33. The Proclamation Prayer

33. The Proclamation Prayer

 

1 Kings 18: 41-46

 

41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go get something to eat and drink, for I hear a mighty rainstorm coming!”

42 So Ahab went to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and bowed low to the ground and prayed with his face between his knees.

43 Then he said to his servant, “Go and look out toward the sea.”

The servant went and looked, then returned to Elijah and said, “I didn’t see anything.” Seven times Elijah told him to go and look.

44 Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.” Then Elijah shouted, “Hurry to Ahab and tell him, ‘Climb into your chariot and go back home. If you don’t hurry, the rain will stop you!’”

45 And soon the sky was black with clouds. A heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm, and Ahab left quickly for Jezreel.

46 Then the Lord gave special strength to Elijah. He tucked his cloak into his belt[a] and ran ahead of Ahab’s chariot all the way to the entrance of Jezreel.

 

 

▣    A person of prayer is a person whose miracles are common sense.

Prayer always makes miracles happen.

Elijah was a man of miracles who received answers to whatever he prayed for.

Christians living today are also people of miracles who receive answers to their prayers.

 

It was a time when Israel was suffering because it had not rained for three and a half years.

When the prophet Elijah prayed earnestly that it would rain, a wonderful miracle of heavy rain occurred.

 

1. We must listen to the word of God proclaimed.

 

Later on, in the third year of the drought, the Lord said to Elijah, “Go and present yourself to King Ahab. Tell him that I will soon send rain!” (1 Kings 18:1).

 

Elijah's prayer is not just a wish.

It is a prayer.

Wishes and prayers are different.

My wish is what I ask for, and prayer is the fulfillment of what God has promised.

Elijah heard the word of God and prayed.

Prayer is hearing and asking God's Word.

The secret of answered prayer is right here.

 

In Acts 16, the apostle Paul saw a vision of God in Troas and went to Europe. He prayed on the shores of Troas until God-given faith came.

He prayed until he heard a voice calling for help from Macedonia.

Following God's guidance, he went to Philippi to preach his gospel.

But he was imprisoned while preaching the gospel in Philippi. By the way, even in prison, he did not despair and prayed.

It was because he had heard that it was God's will to come to Philippi and preach the gospel.

When he believed the Word and prayed, a miracle happened when the prison doors were opened.

 

The apostle Paul testified of the power of the gospel wherever he went.

He experienced miracles in which the way of salvation was opened, the prison doors were opened, and the sick were healed. He proceeded with confidence in everything.

 

 2. He must believe and proclaim God's answer.

 

41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go get something to eat and drink, for I hear a mighty rainstorm coming!” (1 Kings 18:41).

 

Elijah believes God's word that it will rain and tells King Ahab to go up and eat in peace.

When we believe and proclaim the answer, two works occur.

First, God's work takes place. When we believe in the answer to prayer and proclaim it with words, God's work will happen.

 

23 I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. (Mark 11:23).

 

A Christian's word is a confession of faith in God.

God's work is entirely the work of faith.

When Christians confess their faith in God with their lips, God's work takes place. Christians have the power to believe in God's work and confess and proclaim it with their mouths. Because the Christian's words are a declaration of faith.

 

In Mark 7, there is the story of a Canaanite woman who had a daughter possessed by a demon.

The Lord rejects the woman's request to heal her to test her faith.

Then she says even the dog eats the crumbs that fall off her master's clothes, she says.

The Lord says he has never seen such a faith on earth.

A declaration of faith has the power to work.

 

Second, work happens in those who pray.

Words have power.

Words that are prayed and proclaimed in faith have power.

Words move those who speak, and they move those who listen.

 

Declaring faith in language reveals power.

The most dominant of the nerves is the speech nerve.

Words have the greatest impact on the human brain than what we see with our eyes, feel with our ears, and hear with our ears.

Emile Coue's self-suggestion study on the treatment of patients with the same disease name divided into two groups

The results are very impressive.

One group was treated only with drugs.

Another group was given the drug and received treatment for 30 minutes a day, declaring “I am cured” and “I am completely cured”.

What was the result? It is said that the group treated with verbal declarations had a much higher therapeutic effect.

 

3. Proclaiming prayer is speaking for God.

 

27You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows to him.

28 You will succeed in whatever you choose to do, and light will shine on the road ahead of you. (Job 22:27-28).

 

Peter Wagner said that there is supplication and proclamation in prayer (Dominion, WLI KOREA), supplication is based on the words, “You will pray to him, and he will hear” (Job 22:27).

The proclamation is based on the words, “Whatever you choose to do”

(Job 22:28).

He said, "When we proclaim, we don't ask God to do something," he said.

 

Richard Foster said:

“We are called to do the Father's will on earth. We should speak for God rather than speaking to God. We should not tell God what to do, but use His authority to command something to be done.” Amen