"Elijah said to Ahab, 'Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of rushing rain.' So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; there he bowed himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees. He said to his servant, 'Go up now, look toward the sea.' He went up and looked, and said, 'There is nothing.' Then he said, 'Go again seven times.' At the seventh time he said, 'Look, a little cloud no bigger than a person's hand is rising out of the sea.' Then he said, 'Go say to Ahab, 'Harness your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.' In a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind; there was a heavy rain" (1 Kings 18:41-45).
Elijah was a prophet, and Elijah was a prayer warrior. He prayed what he proclaimed. When it was time to end the season of drought in Israel, You spoke it to Your prophet Elijah. "Surely the Lord does nothing, without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7). You told Elijah You would end the drought, and then You told Elijah to go prophecy it to the king (1 Kings 18:1).
When Elijah proclaimed his prophetic word that the rains would come, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. But many would say his job was done. The word of the Lord was decreed and declared; now it was time to look and see what God would do. But Elijah didn't just take his prophetic mantle and go; he bowed his knees and prayed. With his heart to heaven and his face to the ground, he passionately persisted in prayer until he saw the word of the Lord made manifest on earth as it was in heaven. And then the heavens grew dark and the mighty winds blew, as You tore open the skies with the abundance of rain.
These are the days of Elijah. You are pouring out the Spirit of Elijah upon the earth to prepare the way of the Lord (Malachi 4:5; Matthew 17:11). And part of the manifestation of this season is the marriage of prophecy and prayer. What is proclaimed will be prayed, and what is prayed will be proclaimed. "Elijah was a human being like us; and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest" (James 5:17-18).
Thank You for the seeds of Your words You sow in our hearts and speak through our mouths in our prophecies and prayers by the leading of Your Spirit. And thank You for choosing us to live in this coming time of the great harvest You're bringing forth in the earth in fulfillment of those prophecies and prayers. The kingdoms of this world will become the Kingdom of our God and His Messiah (Revelation 11:15).
Seedtime and harvest, prophetic proclamation and fervent prayer- in the marriage of prophecy and prayer, we will proclaim it and pray it, by faith before we see it with our eyes because we already know it in our hearts. "Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours' " (Mark 11:22-24). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
Please keep us in prayer and join us if you can for the Aldersgate 2001 Conference on Spirit-filled Living in Dayton, Ohio July 27-31 www.aldersgate2011.org where I'll be teaching on Friday. I'll also be going out in a few moments to Athens, GA tonight, July 28 to preach the Opening Message tonight at Pre-Confernece for the Rekindle the Flame Conference led by Rick Bonfim Ministries http://www.latterain.com/rekindle_the_flame.html
We'll be hosting An Evening with Heather Butler in Lexington, Kentucky Monday night August 1st, with her powerful gifting as a prophetic pslamist. Chapel at Cententary UMC, 2800 Tates Creek Rd. Please see our ministry calendar for details and other ministry opportunities coming up: www.messiah-ministries.org/calendar
