Open your Bibles to 1 Kings. Just want to let you guys know this is a message that I have given to high school students in this church.  I want to let you guys know that we don't water down the Gospel that we give our full attention to the Word of God and we expect Him to do great things when we study God's word.  And if you have any questions about that, ask anyone of these students here in the front, they'll tell you that we love to study the Bible.

So before we do that, let's just pray.  God, we trust that you have something to say to us tonight.  We trust that you want to speak.  Lord we pray for anybody here who doesn't know you; we pray that tonight would be a night that they surrender entirely.  Lord we pray for those of us who are here who have had long weeks, who have had distracting days; we pray that you would encourage us, you would lift us up, we ask that you meet us.  In Jesus name and everyone here said.

Amen.  Does God hear your prayers?  For how long and how often do you pray?  When you pray, is it in a somewhat religious or even ritualistic manner, or are you offering specific prayers to God that are written in his promises?  What promise in God's word have you left unclaimed or even forgotten about?  Are your prayers rooted in the promises, the covenants of God in his past achievements, in your faith in him that he can do immeasurably more than you can ever ask or even imagine?  And finally are you quick to receive the indications of a coming blessing or an answer to prayer?  These are all questions that I had to ask myself today and yesterday as I prepared this message.  And some of them I'll admit are uncomfortable.  Some of them I don't want to answer.  But I ask you tonight, my friends, some of you are my family, the students here, I ask that you would quietly in your heart ask yourselves in a serious manner the same questions as we study tonight.

Turn in your Bibles to 1 Kings 16; we're going to start there.  I find it important that we get a little bit of background that we find our bearing so to speak in God's word before we study.  So look at 1 Kings 16.  Look at Verse 29 with me if you will.  "Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel; and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria 22 years.  And now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him.  And it came to pass that though it would have been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as a wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and he served Baal and worshiped him.  And he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria."  Listen closely, "And Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger more than all the kings of Israel who were before him."

We find ourselves in a portion of Israel's history where king after king after king have been evil or done evil on the sight of the Lord.  And we get to a portion where it doesn't just mention Ahab the king, it mentions his wife. This is the first time in first kings in the records here that it mentions the queen.  This woman was not very nice.  If somebody calls you a Jezebel, ladies, that's not a good thing.

She brought in idolatry into Israel.  Many would say that you could attribute the corruption of the nation at this point to her.  So we find ourselves in Israel on a very difficult time and it says that he provoked God to anger.  God didn't just wait very long, he dealt with it very quickly.  Look at Verse 1 of Chapter 17, "And Elijah the Tishbite, and the inhabitants of Gilead said to Ahab, "As the Lord, God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain in these years except by my word." 

Elijah comes into the court of Ahab and he says, "On behalf of the Lord God of Israel, it's not going to rain, there's going to famine in the land until I say differently."

God doesn't put up with idolatry, it offends him.  And he sends his prophet Elijah which is the study that we've been doing in our vertical high school ministry.  We've been studying this prophet's life and he sends him in boldly to say, "It's not going to rain until I say differently."  Look at Verse 5 on Chapter 17, "So he went and he did according to the Word of the Lord for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into Jordan.  The ravens brought him bread and meat in the evening, and bread and meat in the morning, and he drank from that book.  And it happened after awhile that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land."

God tells Elijah, "Go to the brook Cherith," he was there for several months.  And God supernaturally provides for this prophet.  He supernaturally gives him food and drink and he did it in a very interesting way.  He had birds bring Elijah food morning and evening.  Look at Verse 8 with me Chapter 17, " Then the Word of the Lord came to him saying, "Arise, go to Zarephath which belongs to Sidon and dwell there.  You see I have commanded a widow there to provide for you."  And so he arose and he went to Zarepeth.  Elijah gets up being supernaturally provided for by God and God gives them a command.  Imagine this Elijah is in prayer most of this time.  He is praying for no rain and it says that the brook dries up, God's answering his prayers.  He is trying to get the attention of the nation of Israel.  And then God says, "Elijah get up, go to Zerepath.  You're going to meet a widow there, she is going to be providing for you.  I've given her to provide for you."

And he gets there and sure enough he meets a widow and her son and even there God supernaturally provides for them.  He fed them, he multiplied their food.  They would wake up and there would be more food and more food and God took care of his prophet.  And I believe that Elijah during this time was still praying, he's still praying, "God don't let it rain.  We need to get the attention of your nation”.

