Hello and today we are continuing in our learning and our time in sharing the word of the Lord for 2023 – ‘your blessing is coming, pray through till breakthrough’. We are looking at 1 Kings chapter 18, how Elijah announced the word of the Lord in a time where there had been drought and famine for a little over 3.5 years and in that moment, he brought the word of the Lord. God said, I will send rain and Elijah heard in his spirit and said, I hear the sound of the abundance of rain but the next thing he did is he began to pray. He got on his knees, went to Mount Carmel and he began to pray but we need to highlight the next thing that happens. 1 Kings chapter 18, verse 43, it says this that, ‘Elijah said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” So, he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.”’ Obviously, Elijah was praying the prayer of faith because he was praying with expectation. He called the servant to go up and look in the direction of the sea to see if anything is happening in the clouds, sky, are the clouds coming? Anything happening? He was expecting that, God had given His word, he sensed it in his spirit, the sound of abundance of rain, now he has gone up to Mount Carmel and praying the prayer of faith, there is expectation if there is anything in the sky. His servant comes back saying, I don’t see anything. Can you imagine how disappointing that might have been for Elijah? First time, second time, third time, five times, six times, even seven times he is telling his servant, go and see. We don’t know how long each prayer session was. I am just speculating here maybe he prayed for an hour and he sent his servant to go see, nothing, another hour, go see, nothing, another hour, go see. In other words, Elijah persisted in this, he was not going to give up. There is a very important message for us, God has given us His word, we sense it in our spirit, we engage in the prayer of faith with expectation but we don’t quit. Just because it doesn’t happen within 5 minutes, just because it doesn’t happen within 1 or 2 or 3 hours. What do we do? We are going to pray through till breakthrough, till it happens, till it actually begins to happen, we are going to keep praying through and that is what James’s writing in James chapter 5, verses 16-18, he points us through to, he says, look at Elijah, he prayed the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. He said Elijah prayed earnestly, there was effective, fervent praying, there was earnest prayer that that got in to this whole thing. So, even though God has given us a promise, He expects us to engage in earnest prayer. He expects us to be fervent in our prayer till we see it happen. Not the casual, O Lord, thank you it is done, Amen, kind of prayer. Here is something we need to engage in until we see it happen. Why is it like this? We don’t know, but God has set it up like this, that we are as image bearers not only given the privilege to bear His image but we are also given the privilege of joining with Him, partnering with Him in His work here on earth. So, when God speaks a word, He is declaring this is what I want to see happen here on earth but I want you to co work with me, engage with me until it happens. So, we must persist in prayer, so pray through till breakthrough. Your promise and blessing are coming, pray through till breakthrough. Don’t give up, 7 times you are still there, until it happens. Let’s pray, Father, we pray that you will grace and empower us to pray through till we see the breakthrough, till we see the promise of God being fulfilled, thank you, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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