab: “You’d better get in your chariot and get out of here before the rain starts and you get stuck in the mud” (18:44).

Today’s church seems to be quite strong with its teaching and understanding of faith but what happened to the prayer life that must accompany faith?  Large attendance must not be confused with power! May God forgive us for our lack of consistency in prayer.

 

Elijah went to prayer to show the nation that he was not something special but simply a man God was using. It is through prayer that we display our dependency on Him. Prayer is an act of humility and homage. “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit” (Isaiah 57:15, NIV).

“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops” (James 5:16-18, NIV).

  

As it started to rain, Ahab jumped into his chariot and headed for home (1 Kings 18:45). And then something unique happened. “The power of God came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel” (v. 46).

The literal rendering of the phrase “the power of God came on Elijah” is “the hand of God touched Elijah.” I believe the Lord was pleased with Elijah, and as a father would do with his son who has brought him joy, God reached out and put His loving hand on Elijah. The hand of the Lord is a symbol of power and as the hand of the Lord touched Elijah, he was so energized in the natural that he outran Ahab’s chariot for a distance of about twenty miles.

Could it be any clearer? Could it be any simpler? It was when Elijah came out of prayer, out of an intense period of intercession, that the power of God manifested itself by resting on him.

The hand of the Lord, the power of God, will not come to a prayerless church . . . it will not! We will not hear the sound of rain in our land until we humble ourselves and find our place in prayer! (See 2 Chronicles 7:14.)

Do we want to hear the sound of heavy rain?

*Definition of persistent intercessor — This is the prayer warrior who says, “I will not give up, I will not let go, I will not stop ‘asking, seeking, knocking’ until I see the fulfillment of that which God has promised!”