• "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12 Selected Devotion from Words of Hope for Today God has never lost a battle The other day the Lord reminded that He had never lost a battle. He reminded me that He was fighting my battles every time I was in sync with Him and trusting Him. I can fight my own battles but victory is not guaranteed or I can let Him do the fighting. He always wins. For a lot of people, every day is a battle. God has won those battles. He has won every day. He has created the days so we should rejoice and be glad in them. Nothing will ever be all perfect. There will always be some glitches and some hiccups but God has already seen them and He has a plan to fix all the mishaps and to make things right. I don’t know what battles you are facing today but I can say that you don’t have to face them alone. God has never lost a battle and we should invite Him into our battlefields. He has so much grace and mercy that sometimes He is there without our asking for His help. It is just amazing. He does want us to walk in faith and believe that when we entrust our battles to Him, He wins. God is going to win every battle you give Him. The victory might look different from what you expect but He will win. He has already won. Expand the vision of what God can do for you. Expect a victory that is like no other. Picture what your mind can’t see. Use faith to depict that triumphant picture and stick with faith. Your darkest moments in your most violent battles don’t compare to the bright days of victory that are ahead of you. Jesus did it all and He is giving you the victory. Stay in peace and stay encouraged. Trust the process and thank Him that He has you in the palm of His hand. You are going to make it and you are going to be more than fine. The current battles are no match to your ever-present God. He hasn’t lost a single battle in the past and He is not going to start losing today. The Lord said that in this world we would have tribulations but we should take courage because He has already conquered the world. Everything that will ever take place in this world was conquered by Jesus. Everything that happens in 2020 and that will happen in 2021 and in the years after that, was conquered by the Lord. Your deliverance might not be obvious today but it will come. The day of recognition is coming. The day of retribution is coming. The day of victory is coming. Knowing that and believing that, you can have a God celebration today. Don’t wait for the manifestation to have a celebration. Rejoice every day. Thank God that He never loses battles and He won’t lose yours. There is a shout of victory in Heaven. Adopt that shout and make it yours. Be in harmony with Heaven. Heaven sings of the victory of the Lord. Be of one accord and sing along. God has never lost a battle and He is preparing your victory as we speak. This week you might face some battles but remember that God has never lost a battle. Talk to Him about your struggles and listen to His comforting voice. He has won for you. Stay in faith! (Words of Hope for Today) “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
    1. Selected Devotion from Devotions by Chris I’ve lived through some very painful times in my life. Chances are that you have too. At one point, I couldn’t see a future for me. I struggled to live through the next minute. It took all my energy just to get through each minute, one by one, throughout the day. I didn’t understand why I was going through it. I cried out to God and He seemed distant and quiet. I felt alone, forsaken and that no one else could understand. It took time, but I made it through with God’s help. Now, when I see someone else going through something similar, my heart breaks with compassion for them. I reach out and offer comfort and strength to them. I also offer hope that they can come through on the other side with a full life ahead. I’ve learned God can use the darkest times in our lives so we can offer empathy and comfort to others in the future. Very few people in the Bible lived through as painful life as Joseph. He was betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, was falsely accused of rape, thrown in prison in a foreign land and forgotten about. We don’t get to read about his anguish though. We don’t get to hear him cry out to God. However, we do get to read his redemption. We get to see God fulfill a dream that for years felt beyond God’s ability to make happen. We get to see God restore his relationship with his brothers and father. After his father’s death, his siblings began to fear. As the story and book concludes, we read in Genesis 50:21, “‘So now, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and support you and your little ones.’ So he comforted them [giving them encouragement and hope] and spoke [with kindness] to their hearts” (AMP). God used the hardest time in his life to help him give comfort and encouragement to his brothers. 2 Corinthians 1:4 says, “He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us” (NLT). There is a biblical pattern of God allowing people to go through unspeakable pain without understanding why and then using them to comfort and encourage others down the road. Even at the end of Job’s suffering, God had him pray for his friends. If you’re going through the darkness now, I want to encourage you that there is hope and God will restore your life even though you can’t see it now. He will use this time for your good and the good of others. If you’ve just made it through, keep walking. Restoration and healing often take time, but God is faithful. If your period of pain is behind you, look for someone you can encourage and comfort. God uses what the enemy meant for evil in our lives to give strength and hope to others. You may be the only one who can truly empathize with them and the only one they will receive comfort from. Ask the Holy Spirit, our comforter, to partner with you in comforting others.
