Elijah’s Prayer For God’s Glory

by Chris Simmons

In I Kings 18:21, Elijah challenged both the worshippers of Baal and the children of Israel to make a choice, “If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” How discouraging it had to be for no one to answer! We then read in verses 25-29 how that Elijah gave Baal’s prophets the opportunity to show that Baal was God and nothing happened. Then Elijah prepared his altar in faith, dousing the wood and sacrifice with water until it flowed all around the altar.

We then read in I Kings 18:36-37 of Elijah’s humble prayer, “Then it came about at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, ‘O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that Thou art God in Israel, and that I am Thy servant, and that I have done all these things at Thy word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that Thou, O Lord, art God, and that Thou hast turned their heart back again.’” What was Elijah’s prayer about and what can we learn from it?

First, it was a prayer that all would recognize, reverence, and honor the Lord as the one true God of all.

This prayer of Elijah is a prayer of a humble man who simply desired that all would recognize and choose the Lord, as “the God.” God asked Eli why he honored his sons above Him and then admonished him, “for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed” (I Samuel 2:30). Will we honor our Father in heaven more than anyone or anything else in our lives?

Where is our honor for God? God asked His people in Malachi 1:6, “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?” Elijah understood the honor that God deserved and he prayed that God would answer his prayer so that He would be glorified. Jesus, the Son of God, taught the same thing in John 5:22-24, “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, in order that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” Do we honor the church Jesus died to establish? Do we honor the word God revealed Himself to us through?

Elijah’s prayer is very similar to King Hezekiah’s prayer in II Kings 19:15-19 when Rabshakeh was trying to intimidate the Jews and discredit their trust in God. “And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, ‘O Lord, the God of Israel, who art enthroned above the cherubim, Thou art the God, Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. Thou hast made heaven and earth … And now, O Lord our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou alone, O Lord, art God.’”

One day, all will give God the honor He so rightly deserves. Philippians 2:9-11, “Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” That day will be too late. We must choose today to truly honor Him as Lord God.

Second, Elijah’s prayer was a prayer for respect of God’s authority and the humility and conviction to only do what God’s word directs me to do.

It’s a prayer of humility where Elijah recognizes himself simply as God’s servant and that he recognizes and respects God’s authority in that he did what he did because God’s word directed him to. How do we know what we are directed to do by God? By what authority do we act? Do we practice that which we do not have divine law for (Matthew 7:21-23)? Are we free to do anything we please?

We must recognize from Elijah’s prayer that he didn’t do what he did for a show – to entertain others or to impress the people and redeem his own credibility. “At Thy word” (I Kings 18:36) should be our motto of life. Peter reflected that when Jesus gave him instructions that didn’t seem at first to be logical or rational from a human perspective – “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but at Your bidding I will let down the nets” (Luke 5:5). We need to also note Moses’ comments when dealing with Korah’s rebellion and his warning to get away from him because of the judgment about to come, “And Moses said, ‘By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these deeds; for this is not my doing’” (Numbers 16:28). God spoke directly with men such as Elijah and revealed His word to them, but now, God speaks to us through His written word and we must make the effort to know what His word calls for us to do. It takes diligent study. Do we respect “the oracles of God” (I Peter 4:11) and restrain ourselves to them? Jesus spoke of those who did “many mighty works” (Matthew 7:22) but did so not to please God and obey His commands for Jesus referred to such as those “who practice lawlessness.” That is, they could not say as Elijah did that they did what they had “done all these things at Thy word.” May we ever pray for such reverence and respect for God’s revealed word.

Third, it was a prayer for the rebellious that they would repent and turn to God.

A contrast to Jonah’s attitude toward the Ninevites in which he was disappointed when they did repent and God relented of the judgment He had originally pronounced against them. These prophets of Baal were truly Elijah’s enemies but we see his desire that they turn from their wickedness. His prayer was their hearts turn back again to God by His demonstrative response to his prayer. Jesus admonition to the church in Ephesus very much applied to the nation of Israel when He said, “Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you, and will remove your lampstand out of its place – unless you repent” (Revelation 2:5-6). This is the call of the gospel of Jesus Christ which began on the day of Pentecost when Peter, before commanding them to be baptized, called upon them to “repent” (Acts 2:38) of their sinful ways. In his second sermon, the inspired apostle Peter put it this way in Acts 3:19, “Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” What God needs from His servants is to do His bidding by doing everything we can to exhort those in the world to “turn from his way” of sin (cf. Ezekiel 33:7-10). It is God’s will that all return to Him and “come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9; cf. I Timothy 2:4). God said in Ezekiel 33:11, “‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways!’” Do we mourn over our enemies’ spiritual demise? Are we like Jonah who objected to God relenting of the punishment of the Ninevites because of their repentance in Jonah chapter 4? Or are we simply indifferent to the undone condition of those in the world?

Just two sentences and 63 words, Elijah’s prayer is a powerful reminder of our need to pray that God would be honored and glorified in the world today, that we would give great reverence and respect to what God has said and that we will persist in our prayers for those lost in sin that they would turn to God.