Elijah & the False Prophets

May 18, 2014 Series: The Old Testament

Passage: 1 Kings 18:17-37

Friendship:

How have you experienced disagreements over your faith?

CLASHING WORLDVIEWS

How do you conform your will to reality or how have you expected reality to conform to your will? Read 1 Kings 18:17-21. Where have you experienced the kind of disagreement that Elijah had with Ahab? In your own words, what do you think it means to “limp” between two different opinions?

Everyone has an ultimately desirable goal (maybe just not articulated). What motivates your passion? And what loss threatens your dreams?

WHAT MOVES YOU TO EXTREMES?

How have you experienced idols promising peace but delivering only exhaustion or imprisonment? What has proven over time to move you to extremes (e.g. workaholics, excessive pursuits of pleasure, etc.)? Read 1 Kings 18:22-37a.

Why are the prophets of Baal – in their extreme patterns of harming themselves – not necessarily primitive? How have you been just like them? In vv. 30-32, when Elijah rebuilt the altar of the LORD – using 12 stones – why was that act a gesture of hope? In his obedience and leadership to soak his sacrifice and altar with water, how was that a move of radical faith? Self-reliant, you’ll do anything to prove you’re not impotent, but understanding sin, you know the LORD is the only One who can do anything to save you. So how have you lived either denying His goodness or crediting His provision to others (even your own efforts)? Confess your pride and unbelief to Jesus, asking Him to forgive you and soften your heart.

THE LORD’S SOVEREIGN WORK

How was God’s holiness revealed as He answered Elijah’s prayer? Read 1 Kings 18:36-40. As He displayed His power, how did He do even greater displays of power in Christ? And as Elijah prayed for God’s turning of the peoples’ hearts, how has God given us an even greater hope of turning our hearts by the gift of the Holy Spirit?

What was the significance of God accepting Elijah’s offering? How was Jesus the greater offering of Atonement that the Father accepted? Why is it significant that Elijah rebuilt the altar of the LORD? And by His resurrection how did Jesus prove His power to repair what had been torn down?

We need to trust both aspects of Grace – His external display (Jesus’ works & resurrection) and internally turning your heart (His outpoured Spirit). So how do you need for Jesus to work in your heart to help you repent, or trust the LORD, or to grow in your courage?

Prayer:

  1. Worship the LORD for His authority and trustworthiness. Praise Him, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that by His works and provision He does what no one else can possibly do.
  2. How have you lived either denying His goodness or crediting His provision to others (even your own efforts)? Confess your pride and unbelief to Jesus, asking Him to forgive you and soften your heart.
  3. Give thanks to Jesus for the miracle of His solving the threats of your guilt and ruin. Thank Him no one compares to Him being the offering of Atonement that the Father accepted and by His resurrection repairing what had been torn down!
  4. Who do you know that lives to extremes, driven by their self-reliance? Ask the Lord to make known to them the vanity of their efforts to be self-saved and that they would come to know Jesus in His holiness.
  5. Ask the Spirit to give you a greater sense of your heart turning toward Jesus and not away. Pray for courage to be faithful to Jesus even if the majority of people around you are given over to false gods.

More in The Old Testament

November 23, 2014

The LORD: Generous & Unchanging

November 16, 2014

Accused, Redeemed Ambassadors

November 9, 2014

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