In Chapter 17 Verse 17 something terrible happened while he was there.  Read with me, "Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman who owned the house became sick.  And his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in him.  So she said to Elijah, "What have I to do with you, O man of God?  Have you come to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?"  And he said to her, "Give me your son."  So he took him out of her arms, carried him into the upper room where he was staying and laid him on his bed.  He then cried out to the Lord and said, "O Lord my God, have you also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge by killing her son."  And he stretched himself on the child three times and he cried to the Lord saying, "O Lord my God, I pray let this child's soul come back to him."  Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah and the soul of the child came back to him and he revived.

Elijah asks for something that we haven't seen so far in scripture.  He asks for the impossible.  He gets alone with God and he says, "God please bring this child back to life," and God rewarded his faith.  He rewarded his asking for the impossible.  After that, look at Verse 1 on Chapter 18, because we're just kind of comb through to get our bearings here.  And it came to pass that after many days about three years, the word of the Lord came to Elijah on the third year saying, "Go, present yourself to Ahab and I will send rain on the earth."  Beginning of Chapter 18, this is the beginning of one day the entire chapter of 18 of 1 Kings is one day.  So keep that in mind as we study tonight. 

God says to Elijah, most likely in one of his prayer sessions he says, "Go, present yourself to Ahab.  I'll send rain on the earth."  He makes him a promise, that promise is conditional, he has to be obedient.  He has to present himself to Ahab.  So Elijah did very much of that.  Look at Verse 17 with me if you will of Chapter 18, "Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah", Elijah is being obedient, he is going to see Ahab.  Ahab says to him, "Is that you O troubler of Israel?"  And he answered, "I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have."

"In that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals.  Now therefore send and gather all of Israel to me on Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."  The king of Israel sees Elijah coming at a distance and he says, "Is that you O troubler of Israel, you trouble maker, this is your fault."  And I love the prophet's response.  He says, "I'm not the trouble maker, you are the trouble maker.  You've forsaken God."  And he with authority says, "Gather the nation and meet me at Carmel" Ahab obeys.  Look at Verse 21, "And Elijah came all to people" speaking to the nation keep this in mind.  And said, "How long will you falter between two opinions?  If the Lord is God follow Him; but if Baal, follow him."  And the people answered him not a word.

He looks at the nation, he stands before the people and with authority he says, "How long will you stumble between two opinions?  How long you're going to go back and forth between two Gods?  You can't serve two masters."  And the people didn't answer, so he makes a proposition.  In Verses 23 and 24 this is his proposition.  "We'll get two bulls and two altars, your prophets they'll set up their altar, I'll set up mine.  What we will do is this, you call upon your gods I'll call upon the Lord.  And the God who answers by fire, He is God." 

And I love what Verse 24 says.  It says, "The people responded it's well spoken."  In other words they said, "That's a great idea," when Elijah calls them out on their sin and their idolatry it says they answered him not a word.  But when he comes up with a good idea they say, "Let's do that."  And so they did that.  There was a showdown on this mountain.  The prophets of Baal were chanting, they were dancing round the altar that they built, there was howling, moaning one would stand on top of the altar and he would prophesy, and they would call out to their God.  They began to cut themselves getting more frantic, getting louder and louder.  The scene became more horrific until finally Elijah cut them off.

And Elijah gets on his knees before his altar, he rebuilds it.  He shows the nation, "I'm going to rebuild an altar, you've forgotten about the Lord God of Israel Jehovah."  So he builds that altar, he gets on his knees and he prays "God show yourself great."  I love what the word says.  It says that, the fire fell from heaven; it consumed the offering, the wood, the altar and even some of the ground underneath it.  God answered by fire and you know what happens next?  The people of Israel fall to their faces and they cry, the Lord he is God, Jehovah Elohim is what they say.  And they say it over and over in reverence of God Almighty. 

It's been one long day for Elijah, that's just one day Chapter 18, and it's not over.  Look at Verse 41 as we focus in on just five more verses.  "Then Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink; for there is sound of abundance of rain."

