Reciting some holy words isn’t all there is to prayer. Prayer is a conversation. We talk and God talks. He wants us to hear Him. Sometimes it’s hard work to listen. Active listening takes a quiet mind and an expectant heart. Active listening isn’t easy.
I’d like to parallel a time in Elijah’s life and ours. Elijah’s life around the time of 1 Kings 19 isn’t comfortable. The Powers of the Day are King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel. They worship Baal. Given that Elijah worships, hears, and obeys the true God he exposes Baal as a false god on Mount Carmel and has Baal’s priests killed. Ahab and Jezebel’s response is to hunt down Elijah to kill him. Elijah is on the run, depressed, and wants the Lord to end his life. The Lord tells him to go to Horeb, the mountain of God. Elijah obeys. He stays in a cave. God tells him to stand on the mountain because the Lord is about to pass by. Then winds, earthquakes, and fire happen. Elijah is exposed to powerful and extreme elements.
We pray. We listen. We do our best and what happens? Tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and devastating fires happen. Catastrophes happen!
So is Elijah’s experience any different than ours? Whether we experience wind, shaking, or fire figuratively or literally it’s not! It’s what happens next that gives us hope. Elijah steps to the cave entrance because he hears a gentle whisper (NIV) / sheer silence (NRSV). Now he knows that the Lord is passing by. The Lord comforts Elijah and directs his next steps. In your own devotional time or during our Prayer Vigil on Good Friday actively listen to the Lord, who comforts, sustains, and shows us the path of real life.