      1. Selected Devotion from Today Devotional Pray for Those in Authority  1 TIMOTHY 2:1-7 "I urge . . . that petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." —  1 Timothy 2:1-2 Along with the Lord’s Prayer, which we have been looking at in depth this month, many other Bible texts give us helpful insights for prayer in our everyday lives. In his first letter to Timothy, for example, the apostle Paul urges prayer for “all people,” accenting the need to pray for “those in authority” over us. Behind this direction lies Paul’s conviction that God has placed our leaders in authority over us (Romans 13:1). Remarkably, Paul wrote these words during the reign of the Roman emperor Nero, one of the most anti-Christian rulers of all time. But the advice to pray for ­rulers, both good and bad, wasn’t new. More than 600 years earlier, the prophet Jeremiah urged the exiles of Jerusalem and Judah to pray for the “peace and prosperity” of Babylon, where they were taken as captives (Jeremiah 29:7). When we pray for people in authority, we recognize God’s sovereign hand in our lives and our societies. We implore God to aid our rulers in governing with justice and equity so that everyone may live in the peace our Creator intended. By these prayers, we ask God to use us as his agents. Prayers for our rulers and leaders spring from our commitment to sharing Jesus’ love and mercy with our neighbors. Father, we trust you as the righteous ruler over all. Bless and guide those in authority over us. Use us as witnesses to your goodness and mercy. Amen.
        1. Selected Devotion from Streams in the Desert By L.B.Cowman; Jim Reimann "Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. "(Psalm 37:3) I once met a poor woman who earned a meager living through hard domestic labor but was a joyful, triumphant Christian. Another Christian lady, who was quite sullen, said to her one day, “Nancy, I understand your happiness today, but I would think your future prospects would sober you. Suppose, for instance, you experience a time of illness and are unable to work. Or suppose your present employers move away,and you cannot find work elsewhere. Or suppose—” “Stop!” cried Nancy. “I never ‘suppose.’ ‘The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want’ [Ps. 23:1]. And besides,” she added to her gloomy friend,“it’s all that ‘supposing’ that’s making you so miserable. You’d better give that up and simply trust the Lord.” The following Scripture is one that will remove all the “supposing” from a believer’s life if received and acted on in child-like faith:“Be content with what you have, because God has said,‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper;I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’”(Heb.13:5–6). -Hannah Whitall Smith There’s a stream of trouble across my path; It is dark and deep and wide. Bitter the hour the future hath When I cross its swelling tide. But I smile and sing and say: “I will hope and trust alway; I’ll bear the sorrow that comes tomorrow, But I’ll borrow none today.” Tomorrow’s bridge is a dangerous thing; I dare not cross it now. I can see its timbers sway and swing, And its arches reel and bow. O heart, you must hope alway; You must sing and trust and say: “I’ll bear the sorrow that comes tomorrow, But I’ll borrow none today.” The eagle that soars at great altitudes does not worry about how it will cross a river. selected
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            Jesus is the Rock of my Salvation Selected Devotion from Digging Deeper with God Lead Me to the Rock: Psalm 62 Is the Ground Shifting? Look to the Rock of My Salvation You know that feeling when things are shifting and changing, and you can’t quite get a handle on it? One solution to feeling out of control is to use an approach called grounding. I’d like to add an important step to that popular approach. We’re in the middle of a series on rocks. For some reason that makes me laugh. Rocks are mentioned a lot in the Bible! Hundreds of times, actually. I’ve been writing this series out of order, because that’s how life has felt to me lately: out of order. Not broken, but mixed up, unsettled, not quite right. You know that feeling when things are shifting and changing, and you can’t quite get a handle on it? My heart goes out to those of you who move every few years or who face ever-changing health or income challenges. They say that when you have a panic attack, one strategy is to look around and find 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste. This is called grounding. The point is to connect with something solid in order to help you feel less out of control. I’d like to add a 6th point: Fix your eyes on the Rock of your salvation. To give this series credibility, I gave it a name: “Lead Me to the Rock.” I couldn’t, after all, just call it “Rocks.” Who would read that? Maybe a bunch of geologists and paleontologists. But the Rock of the Bible is so much more than a clump of mineral to be examined. He is our fortress, our shield, our deliverer, and, in the person of Jesus Christ, our salvation. Ever tried to