So Ahab went up to eat and drink and Elijah went up to the Mount Carmel.  Missionary Amy Carmichael, well she said this in reference to these verses she said, "Everyday, we have to decide.  We have to choose whether we'll follow the example of Ahab or of Elijah," and I agree.  Everyday even after great victory we have to decide, are we going to find our refreshment in food and drink, or are we going to find rest by going to the mountain to pray?  And I love what Elijah says before this, he says, "There is sound, I can here rain coming."  And mind you at this point there's not a cloud in the sky, it hasn't rained for nearly three and a half years and he says, "I hear the rain coming."  I can imagine Ahab looking around thinking, "This guy is crazy.  There is no rain.  I don't see anything.  I'm going to go eat and drink.  I'm going to go refresh myself.  It's been a long day."

But when the clouds couldn't be seen, the promise of Elijah could.  He could see that promise in fact, he could hear it.  He could hear the rain coming and he knew that God was going to fulfill his promise to him.  Elijah was quick to receive the indications of a coming promise, please note that.  We'll see it all throughout the study.  He was quick to receive the indications of coming promise.  He could see it.  He could hear it. 

There's an old poem, I don't know who wrote it.  I don't even remember where I heard but it says this, "Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees.  And it looks to that alone."  And I can imagine Elijah there after seeing fire from heaven and the nation of Israel fall to their faces; just after that it says that they executed the 450 prophets of Baal.  Some commentators say it was by Elijah's very own sword.  He is exhausted.  He is tired but he can see the promise.  His faith is looking at what God has promised him in Chapter 1, in Verse 1 of Chapter 18 where he says, "You go do this, you present yourself to Ahab and I'll send rain on the earth."

So Elijah goes to the mountain and he came to the understanding that the world he finds relief, and food and drink and the righteous in prayer.  If there was ever a time for Elijah to be proud, if there was ever a time for Elijah to kick back, relax after a great day of ministry, after triumph on that mountain top, it would have been now.  This would have been the time where Elijah should have celebrated but he didn't.  Elijah knows that God doesn't just want to prove himself strong, he wants to show the nation that he can bring revival or refreshment and restoration to their land.  So his next move is to pray.  His next move is to go, talk to God.  "Ahab you do your thing, you get refreshed, I'll do mine.  I'll do my thing."

The next thing that Elijah does as odd as it may sound the scriptures says it plainly, he puts his face between his knees.  Look at Verse 42.  "And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel and he bowed to the ground and put his face between his knees.  And he said to his servant, "Go up now, look towards the sea."  And so he went and he looked, "There is nothing" he said.  And seven times Elijah said, "Go again."  Let's break this down just for a minute.  He first gets alone with God, he's secluded.  He has done this before when the widow's son died, he grabbed the boy and very quietly he walked up the stairs, closed the door and he prayed to God.  Elijah made a habit of seeking a private audience with his king.  Do we do that?

Jesus said, "When you pray, go into your room and shut the door.  And when you have done that, pray to your father who is in the secret place and your father who hears you in secret will reward you openly."  Do we do that?  Are we obedient in that manner?  Elijah had this down to a routine.  He got alone with God, first things first.  One translation says, "Elijah retired to the mountain top."  On the world when Ahab and his men found rest and relaxation and food and drink, Elijah found his rest, his retirement in prayer.  He's getting alone with God.  True faith is objective.  It labors.  It prays for one thing, God's will.

True faith is objective.  It sees the price, now price is God's will.  Let's read on.  "He bowed to the ground, he put his face between his knees."  Let's stop there, that's the second portion of this that I want to look at.  He puts his face between his knees.  This was a practice that many men before him did, that the nation of Israel did just minutes before.  And that I think some of us neglect.  I would say that personally.  Ezra on Chapter 9 Ezra says, "O Lord my God, I'm too ashamed to even stand before you."

Joshua in Chapter 7 says, "He tore his clothes and he said, "God I'm not worthy to stand in your presence."  And he falls to the ground."  Jesus himself in the garden falls to the ground when he asked God, "Lord, if you would have it, let this come pass.”  It's a sign of reverence.  It's a sign of humility.  I've heard it said that, "He who stands nearest to God is the lowliest of all God's worshipers."  He who stands nearest closest to God is the lowliest of his worshipers.  We know who stands next to God and that's Jesus Christ.  Philippians 2, I'll read it to you Verse 5, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being the very form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men," his creation.  "And being found in the appearance as a man he humbled himself, he became obedient to the point of death even the death of a cross."

