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Elijah's Prayer was Answered by Fire

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Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again." Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

(I Kings 18:37-38)

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King Ahab was the king of Israel. He did not serve God but instead he served idols. Through Elijah, God told Ahab that it would not rain on Israel for 3 years and 6 months.  Then all of Israel suffered a lot from the famine.

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To find Elijah, King Ahab searched the whole country.

But the army of King Ahab was not able to find Elijah.

God protected Elijah so they were not able to find him.

5

King Ahab called out all the ministers and ordered them to find water.

Among the ministers taking care of the palace, there was a person named Obadiah.  By the order of King Ahab, Obadiah was also searching for water.

The prophet Elijah appeared to this Obadiah.

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Obadiah recognized Elijah and bowed his head to him. "Aren’t you the prophet Elijah?"  "Yes, I am. Go tell your King that I am here."

The prophet Elijah told Obadiah to deliver his words that he wanted to meet King Ahab.

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Obadiah went to King Ahab and told him where Elijah was.

Ahab quickly went to meet with the prophet Elijah. Elijah was standing in the place where he had met Obadiah.

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Ahab met Elijah and said, "Are you the one troubling Israel?"

"It is not me. You are the one troubling Israel.

You did not serve God but instead you served Baal.

That is why this great trouble has fallen on to Israel."

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"I will suggest one thing. Gather all the Israelites on Mount Carmel.

Also, bring the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table."Elijah suggested a prayer match to determine who the real God is.

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Ahab accepted Elijah's suggestion.

Ahab gathered all the Israelites and the prophets of Baal and Asherah on Mount Carmel. Many Israelites gathered to witness this prayer match.

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Elijah suggested to the many 450 prophets of Baal:

"Kill a bull and put it on each of the altars.

You pray to your god and I will pray to my LORD to send down fire to the altar.

The god who answers by fire is the real God."

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The prophets of Baal started praying.  They prayed to Baal for a long time but nothing happened from the sky.  So, Elijah began to tease them.

"Maybe your god is sleeping so pray louder."

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The prophets of Baal ran here and there and prayed like crazy people.

Some people hurt themselves and kept on praying even though they were bleeding. But nothing happened from the sky.

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"Now, it is my turn to pray."

Elijah rebuilt the altar of God which was ruined.

He brought 12 stones which represented the 12 tribes of Israel.

He also dug a trench around it.

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Elijah cut a bull into pieces and set it on the altar.

Then Elijah poured water from the top of the altar.

The trench got filled with water.

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Elijah prayed to God on the set time for the evening sacrifice. "LORD, You are the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel. Please prove that you are the God of Israel. Prove that I am your servant and please show to this people that you are the one who ordered me to do all these things. LORD, answer my prayer. Let this people know that you LORD are the true God. Let them know that you are the LORD who is turning their hearts back again."

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When Elijah was praying earnestly, the fire of God fell down from the sky.

The fire burned the sacrifice, altar, wood, stones and soil then it dried up the water in the trench. Upon seeing that, all of the Israelites fell down to the ground and shouted, "The LORD, he is God! The LORD, he is God!"

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Elijah proved that God is the only true God.

This one and only true God sent Jesus as our Christ to save us.

We are the people who have received this special grace from God.

So from now on, we should believe that God is the true God and since we are the saved people of God, we should become people who have the faith which cannot be shaken.

(This is the sample conclusion provided by CTM.
Please feel free to change the conclusion to best suit the listeners of your sermon.)