budge a boulder? Big rocks are heavy, sturdy, immovable. They are not going anywhere. That’s God for you. His promises are everlasting. This side of heaven, our days and even moments will shift and change. But God’s character and His gift of salvation for all who put their trust in Him is sure. It is sturdy and immovable. In Psalm 62:2 (ESV), David says, He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. Catch that last phrase: “I shall not be greatly shaken.” Why will David not be shaken? Because his trust is in the one sure thing: the promise of salvation in Jesus. I stood at the sink, washing the dishes that had piled up, and I talked with God–really, truly talked with Him. Thoughts came to my mind in the quietness, and the knot that had been in my stomach for two weeks disappeared. Calmed in His presence, my trust renewed, I felt settled, at peace. So, yes, when the world is spinning, look around for what seems solid: things you can see, touch, hear, smell, and taste. Add to that a Bible verse, a song, or a heart-to-heart talk with the Lord to remind you of the one sure thing: the Rock of your salvation. How will you ground yourself in the Rock of your salvation this week? Digging into God’s Word: Rock of My Salvation David’s life was replete with shifting and changing circumstances. Mighty warrior and king that he was, he knew the source of his strength and his salvation. You might sing or pray these scriptures out loud. 2 Samuel 22:47 (ESV) The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation. Psalm 62:1-8 (ESV) My Soul Waits for God Alone To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. 1 For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. 2 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. 3 How long will all of you attack a man to batter him, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence? 4 They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. Selah 5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. 6 He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. 7 On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. 8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah Digging Deeper: Rock of My Salvation Cherish this time with the Lord. Reflect on or journal about the following questions, listening for what God has to say to you. 1. What area of your life seems to be shifting or changing? Take time to consider what about the change is particularly unsettling to you. 2. Ask God to bring to mind ways He has helped you through change in your past. Did He bring friends to help you? Did He change your circumstances? Did God help change your inner being so that you could withstand the shifting sand? 3. What song or Bible verse can you bring to mind to remind yourself that God is the rock of your salvation? We often focus on our current circumstances and forget the big picture. There is no bigger picture than that of eternity. It is not a crutch to remind yourself of this. It is resting on one of God’s biggest promises. 4. What a promise to sing about! God is our rock and our salvation. Choose one or all of the songs to listen to, or come back to these songs throughout the week.
            1. Selected Devotion from Bible League International Today's Verse “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9 NLT Devotion It’s hard to see beyond the present moment. We can make educated guesses based on past experience, but our predictive powers are rather limited. We can’t say for sure what the future holds. This goes double for what the Lord has in store for those who love Him. The Apostle Paul says, “No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit,” (1 Corinthians 2:11). Although it’s true that Paul says, “And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us,” (1 Corinthians 2:12), it’s also true that we don’t know these things in their fullness. For example, we know that God has good plans for us in the present era. They are plans, as Jeremiah says, “for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope,” (Jeremiah 29:11). But who can say with certainty what the fullness of God’s plans looks like? Joseph was given two dreams about the Lord’s plans for him, but he had no idea they meant he would become second in command over all of Egypt. Further, we know that heaven awaits those who die in Christ. We know some of the basics about heaven from the Bible. But who can say with certainty what heaven will mean for us personally? We also know that a new heaven and a new earth awaits true believers. We know some of the details of what this new situation will be like. We know that we’ll have resurrection bodies and that we’ll be able to see the Lord’s face. But we know little about the fullness of the new situation. All we really know about the future is that God has a lot of very good things in store for us. There may be some trials and persecutions on the way from here to there, but the end result is good—very good. Our great God, who knew the end from the beginning, has perfect predictive powers; therefore, when we trust in Him we need have no fear of the future.