Jesus himself set the example of humility.  He made himself of no reputation.  He made himself small.  The very majesty of the being that we address in prayer should bring us physically to our knees but most definitely our heart to the ground.  When we pray, do we see God as majestic?  Do we imagine ourselves as unworthy?  Elijah did and he was one of the greatest men that ever walked the pages of the scripture.  He humbled himself before the Lord. 

Charles Swindol, in his commentary on 1 Kings is this, about this very verse, "The most vulnerable moment", he said, "Is right after a great victory.  Humility does not run readily on the heels of achievement."  But Elijah, he went to the very sight of his triumph, Carmel, and he humbled himself before God.  Elijah went to the very sight of his triumph.  And he puts his face between his knees, humility.

Peter gave great advice in the New Testament, Chapter 5, Verse 6 of 1 Peter, he said, "Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time".  Elijah is not only humbling himself, by putting his face between his knees.  We'll find next in Verse 43, that the Elijah the prophet, in his prayer is very persistent.  Read Verse 43.  "And he said to his servant, "Now, go up, look toward the sea," and so he went up and looked and said, "There is nothing".  And seven times, Elijah said, "Go again".  He has a helper with him, a young lad, off in the distance says he prays and he tells him, "Go up higher in the mountain.  Look toward the sea.  Tell me if you see anything".  And the report, six times was, "I don't see anything".

I think Elijah was not only a man of great faith, but of great fervency and of passion.  One of my friends last night, I was telling a little bit what I was going to teach.  And he said -- and he read to me a quote and I went something like this, "Persevering prayer wins the victory."  Persevering prayers win victory.  Elijah could have been discouraged the first six reports.

He could have said, "Oh, man, I'm going to give up.  I'm going to go eat and drink.  It's been a long day.  God's not answering his prayers."  But no, seven times he sent him back.  He was persistent.

He came to the conclusion, and I submit this idea to you tonight, if you leave with anything, please leave with this: fervency and faith, they go hand in hand.  Your fervency and your faith in God go hand in hand.  Don't forget that.  There's a friend of mine who I've been praying for, for almost five years, that God would just show Himself great in his life.  That He would change his way.  That He would turn to Jesus.  I pray for that guy everyday.  And I'm getting reports of "No, there's nothing, like Elijah".  And I have just committed in my heart that I won't stop praying.

Many of you have friends, family members that are the same way.  Don't' stop.  Be persistent.  Our fervency and our faith, they go hand in hand.  Follow the footsteps of Elijah even when the reports aren't good.  This very fervency that we look at right now is the same fervency that James talks about in James Chapter 5.  You can turn there if you like.  James 5:16, James is talking of Elijah and he says, "Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed.  The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much".  Verse 17 of James Chapter 5, "Elijah was a man with a naturelike ours.  He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain in the land for three years and six months.  And he prayed again, and the heavens gave rain.  And the earth produced fruit."

Delays in our prayers are always denials.  The delays in our prayers are always no.  Be persistent.  Be fervent.  Make sure that your prayers are rooted in the promise of God, because Elijah's was.  He was expectant and that's the last thing I want to see in this portion is he was expectant.  He found hope in something that most wouldn't.  Look at Verse 44.  "Then he came to pass the seventh time, that he said, "There is a cloud as small as a man's hand rising out of the sea."  And so he said, "Go up Ahab".  "Go up", he say to Ahab, "Prepare your chariot and go down before the rain stops you."  Though the cloud couldn't be seen, at least it wasn't very big.  Elijah still has that promise.  He can still hear the sound of coming rain.  And imagine the position of the servant, his helper.  He's there. He goes to the top and he says, "Do you see anything this time?"  Well, it's -- yeah a small cloud.  "How big is the cloud?  Is it dark, does it look like a huge storm?  Is it coming fast?"  "Well, no it's very small. It's actually no bigger than my hand. Maybe you should keep praying".

But I love Elijah's response and we'll get to that in just a moment.  One scholar put it this way, and I'll read it to you.  He said, "All the merciful work of God seems small and unimportant but that's not seen to be nobler and greater in the end".  Let the man rejoice ho sees even so much as a little cloud of divine mercy and peace arising upon the horizon of his life.  The time approaches when this cloud will cover his whole heaven.  When the hour strikes, help comes in with mighty power and to put thy mistrust to shame.  They must come unexpectedly.

