Today Is The Day That We Celebrate The National Day Of Prayer

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***PRAYERS FOR WAR IN IRAQ ANSWERED! I am so pleased that God helped us to mobilize over 2 million people to pray for the troops, our President, and the overall mission during the recent war in Iraq. The names of over 110,000 troops were submitted by their families for us to pray over. We are grateful that God answered our prayers for a swift resolution to this conflict, with a minimal loss of life on both sides. We pray for the families of those brave men and women who gave their lives during this conflict, and we continue to pray for those troops still in Iraq, as well as in Afghanistan, and bases both here in the United States and all over the world. May God richly bless them in their service to our country!

DAILY DEVOTIONAL THURSDAY MAY 1, 2003
(1 Kings 18:16-39, Isaiah 42:8)

So Obadiah went to tell Ahab that Elijah had come; and Ahab went out to meet him.

"So it's you, is it?--the man who brought this disaster upon Israel!" Ahab exclaimed when he saw him.

"You're talking about yourself," Elijah answered. "For you and your family have refused to obey the Lord, and have worshiped Baal instead. Now bring all the people of Israel to Mount Carmel, with all 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who are supported by Jezebel."

So Ahab summoned all the people and the prophets to Mount Carmel.

Then Elijah talked to them. "How long are you going to waver between two opinions?" he asked the people. "If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!"

Then Elijah spoke again. "I am the only prophet of the Lord who is left," he told them, "but Baal has 450 prophets. Now bring two young bulls. The prophets of Baal may choose whichever one they wish and cut it into pieces and lay it on the wood of their altar, but without putting any fire under the wood; and I will prepare the other young bull and lay it on the wood on the Lord's altar, with no fire under it. Then pray to your god, and I will pray to the Lord; and the god who answers by sending fire to light the wood is the true God!" And all the people agreed to this test.

Then Elijah turned to the prophets of Baal. "You first," he said, "for there are many of you; choose one of the bulls and prepare it and call to your god; but don't put any fire under the wood."

So they prepared one of the young bulls and placed it on the altar; and they called to Baal all morning, shouting, "O Baal, hear us!" But there was no reply of any kind. Then they began to dance around the altar. About noontime, Elijah began mocking them.

"You'll have to shout louder than that," he scoffed, "to catch the attention of your god! Perhaps he is talking to someone, or is out sitting on the toilet, or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened!"

So they shouted louder and, as was their custom, cut themselves with knives and swords until the blood gushed out. They raved all afternoon until the time of the evening sacrifice, but there was no reply, no voice, no answer.

Then Elijah called to the people, "Come over here."

And they all crowded around him as he repaired the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. He took twelve stones, one to represent each of the tribes of Israel, and used the stones to rebuild the Lord's altar. Then he dug a trench about three feet wide around the altar. He piled wood upon the altar and cut the young bull into pieces and laid the pieces on the wood.

"Fill four barrels with water," he said, "and pour the water over the carcass and the wood."

After they had done this, he said, "Do it again." And they did.

"Now, do it once more!" And they did; and the water ran off the altar and filled the trench.

At the customary time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah walked up to the altar and prayed, "O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, prove today that you are the God of Israel and that I am your servant; prove that I have done all this at your command. O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you are God and that you have brought them back to yourself."

Then, suddenly, fire flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, the dust, and even evaporated all the water in the ditch!

And when the people saw it, they fell to their faces upon the ground shouting, "Jehovah is God! Jehovah is God!"

"I am the Lord! That is my name, and I will not give my glory to anyone else; I will not share my praise with carved idols."

Today is the day that we celebrate the National Day of Prayer. For the child of God, EVERY day should be a day of prayer. We don't need the Federal government to give us a special day, to do what we should be doing already. My biggest concern with the National Day of Prayer is that God is forced to share the stage with all of the false gods of the world. I am sorry, but I find that not only offensive, but the God of the Bible will not share His GLORY with anyone! There is only ONE GOD, the God of the Bible. This reminds me of Elijah's challenge to the people of his day to CHOOSE WHO YOU WILL SERVE!

At the time this Biblical account is happening, there is a famine in the land. People were starving, looking everywhere for food. It is my opinion that we have a famine in our land today, only it is a spiritual famine. People are starving for the truth, and looking everywhere for answers to deal with day to day life. During Elijah's time, God's people were being blamed for many of the problems the people of that day were facing, much like in our society Christians are fair targets for every kind of criticism. In this politically correct time, it seems the only group you can get away with publicly condemning are those who profess Jesus Christ as their savior. The truth is, in Elijah's day, and in the age we live, it is God's people that keep society from completely melting down. We are the spiritual glue that holds society together. We would be living in total chaos without people who loved and served the Lord.

Just as Elijah challenged the people to choose which God they would serve, we have that same decision to make today. The choice in this passage of the Bible was between the false prophets of Baal and the God of Israel. Our decision today is the same. We can choose to serve the false prophets and gods of this world or the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ. Let me warn you, this is not a game, it is a real life decision that determines where we spend eternity. The sacrifice is not a bull, but our very lives.

The false prophets of this world claim they have the answers. They have the answers in the psychic hotlines. They have the answers in alcohol and drugs. They have the answers in money and material possessions. They have the answers in illicit sex with many partners. They have the answers in empty rituals, in idols. The only problem is, when you need them... there is no response. In times of trouble, these false prophets of this world are nowhere to be found.

Jesus Christ claims to be the way, the truth, and the life. He claims to be God. JESUS PROVED HIS CLAIMS. THEY WERE VALIDATED BY GOD ALMIGHTY WHEN HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD ON THAT GLORIOUS SUNDAY MORNING!!!! When He rose from the dead, all He said and taught was validated. He promised never to leave us or forsake us, and that promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost when He sent the Holy Spirit to indwell and empower believers. Millions of lives in the last 2,000 years have been transformed through a personal faith in Christ. Jesus is alive today and at the right hand of God, interceding for those who believe in Him!

I love you and care about you so much. Elijah challenged the people to "choose today who is going to be the God of your life and follow him." Jesus told us no man can serve two masters. There was only one winner that day on Mt. Carmel. The false prophets of Baal failed to produce their god, however the God of Elijah, the God of the Bible, answered by fire that day, and is still answering the prayers of His children. On this day that our nation celebrates prayer, we need to turn to the one true God, the GOD OF THE BIBLE. I will be praying today that you will make the only choice there is..... Jesus Christ... the Son of the living God!!!!

In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email at bkeller@liveprayer.com.

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