              1. Selected from The Worship Center 4 and 5 (continued) Number 4, it’s a different kind of love. Jesus said, “a new commandment I give you.” Jesus said He had a new commandment, which is to love each other, and then He gave a definition of what He meant. Why’d he have to do that? Because we all think we’re pretty loving, and some people take the loving in directions that the Lord was definitely not talking about, and using it to demand things from other people, and do some pretty messed up things. So, He said, “I want you to love people as I have loved you.” I need to remind myself how Jesus loved me. He loved me even though I didn't deserve it. He loved me even though I could do nothing for him in return. He loves me even though I paid nothing and he paid it all. He loves me enough to give me chance after chance, time after time. Jesus defines this love because he wants us to know this isn’t the ordinary kind of love we think about. He didn’t say to love people with our definitions of love, but with His definitions of love. We have it like, if you love me, you’ll let me have my way. If you love me, then you’ll agree with me and all my opinions. If you love me, you’ll give me all your money and your credit cards, too. So, Jesus is making sure we don't love according to our definition, but according to His definition. Number 5, it takes the Holy Spirit. This love isn’t just something that zaps us and suddenly we have it all together. He fills us with His love and then it begins to work in and through us. We become a work in progress. We’re going to be learning and we’re going to be growing, and He’s going to be manifesting himself in us until the day we leave this earth to go on to Heaven. It takes the Holy Spirit to love like Jesus. Why? Because it’s not in our nature to love like that. When we love like that, it changes our priorities, it changes our schedule. It changes our friendships and other relationships. It makes our lives different as we begin to love others the way Jesus loves us. This is SO key! You can be religious and not walking in this kind of love. In fact, some people, the longer they’ve been hanging around the churches, the more critical they are, the harder to get along with they are, the more prickly and petty they are. I mean, you can’t be fellowshipping with Jesus and end up getting meaner and nastier! That’s because Jesus changes and transforms our lives as we walk with Him. It’s not just about going to church services. We have to have that personal and daily relationship with Jesus, as we read His word. As we spend time in prayer. As we worship Him. As we walk with him in our day-to-day lives. Too many people have had their eternity changed but they haven’t got their mentality changed. They’re still acting out of their carnal old mindset, instead of letting the Lord transform them by the renewing of their minds. They still are critical or other people. Still bigoted and still bitter, and still grouchy. We don’t want to be people who trusts God for salvation but don’t trust him for transformation. I don't want to miss a move of God because I haven't developed in my love for what God is doing and who He is reaching. I don’t want to miss it when Jesus reaching out to people that we don't get along with and we disagree with. And, I pray that you’re not missing a move of God because you don’t want God to change your mind, or your attitude or your prejudices. I don’t want my attitudes to be an issue between me and Jesus, between me and the work He is wanting to do. With all the means we have today to reach people, to help people, to understand people, I wonder, how much more does our God have to do to get us to let Him work in our whole lives, in our whole hearts. I want to be one who says, “Lord, you want me to love these people, I’ll do it. If you want me to reach some people over there, then I’ll do that. I’ll love them the way you loved me.
                1. Selected from The Worship Center (continued) Number two, we need to love God and love other people. One of the religious people of His day asked Jesus, starting in Matthew 22:36, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Jesus said the most important thing is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul mind and strength, and the next most important is to love our neighbor as yourself. You’re a blessed person if you know who Jesus is and you love Him. You’re a blessed person if you have that love of God flowing from your heart to other people. Number 3, He wants to use you that way. There’s nobody in the body of Christ who can’t have that going on. He didn’t say that the most important thing is to be smart, or beautiful or handsome or popular or rich or powerful or any of that. We need just to realize day in and day out that God wants to use us, to use you and me, to show his love through. It’s not about how bad people are or how wrong they are, it’s about how great God is, and how He works through my weakness, through my flaws, through my imperfections. You don’t need to have it all figured out yet. You know you got saved. You know you’re not the same. You know you don't think the same. You know you don't talk the same, you know you don’t act the same, you know you don’t feel the same. You know that you feel the hand of God on your life. Because you know that much, you know enough to share Jesus with people. God is ready to use people who are available who will love Him and are prepared to reach other people. If you care about people, God will work through you move in your life in areas that you would have never imagined. God is working in the hearts of His people to fill them deeper with His love and then to bring it to the surface for all to see. What He’s wanting to do in these days is for His people to be serious about truly caring about people and loving them as Jesus loves us. Jesus said in John 15:12, "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you."
