Do you know you can hear a train before you see it or a plane approaching? You can tell when a storm is brewing and rain is coming. You see lightning before thunder because light travels faster than sound. I guess that goes without saying. My point is, what a wonderful gift of hearing. The Bible tells us that faith comes by hearing and hearing God’s Word( Rom 10:17). In First Kings 18:1 we find the story of Elijah and the pronouncement of rain. It hadn’t rained in over three years upon the land due to God’s judgment. Elijah was to tell the king that rain was coming. 1 Kings 18:1 (NKJV)-1 And it came to pass after many days that the word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth.” ( A side note: I believe we are seeing revival rain falling from the heart of the Father. Many say we are in a Third Great Awakening God let it rain, let it rain!). God makes a promise to Elijah that rain is coming. We see in verse 41-“It is the sound of the abundance of rain.” There was a horrible drought for over three years. This was devasting to an agricultural society. To hear that rain was coming was tremendously good news. What sound are you hearing?
The sound came before any evidence of rain. Was the sound the Word of the Lord? The Gospel sound comes before the manifestation of the Gospel. What do you do when you hear the sound? When God gives you a scripture to stand on? We see King Ahab going up to eat and drink and Elijah goes into prayer. 1 Kings 18:42 (NKJV)-42 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. We find in the book of James a scripture about Elijah. James 5:17-18 (NKJV)-17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. Sometimes we think God does miracles only for the elites and super spiritual. Elijah was a man of like passions just like us. He was very much human, yet God anointed him. He was a man who believed in God, a man who believed in His Word! A man or woman like us. God has anointed and filled us with the Holy Spirit. God doesn’t look for us to walk perfectly in faith. It is His grace and mercy that gets across the finish line.
God promised that rain was coming. So Elijah positioned himself in prayer. When we receive a Word from God, we can eat and drink- go on with our lives, or position ourselves in prayer. Let’s water the Word with prayer and thanksgiving for God gives the increase. Are you believing God for something but haven’t seen any results? Are you waiting for the manifestation? Maybe it is healing, finances, or something relational. Maybe you need direction or wisdom in a situation. What do you do? What position do you take? Do you complain and say God why me? What did Elijah do? He put his face between his knees and prayed. While Elijah was praying, he sent his servants to look for signs of rain. 1 Kings 18:43 (NKJV)-43 and said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” So he went up, looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.” Why didn’t Elijah go and not his servant? He wanted to stay in prayer, focused on the Lord and the Word that God spoke. It is like planting a seed and then digging it up to see if it is working( Mark 4:26-29). No, you leave it in the ground and let it do its work. So he commanded his servant to go look towards the sea for rain. How many times? It was seven times. Until the seventh time, did he see evidence of rain. There was no sign of rain at all before that. Elijah kept praying until the servant said, 1 Kings 18:44 (NKJV)-44 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.’ “ It looked like a cloud the size of a man’s hand but it wasn’t really. It had to be big to see it. It was just his perception. We get disappointed sometimes when we don’t see major results or a full manifestation like we want to.
Before the cloud came a sound of the abundance of rain. In the spirit, there is a sound. There is a Word from God. There is a promise that we are standing on and believing God for. Many times, and I have been there when we are looking for a manifestation of some sort. Elijah bowed his head not looking at the sky! He could have told the servant after three times, ” Look I’m going to go and see if there is rain coming.” No, he sent his servant to look even after seven times. We are feeling people and emotionally oriented.“I’ve got to see something or some confirmation”.Let us have someone else do the checking and let us stay focused on the Lord. We need to position ourselves in prayer believing and focusing on God’s Word. In regards to healing let a doctor do the checking and not you! You are bowing and giving place to the Word of God in prayer. Some think I need a doctor to confirm my healing etc. He can but you need to believe first the Word of the Lord. The sound comes before the cloud (Mark 11:24). Also in Mark 11:23, the saying comes before the manifestation.(Mark 11:23).
I’m sure there are many waiting for change, waiting for an answer to prayer. You’re standing on the promises of God. The Devil loves to pull us back into the soulish realm. To get us into works mentality and take things into our own hands. To get us into the sense realm and out of the Spirit. To get the attention away from the Lord and His Word( Heb 12:1-2). We can’t give up even after negative reports or standing in faith for any length of time waiting for an answer. “It is through faith and patience(endurance) that we receive the promises of God!“( Heb 6:12). Stop looking at the sky for a cloud and stay bowed before the Lord in an act of dependence upon Him in prayer. You heard the sound( 2 Cor 1:20) and now you pray standing and believing and thanking God. What did Elijah do next? He ran to Jezreel. It was seventeen miles from Mount Carmel. Ahab went in his Chariot before the rains would prevent him and Elijah supernaturally ran ahead of him. This was before the “The Flash”–Marvel Series. Keep running and pursuing God and doing what he has called you to do! Sometimes we need to get our eyes off ourselves and look to bless someone else.(Job 42:10).
1 Kings 18:46 (NKJV)-46 Then the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. God’s supernatural anointing came on Elijah. Notice he had to do something as well. ” He girded his loins. He pulled up his robe and tucked it around his waist so that he would not be hindered or trip while running. Why run you might ask. It was another supernatural sign of God’s power to Ahab who was a wicked king. Maybe also to lead him and his wife Jezabel to repentance. It could be that he wanted to be near when Ahab told his wife what had happened. 1 Kings 19:1 (NKJV)-1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. The rain came, and the drought was over. God had a great victory over the prophets of Baal. Elijah was running the race set before him. We can never give up and stop running the race before us. Too many times we quit and give up. 1 Corinthians 9:24 (NKJV)-24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. We run to obtain! Notice Elijah had to gird up his loins. We see a similar passage in First Peter. 1 Peter 1:13 (NKJV)-13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
Is there anything hindering you from running or keeping you from not giving up? Is it discouragement, a negative report, wrong counsel, or delay? Are you too focused on the manifestation or the answer? Are you distracted by all the noise of the world? Do what Elijah did. Follow Peter’s counsel. Take every negative thought captive ( 2 Cor 10:3-5). Gird your mind with the truth of God’s Word. Ephesians 6:14 (NKJV)-14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness. Keep looking at Jesus! Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)-3 You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. I like the scripture in Galatians. Galatians 5:7-8 (NKJV)-7 You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. It wasn’t Jesus or the Holy Spirit. Here we have Judizers( Gal 3:1, Gal 3:3) of the Law subverting these new believers, leading them back under the Law ( Acts 15:24, Heb 2:1). With false teaching, they cut in on their race of grace and faith( Eph 2:8). Faith comes and is maintained by hearing and hearing the Word of God. There is a lot of false teaching that can hinder your race. Watch and be sober-minded in what you watch and listen to. Do things that will build your faith and confidence in the goodness of God.
In closing: God is working on your behalf as you stand on His promises. There is the sound of an abundance of rain. Don’t quit. Keep running the race of grace and faith. Keep praying and thanking God for the answer. In due season you shall reap if you faint not( Gal 6:9). Even if you have been prayed for seven times. Even if it just looks like a small cloud- God is working. Even Jesus prayed twice for a blind man( Luke 8:23-25). Thank Him for the little results, the small miracles along the way. We are called to stand and run supernaturally the race before us. There are times of standing in faith and running in faith. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith( Heb 12:2). We have the victory!
In Christ’s love;
Brent and Linda Bushen
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P.S. I thank God for this message and I was greatly inspired by Teacher Javan Smith. I studied and made the message my own. It became a great revelation to me. I need to read this over and over. Amen!