The great contest between Yahweh and Baal here, if one can call it that, demonstrates more than what is obvious. The obvious part is that Baal is no god at all. He was purported to be the god of storms and lightning. But he was neither able to lift the drought nor answer the cries of these prophets to send fire on the sacrifice. Yahweh alone is God. This is made very clear in Yahweh’s response to Elijah. The other thing that this contest demonstrates is the nature of man-made religion. The display of religiosity by the prophets of Baal was worthy of Elijah’s mockery. They spent the whole day in a frenzy of shouting, dancing and cutting themselves all to invoke some response from their god. And it was all in vain. In contrast to this is Elijah’s simple faith-filled prayer to Yahweh. When Jesus taught us to pray, he told us not to babble on like pagans, thinking that we will be heard because of our many words (Matthew 6:7). Don’t denigrate prayer into a religious achievement or a display of spiritual ‘extreme sports’. God wants you to relate to him as a child. He wants you to be confident of his love and commitment to you. When you cry out to God, let it be as an expression of your faith-confident heart not an exercise in religious striving. Don’t use prayer as a way of getting to God. God is already with you. Address him as father as though you are sitting at his table. Don’t treat him like a disinterested distant deity. Honour God with your faith.
Thank God for his love for you and pray for what concerns you most right now.
Read 1 Kings 18