That small cloud for Elijah was a precursor of great rain.  That small cloud meant so much more to that prophet than it did to anybody else who saw it.  It looked like nothing.  It looked like nothing to be even really be reported of.  It's the size of a man's hand.  And Elijah says, "No, I still hear the sound of coming rain."  And every rain since has supplied equally great examples.

I think of Paul and Silas at Philippi, or the disciples in the upper room.  I think of the 16th century reformation.  I think of the Wesleys at Oxford or the revival in America in the mid-19th century.  I think of my personal testimonies where in all of these circumstances, in all of these rains, people prayed or I prayed until I could praise.  Do we pray until we can praise?  Do we get on our faces between our knees and get on the ground or prostrate before the Lord and ask Him to do great mighty things?  Do we find hope in small clouds arising from the horizon of our lives?  Most of us don't.  Most of us lack.

I ask you guys tonight friends, families, students, do you believe in the power of prayer?  Do you believe in the unalterable efficacy of prayer, that it's still the way of approach, the means of success like it's been said that it's still the hand which moves the arm that moves the world?  Do we pray until we can praise?  Elijah did.  And I sincerely believe wholeheartedly like Elijah that I can hear the sounds of coming rain.

It might puzzle some of you, but I've had conversations with guys that I work with, other pastors here and staff, some even outside the walls of this church.  And so many times in the last several months I've heard, "I hear the sound of rain," and maybe not literally but people say, "Something is happening."  I don't really know how to explain it.  I can't elaborate.  But God is about to move.  God is about to do something.  Maybe revival, maybe it's His Second Coming.  We don't know but there is rain and it echoes in my ears.  And we can choose to be quiet, or we can be like Elijah.

And at the very small precursor of rain, jump and tell others, "Get ready the rain's coming.  Leave before it stops you".  That's what he says, "Go up."  Say to Ahab, "Prepare your chariot and go down before the rain stops you".  In other words, Elijah says, "Ahab, it's going to get messy.  You better leave now or you're going to get stuck in the mud".  He was quick to receive the indications of a coming rain.  Elijah had hope in a small cloud that most would brush off in the small works of God but he had huge expectation.  And that is what we want to look at last.

Look at Verse 45, his expectation.  "Now, it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind and there was heavy rain.  And so Ahab road away and went to Jezrael.  And then the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezrael".  He girds up his loins.  He's fervent in his prayers, he humbles himself before God, he makes himself of no reputation, he has great expectation on what God is going to do and he is rewarded, Verse 46 -- with the hand of the Lord coming upon him."

God rewards our expectation.  We've all had those conversations, "My dad can beat up your dad."  Elijah had a mindset that his Father, Heavenly Father was so powerful.  He expected so much of Him.  Elijah didn't insult God with small prayers.  He prayed huge things.  He prayed for the impossible when he asked God to raise a young boy from the dead.  He prayed for the impossible when he asked God to show Himself great by allowing fire to fall from heaven and consume his offering.  He was bold in asking God for great things.  But Elijah's response to this coming rain will forever be burned in my mind.  That image will never leave.

I mean, he had such an outrageous day of ministry.  He went to meet Ahab.  Somebody on the way told him, "Don't go there's a prize on your head.  They're going to kill you."  He told Ahab, "You're a trouble maker."  He called the King of Israel a trouble maker, a menace.  Then he stands before the nation, and he says, "How long are you going to be on the defense?"  Then he makes fun of 450 prophets of Baal, with swords and knives.  He executes them, after God allows fire from heaven.  And now he's praying.  It's been a long outrageous day.

But he was prepared to do something.  His response, his reaction, Verse 46: "And he girded up his loins."  He rolled up his sleeves.  He laced up his shoes. He got out of his seat and he buckled up.  And he was ready for God to do something even greater.  He was ready for that rain because no one else could see it, no one else could hear it, but look what it says. "And the sky became black with clouds and wind and there was heavy rain."  It doesn't say, "Oh, it drizzled a little bit."  

His reaction wasn't, "Oh look, it's raining.  Thanks God, I appreciate that.  It's awesome.  You came through, you're a God."  No, he says, "I want what's next.  I want your hand upon my life".  He girds up his loins.  He gets ready.

I still hear that sound of abundance of rain.  And I've seen small precursors of rain starting to arise.  I think A.J. reported earlier that we've seen over two hundred professions of faith in malls this year from high school students sharing Jesus was somebody they have never met before.

