5 Ways to Experience God's Life-Giving Rain on Your Dry Faith
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“And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, ‘As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word’” (1 Kings 17:1).
Israel was in crisis because of God’s judgment on their sin. The people had been led away from God by the wicked King Ahab and his wicked wife, Jezebel. In order to get their attention, God instructed the prophet Elijah to call for a national drought. And for over three years not one drop of rain fell on the land.
It’s hard for us to imagine just how much life gets turned upside down when there is no water. We may get glimpses during occasional storms that cause extensive damage and power outages. Unless there’s a generator in the house, a power outage knocks the water out. You can’t flush toilets, can’t take a shower or wash clothes. You are made “house bound” because you don’t want to go anywhere stinking and having bad breath! And unless you have a hand pump well, you will need to have gallons of water in storage just to drink and cook.
When storms knock out the water to our homes, it’s inconvenient and stressful for a time. But those inconveniences pale in comparison to what it was like for the people of Israel during this drought.
Israel was an agrarian society. Without water, their crops wouldn’t grow, their livestock wouldn’t survive, and food would be exceedingly scarce. People would become chronically dehydrated, get ill and die. Wild animals would fall dead in the field. Everything would be brown and shriveled up.
And although the Scripture doesn’t go into much detail, we can presume that dust and cracked earth extended as far as the eye could see; rivers became trickles and lakes mere puddles. People turned to fighting and theft, just to survive. Neighbor rose against neighbor, doing things they wouldn’t ordinarily do.
Everywhere was simply barrenness and hopelessness. People expected to die, and to watch as others died, because there was no end in sight.
Experiencing Our Own “Drought”
Most of us can’t relate to that kind of famine and drought, but all of us can relate to a “dry season.” These are times in our lives which are somehow different, and we feel it deeply, inside our minds, hearts and emotion. There is a kind of barrenness, maybe even hopelessness in our spirits.
Perhaps a spouse seems like a distant friend instead of a confidant and lover. Perhaps it’s a dry season in our finances, where nothing seems to be working out in a beneficial manner. Or maybe it’s a dry season in our careers, when the work is no longer fulfilling,
And at times, a dry season can even happen in our relationship with God. We don’t feel His presence like we once did, our prayers don’t seem to connect with heaven and we’ve lost our first love. This is not a drought of physical water, but living water.
In Scripture, rain is often used to represent the breakthrough of God’s blessing of living water into our lives, in such a profound and substantial way, that it is like a heavy downpour. Whether we realize it or not, quite often our personal prayers actually consist of “God, let it rain over my life, over my family, over my health, over my finances, over my kids and grandkids, over my job, my church, and everything that concerns me,” and yet, it seems we stay in drought.
Keys to Experiencing God’s Rain
After 3 1/2 years of drought, Elijah had become Public Enemy #1 in Israel. But God says, it’s time to give my people an opportunity to come back to Me. So Elijah calls for a showdown on Mt. Carmel with the prophets of Baal to demonstrate whose God is actually the true God (1 Kings 18:16-39).
The challenge was simply, the prophets of Baal would build an altar, and Elijah will build an altar, and the God that answers by fire… is God.
Of course, Baal did not respond, but the Lord God did. The people’s eyes were opened, they quickly repented, and revival broke out in the land as they returned to God.
Destroy “Baal”
Elijah quickly directed the execution of all the false prophets who led the people to worship Baal. And this is the first key to experiencing the rain of God in life – get rid of the things which led you astray.
In our modern society, “Baal” is any obstacle in our lives that is standing in the way of our relationship with Christ. It’s doors we have opened that have allowed the enemy access into our lives, or which have blocked the blessing that God wants for our lives. It’s anything that has invited unwanted messes into our circumstances, and led to the seasons of drought we experience.
I believe we don’t hear as much about “holiness” in the body of Christ as we used to. As a result, we are dismayed and confused when we experience spiritual drought, and neglect to quickly repent in order to receive God’s forgiveness to bring the rain of His blessing once again.
The admonitions of Scripture to “be holy even as [He is] holy,” and to “come out from among them and be separate,” still remain for believers, regardless of any alternative message that claims we can live as we please. When we allow “Baal” to work destruction in our lives (because we have refused to destroy these deeds of the flesh), it chokes off our “earnest” praying and reduces us to “timid” prayers. That is, we tend to beg God for help instead of believing God for His promises.
