40. The Grace of Answering Prayer

40. The Grace of Answering Prayer

 

1 Kings 17: 8-16

 

8 Then the Lord said to Elijah,

9 “Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.”

10 So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her, “Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?”

11 As she was going to get it, he called to her, “Bring me a bite of bread, too.”

12 But she said, “I swear by the Lord your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.”

13 But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son.

14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!”

15 So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days. 16 There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.

 

▣ God told Elijah to go to Zarephath in Sidon.

It is said that he had commanded a widow there to look after Elijah (1 Kings 17:9), and Elijah went to Zarephath and met the woman, a poor man who did not have enough food to eat with her son.

Elijah must have been really sad.

She said that it is not humanly possible for them to ask for food from those who do not have enough to eat.

But the widow did as Elijah had said, and God protected the house so that the house did not run out of flour and oil.

Impossible things have been done.

Answers to prayers are entirely by God's grace.

 

1) Being able to pray is grace itself.

Prayer does not require thought and knowledge, but it is done by faith, and faith is the total grace of God.

It is the grace of God that we have faith.

 

17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ. (Romans 10:17).

 

The words of Christ have already been fulfilled in us.

Faith is the result of the Lord's Word working in us.

 

2) It is grace to receive answers to prayer.

People pray, but God answers them.

The answer is the total grace of God (Jeremiah 33:3), the answers to prayers are great and wonderful, and if you ask for anything, you can receive an answer (Mark 11:24). Even faith the size of a mustard seed becomes the power to move mountains (Matthew 17:20), the answer to prayer is grace, because greater and wonderful things are done than we ask.

 

1. It is grace that Elijah goes to Zarephath.

 

9 “Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.” (1 Kings 17:9).

 

God told Elijah to go to Zarephath.

Zarephath is a village belonging to the region of Sidon and is the hometown of Jezebel, the queen of King Ahab.

Jezebel's father was the king of Sidon and served Baal.

Baal came into Israel through Jezebel, and Elijah is running away from her while fighting the Baal. But God told Elijah to go to Zarephath.

She would never have wanted to go as a human being.

Nevertheless, it was only by God's grace that Elijah was able to go to Zarephath.

Because God moved Elijah's heart, Elijah was able to go to Zarephath.

 

The greatest grace of a Christian is to be present at the place of prayer.

We do not pray to receive grace, we pray because we have received grace.

 

2. It is grace that Elijah met her woman.

 

10 So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her, “Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?” (1 Kings 17:10).

 

Elijah's meeting with a widow at Zarephath was entirely by grace.

Without God's grace, Elijah could not find a widow.

 

1) Elijah meets a widow by chance.

As Elijah entered the gates of Zarephath, a widow was gathering firewood.

“They picked up branches” (1 Kings 17:10), and it was not a planned meeting at all.

It's an accidental encounter.

In that meeting, there is the grace of God.

 

2) Elijah meets the widow without knowing it.

She is referred to in the Bible as “a widow” (1 Kings 17:10).

Did Elijah know that the woman was her widow? She didn't know

She did not know and met her, but she said the woman was a widow.

She does not know Elijah, but she is by her grace that God has met them.

 

3) She met for a different purpose.

“Bring some water, that I may drink” (1 Kings 17:10).

She called Elijah, she did not know that the woman was the one who would take care of her, and she only offered her a sip of water to drink.

It is grace that God allowed them to meet even though Elijah thought differently.

 

3. It is grace to receive an answer.

 

15 So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days. 16 There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah. (1 Kings 17:15-16).

 

As he had told Elijah, he met the widow of Zarephath, and a miracle occurred that the flour in the cask did not dry up and the oil in the jar did not dry out.

Elijah's answer was pure grace for two reasons.

 

1) Elijah saved what could not be saved.

She asks Elijah to feed her to the widow.

She said that if she did that she would never lose her form.

Actually, it's not an easy word to say.

It is difficult for a human being to say that, as a prophet, she asks for the food that the people are determined to eat and die.

But she asked Elijah to the widow as God had told her.

Prayer is asking for what cannot be saved.

 

Of course, it is a right to seek what is available.

It is grace to ask for what cannot be saved.

In Mark 5, a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years touched the hem of Jesus' robe and she was healed.

Why did she secretly touch her hem without asking for her healing?

Because she was afflicted with an unclean disease of bleeding.

She couldn't come before the Lord, so she couldn't beg her proudly, but the Lord heals her with all her grace.

So are we now.

Even if you are unable to pray, if you ask for it, the Lord will answer you with grace.

Prayer is asking for what cannot be saved.

 

2) You have received a blessing that you cannot receive.

God answered, and the widow was blessed that the cask of flour and the jar of oil did not dry out.

Answering prayers is the grace and blessing of receiving what we cannot possibly receive on our own.

Answers to prayers are entirely by God's grace.

 

It is because we do not know the principle of grace that we pray but do not come to an answer and give up on prayer in the middle.

Prayer answers are not based on human abilities and methods, but on God's infinite grace.

You just have to have faith that trusts God.

 

Only the grace of the Lord who works with His unfathomable love and power beyond human thoughts is the basis for answering prayers. Amen