Elijah Knows the True God

Many people who had once loved and served God had now become very wicked. They even made a false god named Baal and started praying to it. This made it ok to do anything they wanted, they could be as evil as possible and it was ok with their god and they liked being bad. Do you ever like being bad? These people were stealing, lying, fighting and it was all ok with their false god, because it wasn’t real. They just pretended it was.

One day Elijah who loved God and wanted the people to love and serve HIM again decided to prove to the people that their god was nothing but a statue. It could have looked like this one. So Elijah made a contest for HIS God and theirs.

He said make an altar, kind of like a fire pit. Make one using the ring and rocks. Now they were to put wood in it and meat to cook. Now came the contest of the gods. Call to your god and tell him to light the fire and cook your meat.

That sounded fine to everyone, for a while anyway. The people that served Baal, the false god made their altar and started praying and then shouting and dancing and yelling. But of coarse there were no answer and certainly no fire, they continued for hours and hours. Then Elijah said maybe he is napping or away on a trip maybe he needs you to wake him up, he knew there was no one to hear but he was teasing them. So they yelled louder and fell on the ground and wiggled around jumping yelling trying to get their fake god to hear, but NOTHING of course. After all day Elijah said ok my turn.

Everyone gather around me I am going to call on the true God. When all the people were gathered around him he took 12 stones and made an alter then put on the wood then the meat.

Then he did something VERY STRANGE he told the people to get 4 buckets of water and dump it on the wood. Has anyone ever seen anybody dump water on the wood or charcoal if they want to make a fire? Well Elijah wanted the people to see just how powerful his God is. So he didn’t stop there he had them fill the 4 buckets up again and again and then dump more water filling up a trench he dug out around the alter.

Then he began to pray to the real God, not yelling just praying. Do you pray to God? Do we have to yell? Do you think HE hears us?? Elijah said: Lord God let these people know that you are the true God and I am your servant let them know so they will serve you again.

SUDDENLY fire came down from heaven; it burned up the meat, the wood, the stones and even licked up all the water.

When the people saw all this, they dropped to their knees afraid and cried out. The Lord, He is God, the Lord, He is God.

Elijah was happy that God had answered his prayer quickly and that the people knew who the true GOD really was.

Can anyone think of a time you have prayed and God answered your prayer?

Would anyone like to pray for someone or something right now?