Say + Hear + See
Happy Hump Day!!
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. (Romans 10:17) Outside of hearing the Word of God, it's important to hear yourself say some things. "Your flesh needs to hear your spirit say somethings." If no one else speaks faithfully over your situation, you should be able to do so...it's necessary!
"You cannot hear what you don't speak"
1 Kings 18:1, 41-45 NLT
18 Later on, in the third year of the drought, the Lord said to Elijah, “Go and present yourself to King Ahab. Tell him that I will soon send rain!” 41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go get something to eat and drink, for I hear a mighty rainstorm coming!”
42 So Ahab went to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and bowed low to the ground and prayed with his face between his knees.
43 Then he said to his servant, “Go and look out toward the sea.”
The servant went and looked, then returned to Elijah and said, “I didn’t see anything.”
Seven times Elijah told him to go and look. 44 Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.”
Then Elijah shouted, “Hurry to Ahab and tell him, ‘Climb into your chariot and go back home. If you don’t hurry, the rain will stop you!’”
45 And soon the sky was black with clouds. A heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm, and Ahab left quickly for Jezreel.
1 Kings 18 starts off letting us know they were in year 3 of a drought and that God was going to send rain soon. Between verses 18 and 41, there's basically a situation where (God and) Elijah are proving to Ahab that Baal is powerless and God is Omnipotent. Of course, God proved Himself and Ahab no longer wanted to harm Elijah. I enjoy reading those kinds of moments in the Bible where people look down on God and He gets the chance to prove who He is to them; similar to King Nebuchadnezzar from Daniel 3.
We see here that Elijah tells Ahab to prepare himself because a mighty rainstorm was on the way. Could you imagine if verses 19-40 didn't happen? I highly doubt Ahab would have even given Elijah the time of day. He had to get things and people in order first.
Verse 42 kind of hints that Elijah's words were faith words; He spoke them because that's what God said to him. He didn't see any rainclouds coming. He told his servant to go check for clouds seven times. This is also a sign that Elijah really believed God and I'm sure he would have sent his servant seven more times if he had to until even a piece of a cloud, whether it was the size of a man's hand or whether it filled the sky, was seen.
There are some dry areas where it appears to be no growth. To hear rain is coming is one thing, but to see it is another thing. Sometimes faith requires a walk.
There's a requirement and a demand from us when we're expecting or waiting for something. Earth was just as dry as it was the day before, but just hearing God's words alone gave Elijah the fuel he needed to make moves and put people in the right position, even himself. I'm sure Elijah said some mighty prayers while he was on Mount Carmel with his head between his knees as his servant kept coming back saying he didn't see anything.
Faith without works is dead. Keep walking until God says stop walking, even if it's uncomfortable.
They waited three years for rain. Elijah wasn't sitting all those three years. He had some instructions; things to do, people to see, etc. Waiting doesn't just mean to be seated and put things on pause, it also means to get up and serve.
Speak what you see even if it isn't what you expect it to look like. Don't box Him in with your expectations.
What is it that we are expecting from God?
Do we believe He will do it?
Will we accept it even if it isn't packaged how we expected?
We should make every effort not to miss the move just because it's different/not what we're used to.
How does rain work?
When it gets tough and we are heavy with all of what life gave us to collect, what do you release in the atmosphere?
Romans 10:9-10 NLT
9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.
The word is in your mouth. If you don't speak it, you won't hear it, and you won't see it.
The Faith Test:
2 Cor. 13:5 MSG
Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it.
When it's just you, who are you going to turn to?
If you fail the faith test, do something about it. || Go to the Word of God.
We can't rely on what it appears to look like. You know how when you're looking at a tall hill, it can look like a ledge or cliff because you can't see what's on the other side of it? The vision I saw relating to this was a race car on a track and it looked like the road was cutting off, and when it ran off the road at full speed, it didn't wreck because there was more road beyond the hill.
#FaithInAction
