Friday, April 17, 2015

This week we pray that God will send many

“ELIJAHS” TO “SIDON”

I have been sharing these thoughts around the world. But now I want to share them with you too.

Elijah prayed to the one true God that there would be no rain. By doing so, he was actually challenging the national religion and saying that his God was greater than Baal, the “god” who supposedly caused fertility by sending rain. Elijah’s prayer was also a challenge to King Ahab and Queen Jezebel who led their kingdom in Baal worship. After Elijah prayed, the Lord told him to go into hiding for some time. Later, God sent him to Sidon. The king of Sidon was the father of Queen Jezebel. Although Elijah’s life would be in danger in Sidon, the prophet obeyed and went. There, he ministered to a widow, and she gave him the food he needed. He even raised up her son after the boy died! (Read the story in 1 Kings 17.)

PRAYER

Great, mighty and awesome God, when I read the story of Elijah, I think of the conditions in the Muslim world today. The people are religious, but they have no knowledge of the only Savior. They even fear God, but they do not know that he loves them and offers them complete pardon through Jesus Christ the Lord.

Look upon them in your mercy, Holy God, for they follow a mirage that delivers neither water nor hope. They do not have the bread of life (1 Kings 17:12).

We pray that you will send them people like Elijah to minister to them in their dire need. Call men and women, fill them with courage and stamina, and send them to spread the Gospel.

As you sent Elijah to Sidon, the heartland of Baal worship, send modern-day “Elijahs” to the heartland of Islam. May your messengers be humble and audacious, modest and daring! May they declare your Word with clarity and simplicity. May they bring a great harvest of precious souls into the Kingdom of light.

In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Savior and King. Amen.

PROMISE

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them (Isaiah 42:16, NIV).