40 Days of Purpose Preview
What on Earth Am I Here For?
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Sunday, September 21, 2003
My Prayer Today
Heavenly Father, Thank You for this new day of life, when I have the opportunity to worship and praise You together with brothers and sisters through Your Son, Jesus. I pray that as we gather in Your name that You will pour out Your Holy Spirit upon us. As we continue to prepare our hearts, minds and spirits for the 40 Days of Purpose, I pray most of all that Your purpose for my life and all our lives would be made abundantly clear. I pray that we may focus fully on You and Your great grace and salvation this day and everyday. Then our worship will naturally flow to You as a response of gratitude. I ask all these things in the strong name of Jesus, and for the sake of His coming Kingdom! Amen.
Bible Verses
1 Kings 19:30-39
30Then Elijah called to the people, “Come over here!” They all crowded around him as he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been torn down. 31He took twelve stones, one to represent each of the tribes of Israel, 32and he used the stones to rebuild the LORD’S altar. Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold about three gallons. 33He piled wood on the altar, cut the bull into pieces, and laid the pieces on the wood. Then he said, “Fill four large jars with water, and pour the water over the offering and the wood.” After they had done this, 34he said, “Do the same thing again!” And when they were finished, he said, “Now do it a third time!” So they did as he said, 35and the water ran around the altar and even overflowed the trench. 36At the customary time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. 37O LORD, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.” 38Immediately the fire of the LORD flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the ditch! 39And when the people saw it, they fell on their faces and cried out, “The LORD is God! The LORD is God!”
Reflecting on Worship
As you see it, what is necessary for a person or a group of people to truly worship the Lord?
Exploring Worship
What did Elijah do to prepare himself and the people for worship?
From the reading what kind of relationship does it seem that Elijah had with God?
What was the result of Elijah’s prayer?
Understanding Worship and My Purpose
What do we learn about the nature of worship from today’s reading?
What made Elijah’s prayer so effective?
Applying Worship to My Daily Life
What do you learn about worship from today’s reading that you can apply to your life right now?
Elijah and Worship
In today’s Scripture reading we find Elijah finishing up a “worship contest” between himself and the prophets of Baal. The prophets of Baal had been shouting and screaming to their god all day. Elijah had already determined the “rules” of the contest. Each group would cry out to their God, and the God who answered by fire was the one true God. The Prophets of Baal and Asherah outnumbered Elijah 850 to 1. Even so, their cries for Baal to rain fire down from the sky had gone unanswered. Now it was Elijah’s turn. Elijah’s prayer is brief and simple, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. 37O LORD, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.” As with David’s confidence in facing Goliath, Elijah faced the challenge of the worship contest with confidence—not in himself—but in the living and true God of Israel! As we go about our days, it doesn’t matter how much faith we have—what matters is in whom we place our faith and trust. As we go about this day miracles are waiting to happen. All we have to do to see them in our lives is trust that God CAN and WILL respond to our prayers of faith, to our worship, to our commitment to Him. The world is waiting to see the power of God once again, and thankfully God still has “the stuff.” May we trust Him enough to see it regularly!
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