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Elijah prays for fire then rain

Elijah's prayers are answered.
Contributed by MYELLOVE
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During the third year without rain, the Lord told Elijah to go to King Ahab. <br/>‘You have not obeyed the Lord’s commands and worshipped false gods instead. Now tell all the people of Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel. Also bring prophets of the false gods Baal and Asherah, all 850 of them.’ – Slide 1
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So, Ahab called all the Israelites and those prophets to Mount Carmel. Elijah stood before everyone. He said, ‘How long will you try to serve both Baal and the Lord? If the Lord is the true God, follow Him. But if Baal is the true God, follow him! Bring two bulls. Let the prophets of Baal choose one bull, sacrifice it, and put it on their altar. But they are not to set fire to it. Then I will sacrifice the other bull. But I will not set fire to it. You prophets of Baal, pray to your god. And I will pray to the Lord. The god who answers by setting the wood on the altar on fire is the true God.’ – Slide 2
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The false prophets prepared their sacrifice and prayed to Baal from morning until noon. They shouted, ‘Baal, answer us!’ But there was no answer. <br/>Elijah mocked them shouting, ‘Pray louder! maybe Baal is thinking. Or maybe he is busy or traveling! Maybe he is sleeping so you will have to wake him! So the prophets prayed louder and with wild dancing. But Baal did not answer. – Slide 3
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It was now Elijah’s turn to get his altar ready. Then, to everyone’s surprise, he gave orders for 12 jars of water to be thrown on it. The meat and wood were soaked and the water filled the ditch around the altar. <br/>Elijah then prayed, ‘Lord, I ask you to prove that you are the God of Israel. Show these people that you are God by sending fire. Then the people will know that you are bringing them back to you.’ – Slide 4
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Suddenly fire from the Lord came down. It burned the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the ground around the altar. It also dried up the water in the ditch. When all the people saw this, they fell down to the ground. They cried, ‘The Lord is God! The Lord is God!’ – Slide 5
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Elijah said to King Ahab, ‘Now, go, eat and drink. A heavy rain is coming.’ <br/>Elijah then went to pray for rain. ‘Elijah said to his servant, ‘Go and look toward the sea.’ <br/>The servant went and looked. He said, ‘I see nothing.’ <br/>Elijah told him to go and look again. This happened seven times. The seventh time, the servant said, ‘I see a small cloud. It’s the size of a man’s fist. It’s coming from the sea.’ <br/>After a short time, the sky was covered with dark clouds. The wind began to blow. Then a heavy rain began to fall. <br/>King Ahab got in his chariot and headed home. The Lord gave His power to Elijah so he could run ahead of the King all the way to Jezreel. – Slide 6
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Many years later, when Elijah was old, God took him up to heaven in a chariot of fire. A prophet called Elisha was chosen by God to continue his work of telling people what God wanted them to hear. – Slide 7
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