If that's not a precursor of coming rain, I don't know what is.  We saw a hundred middle school students give their lives to Jesus.  If that's not a precursor of the coming rain, I don't know what it is.  We've seen countless people walk down this very aisle and stand right here and give their lives to the God, the Creator of the universe.  This year, if those aren't precursors of rain, friends, I don't know what is.

And I can still hear that sound, and I tell you tonight, what Ahab heard from Elijah, "You better get going, before you get stuck in the mud".  You got to catch this next wave.  We got to look at what God has done.  Look at Elijah's day.  God did so many great things on that very day.  And we got to look forward to what God is going to continue to do.  The movement isn't over.  God wants to do so much more.  And we can -- we could see this opportunity and take hold of it, or we can wait and get stuck in the mud.

It says that Elijah outran Ahab, to Jezrael. That's a 17-mile run. One of the longest ministry days of Elijah's entire life, he girds up his loins and he outruns a chariot.  Think about that.  He's holding his man, skirt up, and he's running in front of a chariot. He's probably exclaiming, "The Lord is God.  God showed Himself great.  Look at the rain."  He's bringing rain up on the land.  He's showing His blessing because Israel has turned from its idolatry.

We can be like Elijah.  We can run around telling everyone we know outrunning the world about Jesus.  His expectation in God was huge.  He made himself of no reputation.  He was humble.  He went to the very sight of his triumph on that day and he bowed.  He put his face between his knees.  His hope in that small cloud was grounded in his hope, in his faith, in his trust, that his God Almighty would come through on His promise, that He would bring rain.  That he would hold up His end of the deal.

I confess before all of you tonight that I don't pray enough.  And I'm not fervent in my prayers.  I wish I could say differently.  But I submit to you tonight that that can change in my life and it can definitely change in yours.  That we can be fervent, we can be humble, we can have huge expectation.  We cannot only ask God for the little things but for the impossibilities -- for the obstacles that we can overcome.  All of you here tonight can leave saying, "I hear the sound of abundance of rain.  God is going to make good His promises."  What are His promises?  He said, "Seek me diligently, and you'll find."  He promised that His Word doesn't come back empty, that His gospel is the power to save.  Have we forgotten these things?

We have to change our minds, our perspectives.  We must be like Elijah, we must be fervent, we must be faithful, persistent.  We have to humble ourselves before God.  We have to have faith in even the small things of God.  God ordains even the small things and sometimes, they're precursors to you in a greater rain.  And then you know what our job is, after that? After we hand over all of that to God in prayer, you know what our job is?  It's the same job Elijah had next.  The work is on our shoulders.  We're not carrying the load.  Elijah girds up his loins and all that's left for us to do before God Almighty and before the world, is buckle up, because God is going to do the rest.  Amen?

Let's pray.  Lord, give us strength.  Give us fervency.  We confess tonight that we don't pray often.  That our prayer lives are lacking.  We ask that You would change our perspectives. You would change our minds.  That we would see even the small works that You are doing in our lives, God and that You would excite us for what You have next.  That we would be expecting you to do something great, for we love You.  And we thank You for the promises you've given us.  That if we hand our lives over to You that You save, that if we're faithful in the little things that You give us larger things.

If you're in this room tonight and you don't know Jesus, that it's not just your prayer life that lacks, your entire faith in Him is gone.

Please come up to the front, after service and find one of our after service counselors or well pastors up here.  Anyone of the volunteers of the student ministries, they love to talk to you.  We just want to tell you more about what God has done for you.  But I wanted just to be a little different tonight, I want to ask those of you in this room to do something out of faith.  I want to ask you guys that if you want to be part of this next rain, and you don't want to get stuck in the mud, you want to be expectant for God to not just do some things in our lives now but to do even greater things later.  And you want to be like Elijah, you want to gird your loins and buckle up.  And don't feel obligated, but if you want to do that, and you want to make a commitment to God, "God I want to pray more, give me heart of prayer."  I stand with you tonight.  I want to make a commitment and I ask that you would stand and make that commitment for this next year.  That you would say, "I want to make this year and all the years after, a year that I can say, "I expected God to do great things and He came through"

If you want to make that commitment with me and with the students, would you stand right where you're at?  Just to say, "I want to do that.  I want to be part of this next revival.  I want to be part of what God's doing next.  I want to pray more, I want to be more fervent, I want to be persistent, I'm not going to stop praying for that person who I know needs Jesus."  Let's make this commitment before God.