                  1. Selected from The Worship Center I believe the Bible is the real word of God, it's His message of love for us and hope and salvation. Reading and meditating on it will change your life. It reveals how God loves us so much. We have Jesus who is God in human flesh so we can better understand him and what He wants to do in our lives. Jesus says in John 13 verses 34 and 35, “I give you a new commandment. Love each other just as much as I have loved you. For when you demonstrate the same love I have for you by loving one another everybody will know that you're my true followers.” That’s what Jesus says will reveal that we are His true disciples. He says this is what we will be known for. It’s what Jesus wants us to be like, what we should be about. When you read the New Testament, God’s constantly bringing the church, Christians, back to the fact that this is what we should be like, this is who we should be. We can look around the religious world, at many in the churches and this isn’t what God intends us to be. By what they are saying and what they are doing, it’s clear that there’s a need for people to walk in the love like Jesus has for us. This is what we do and try to do. Jesus says, by this people will know you're walking with me. Not the kind of car you have, not the labels on your clothes and accessories. Not your income or job title. Not even your looks or social media followers. Above all else, we need more of the Jesus kind of love. That’s number 1.  There are a lot of issues that are important, a lot of doctrines people like to argue over, and theological positions that people might break fellowship over, but Jesus is saying over and above all those things, if you love the people in your circle, if you love the other people who love me, it will be plain and clear that you are a follower of Jesus. I have to tell you that right now, people don't know us for our love. That’s not what they think of when they think about Christians. Jesus has to tell us that we will be known by our love because that’s not really what we’re known for. They know us for what we’re against. They know us by our politics. They know us by our rules. They know us by who we accept and don’t accept. I think if you asked the people around us, what Christians are known for, what do you think about Christians, I think you’d hear all kinds of things, some good, some not, but probably you wouldn’t hear that we are so loving, so caring, so much like Jesus walking the earth. There is so much wrong with the world right now that we can’t do anything about. There’s a lot of things that need changing that none of us on our own can change. But one thing I can do is get better at letting God love people through me. If I want to demonstrate the presence of Jesus on my life, if I want to help create a hunger in them for the Lord, I can get better at intentionally letting Jesus love them through me. People like to argue against Christianity, against churches, against Jesus, against God, against the people of God, and you probably can’t win them over intellectually. But I believe that God is raising up a people who are so close to Jesus and so into His word, who are so full of the Holy Spirit, that people will know that Jesus is real because of the love, the caring, the peace that is flowing in their lives to those around them. That is what makes you so different from the world. Each morning, I can get up and ask the Lord to help me to know Him more, and help me to yield to Him more. Help me to love people like He does, and to love them with the love that He has loved me with. The world has gotten so hard so calloused, and even many Christians are hard and calloused.. in fact a lot of them are getting pretty mean! Our world is so lacking in the number one priority of the Kingdom of God, that even most Christians don’t realize it.