Pray Based on God’s Promises
Notice the confidence that Elijah has in making this declaration in the midst of a 3½ year drought.
“Then Elijah said to Ahab, ‘Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain’” (1 Kings 18:41).
Why should he have such confidence? Because Elijah remembered he had a promise from God (1 Kings 17:1). God’s promise was the foundation of his prayer for rain, and it is vital for receiving God’s blessing when we pray.
God is not obligated to fulfill our will and our wishes, even though He delights to grant us good things, as we have all likely experienced. But God has obligated Himself to perform His will and fulfill His promises. It’s part of His nature. It’s who He is.
If we have a promise from God that we find in His word, we can know with confidence that God will answer our prayers.
“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:14-15).
If God has promised it and we have done our due diligence in prayer, faith and obedience, then God will bring it to pass.
Embrace the Power of Prayer
“So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees…” (1 Kings 18:42).
Anyone who has been in a delivery room will recognize this birthing position. When a woman goes into labor and experiences significant contractions, she instinctually positions herself head downward, into order to push the baby to delivery.
We birth the promises of God in a similar way. We experience “contractions” in the spirit with what God is saying, but we usually must embrace the power of prayer to bring it to delivery. Prayer is when you push the promise through the obstacles, past everything that is holding it back. Prayer is when you invite God into the fight and break through to blessing.
Prayer is not some weak attempt by the feeble-minded to cope with circumstances. It’s the powerful place we run to in order to give life to God’s promises, break the power of drought and pierce through the clouds of darkness so God can deliver the rain.
If you are pregnant with the promise of God, assume the birthing position and embrace the power of prayer.
Expect God to Answer
“And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, and said to his servant, ‘Go up now, look toward the sea’” (1 Kings 18:42-43).
Years ago, Domino’s pizza was all the rage – pizza in 30 minutes or less! We started the stopwatch, set the table, got the cash ready, and stood by the window. We fully expected them to keep their marketing promise. We took them at their word without any real relationship to them. Yet oftentimes, we don’t place the same trust in God that we do in the pizza delivery boy.
Jesus says, when you pray, believe that you receive (Mark 11:24). The heroes of the faith expected God to deliver His promises. By trusting God, Noah kept his family safe in the ark, elderly Abraham fathered a child, Joseph was raised to a palace, and Moses split the Red Sea. Mary, a virgin, bore the Messiah, Peter walked on water, and Paul escaped death numerous times!
Just like our actions show that we believe our pizza is on the way, we must demonstrate our faith that we expect that God’s answer is on the way. When you pray, believe that you receive, speak with confidence that He is faithful who has promised. Expect a miracle. Expect a breakthrough. Expect a sudden change for the better.
Persist Until You See the Promise
“’Go up now, look toward the sea.’ So he went up and looked, and said, ‘There is nothing.’ And seven times he said, ‘Go again’” (1 Kings 18:43b).
Elijah had a promise of rain from God, and he expected it to happen at his word. So he said to his servant “go and look for some rain clouds in the sky over the sea where the storm is going to come from.” His servant watched Elijah call fire from heaven, so he went. And he went. And he went again… If Elijah said God will do it, then He will.
Six times the servant went, six times he expected, six times there was nothing to see on the horizon. This is the most difficult part of every prayer battle, the fight of faith, and it is won by persistence.
In fact, I would argue there are no victories without persistence. The promises of God are inherited through faith and patience, or endurance. The battle is not always won by the strongest; the battle is won by those who last the longest!
Like in the parable of a persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8), just keep asking. Keep seeking. Keep knocking. Keep praying. Keep looking. Just persist!
“Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, ‘There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!’ So he said, ‘Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’ Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain” (1 Kings 18:44-45).
If you are in a dry season, destroy any Baals that may have crept into your life. Find a scriptural promise of God and embrace the power of prayer. Then be persistent. God is faithful, watching over His word, waiting to perform it. Even when you see no sign of rain in your drought, stay expectant and trust that He hears you. And He will answer with a heavy downpour of living water on your marriage and family, health and finances, and everything that concerns you.
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/torwai
