“And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, and said to his servant, ‘Go up now, look toward the sea.’ So he went up and looked, and said, ‘There is nothing.’ And seven times he said, ‘Go again’” (1 Kings 18:42-43).
Elijah has a promise from God: it’s going to rain. He has pizza-ready faith and is expecting it to rain at any moment. He says to his servant, “Go and look for rain clouds forming over the sea.”
I can just imagine his servant would be a little hyped, and he’s greatly influenced by Elijah’s expectation. After all, this is Elijah, the one who gets his prayers answered; the one who called down fire from heaven. If Elijah said God would do it, then He will!
The servant goes and looks eagerly, but he comes back and says, “Sorry Boss... nothing.” However Elijah’s faith is strong and he replies, “Go, look again.”
Sorry Boss, nothing.
Go, look again!
Sorry Boss, nothing!!
Six times the servant goes and looks. Six times Elijah has a pizza-ready faith. Six times he takes his stand on the promise of Almighty God, and six times he hears the words, “There is nothing.”
These are the three little words that seem to be sent our way to signify the end of faith, and to cause us to quit on God and quit trusting in His promises. They really say, you can quit praying now, quit believing now, quit hoping, quit dreaming, quit praising, and quit trusting God now.
This is perhaps the most difficult part of any prayer battle we’ll encounter. It’s what the Bible calls a “fight of faith,” and it requires our persistence to battle through the obstacles while keeping our eyes on God. But I’ve learned that there are just no victories without persistence! Hebrews 6:12 says that the promises of God are inherited through faith and patience, or perhaps you could say, endurance. The race, my friends, is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but rather to the persistent!
In any case, persistence has nothing to do with manipulating God to move on our behalf, but has everything to do with making Satan lose his grip! Remember, Jesus taught that we should always pray and not lose heart when He taught on the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-5. This is not a parable about how you and I are supposed to relate to God. After all it would be a really bad example for Jesus to posture the Father as an unjust judge! Rather, this is a parable to teach us how we are supposed to defeat the unjust spiritual forces of darkness that stand in the way of what God has promised. And the way to defeat them is to be persistent: keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking, keep praying, and keep looking for your answer.
Eventually you will wear the enemy out, weaken his stronghold over your situation, and you'll see the manifestation of the promise of Almighty God!
Be persistent! As Elijah said “Go, look again...” again... again... again... again... again! If we pray according to His will, He hears us, and if we know He hears us, we know we have the petitions that we’ve asked of Him. Like a battering ram against the forces of darkness, our persistence pries the enemy's fingers off of God’s promises for us. So go, look again!
Photo credit: Unsplash/Ben White