                    1. Selected Devotion from Word of Life Devotions A sound of abundance of rain (Scripture Portions: 1 Kings 18: 41-46; James 5: 16-18 When Elijah told Ahab that there was a sound of abundance of rain (KJV), there had as yet been no sound audible to the human ear. Elijah had only heard this sound by the hearing of faith – look up Galatians 3:2, and compare Psalm 25:14; Amos 3:7; Acts 22:9. 1 Kings 18 records two prayers that Elijah prayed: one was in public – for fire (verses 36-37), and the other was in private – for water (verses 42-46). In this study we shall look at Elijah on the mountain top, alone with God and praying for the showers to be poured out upon the thirsty land. What kind of prayer was this prayer? 1. IT WAS A PRAYER OF FAITH, FOR IT RESTED UPON GOD’S OWN SURE PROMISE When we pray we need to make sure that our petition is founded upon the promise of God, so that we are praying in accordance with His will. Without such a promise we may well demand things contrary to His will, which will therefore be presumptuous and not the prayer of faith at all. For 3 ½ years there had been no rain; now Elijah goes before the Lord and asks Him to send the rain. Upon what ground did he make this prayer? – upon the ground of God’s own sure promise – look up 1 Kings 18:1. God had said to Elijah, “I will send rain…”, and now Elijah asked Him to do that which was clearly His will. Answers to prayer are conditional upon our praying in accordance with God’s will. We can know His will and be sure of it, for He reveals it by His Word and by the Holy Spirit – look up 1 John 5:14-15, and compare Romans 8:26-27. Why did Elijah need to pray for rain if it was God’s will to send it? Because God had ordained that it should be so. Read Ezekiel 36:24-38, where the Lord promises to do a great many things, and then in verse 37 He says that He will do them in answer to prayer. 2. IT WAS A PRAYER OFFERED IN THE SECRET PLACE, AWAY FROM THE NOISE AND DISTRACTIONS OF THE WORLD Verse 42. What a relief for Elijah to get alone in the presence of God after all the noise and excitement he had experienced! – look up Psalm 46:10. But there is more to note here. The Lord Jesus frequently acted upon His own words in Matthew 6:6 – look up Luke 6:12. Prayer can accomplish so very much. How much? Ask James – James 5:16-18. 3. IT WAS A PRAYER WHICH WAS MARKED BY DEEP REVERENCE AND SINCERE HUMILITY Verse 42. Earlier in the chapter we see Elijah standing with the crowds on Carmel; now we see him before his God, down upon the earth with his face between his knees. We need to be filled with a new realisation of the majesty and holiness of God and of our own littleness and sinfulness – look up and compare Genesis 18:27; Isaiah 6:1-5; Daniel 10:8; 1 Peter 5:5-6. We may come before the Lord with holy boldness (Hebrews 4:16), but we must always come reverently and in deep humility. 4. IT WAS A PRAYER WHICH WAS DEFINITE AND TO THE POINT See what Zechariah 10:1 says. This is exactly what Elijah did; he only had one petition as he came before the Lord – “Lord, send the rain! Send the rain! Send the rain!” In the Upper Room they prayed for only one thing – the coming of the promised Holy Spirit (Acts 1:13-14). When Peter was in prison the church prayed for only one thing – his deliverance (Acts 12:5). See also Luke 11:5 and 11-13. Definite, specific prayers bring definite, specific answers! 5. IT WAS A PRAYER WHICH WAS INTENSE, EARNEST AND FERVENT Notice the words powerful, effective and earnestly in James 5:16-18, and compare Hebrews 5:7. Elijah’s prayer was also accompanied by fasting – 1 Kings 18:41-42. He could quite legitimately have joined Ahab in taking food and drink, but he did not do so – look up Matthew 17:19-21. Do we know anything about fasting? Do we know what it is to sacrifice time, pleasures and legitimate things in order to “pray through” and secure God’s blessing? 6. IT WAS A PRAYER WHICH WAS ACCOMPANIED BY WATCHFULNESS Look up Colossians 4:2, and compare Psalm 130:5-6 – then read 1 Kings 18:43-45. When we really pray in faith we should already be looking for the answer; even if time and again the reply is, “There is nothing…”, we should go on praying and watching until the answer comes. Would his servant ever forget it? But this also reminds us of one other characteristic of Elijah’s prayer: 7. IT WAS A PRAYER WHICH PERSEVERED UNTIL THE ANSWER CAME Elijah said to his servant, “Go again…again…again…seven times!” George Muller prayed for 52 years for two of his friends. How such perseverance shames us! – for notice, even Elijah’s prayer was not answered immediately – compare Genesis 32:26 with Psalm 40:1. Then we read: “Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on….” The kind of prayer which is described here and which God invites us to offer, is always answered abundantly – 1 Kings 18:45 “a heavy rain came on.” Closing Thought: Mark 11:22-24.  “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered.  “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”