Seed the Clouds

So what if the Israelites stopped circling after the sixth day? Or what if on the seventh day, after six times around, they said, I'm pooped. I don't think I can go one more. What if Naaman stopped after six dips? What if Elijah had stopped asking his servant to go up after the fifth or sixth time? Let me know the answer. But but here's the thing, We wouldn't have god sized results if we did not pray persistently for god sized results. [00:32:56] (48 seconds)  #PersistForGodSizedResults

I was reminded of a saying this week, something that I've shared on Facebook in the past, and, you know, if you ever pay attention to your memory wall every year, it you know, on a certain date, it pops up with the things that you've posted on that date during the past. And it's a fun way for me to be able to see pictures of the kids, different vacations or things that that we had been doing, and also some of the stupid things that I've shared online. But this wasn't so much. This was a good thing. This popped up that I had shared this a couple of years ago. Says don't say God is silent when your Bible is closed. Probably heard that before or seen it before in some way. But how very true it is when we have other things that we are into rather than the word of God. How else do we expect an outpouring of the spirit? [00:18:28] (69 seconds)  #BibleOpenNotSilent

I think it would be safe to say that the root cause of many of our problems is a hearing problem because we have ears that have been deafened to the still small voice of the spirit. And it's been deafened because we have given our attention to other sounds, to other voices, to other things that hold our attention, that influence us, who that have our ear It's hard for God to get a word in edgewise with all the noise that we seemingly have in our lives. That's why we call our time alone with God what? Quiet time. It's when you get away from the other noise and you spend it with God. [00:17:26] (63 seconds)  #QuietTimeListen

What if we expanded our vision beyond our own lifetimes, beyond what benefits us. And we began looking at everything that we're doing now is for that next generation what planting seeds today means. Recognizing we might not see the downpour of rain in our day, We may not see it today, next week, next month, but I am going to remain persistent in my faithfulness, in my giving, in my serving, in my belief. Trusting that God will take the simple man's prayer Because I know, I believe, and I trust that God is going to move. [00:40:40] (82 seconds)  #PlantSeedsForNextGen

So my third point is seeding with prayer. Now we can see clouds in lots of ways, but prayer is the prescription that God the prescribed way that God has told us to. Praying a prayer that is beyond our ability, that is beyond reality, praying a prayer that is beyond our resources, praying a prayer that is beyond our expectations, praying a prayer that is beyond even our imagination. Sometimes, I just pray the prayer, God, just give us one family today. God, give us give us one person today to respond. God, maybe today, one person who drove through the food pantry. Maybe, God, today, someone, one family who's looking for a church. Praying the impossible. [00:35:24] (65 seconds)  #PrayTheImpossible

Third or fourth time, I probably would have said, Elijah, if it's gonna rain, it's gonna rain. Why do I have to go and look? You know, I'm tired of walking up this hill to look. If we're praying for something, if we're persistent in our prayer, what is it that's going to happen? God's going to move. We have scientists dropping chemicals in the clouds, wanting it to rain, wanting it to snow, wanting it to have an effect. If we wanna see a holy movement of God, then we should be seeding clouds ourselves. We ought to be sharing Christ. We ought to be praying. We ought to be in ministry, and this is for our children, our grandchildren, our neighbors, our friends, our coworkers, our classmates. [00:21:37] (51 seconds)  #SeedTheClouds

But rain hadn't been hadn't started yet. The cloud hasn't even formed yet when he when he made that statement in verse 41, but Elijah knew what God was going to do. God, Elijah had an expectation of what God was going to do. In fact, I would say that spiritually, in his in his heart, he heard he was listening, and he heard and knew what God was going to do, something that hadn't happened in three years. God was going to cause rain to pour out. Did he make a good guess? I don't think so. Was there something else here at play? I don't think so. Did he have what what we say ears as as as as as good as a as an eagle's? I don't think so. I don't think he just had good ears. I don't think he had big ears. I believe that he was tuned in to God, And he knew what Jesus was going to say years later in the gospels. He knew that if he prayed the father's will, it would happen. And that's what takes place in this passage. [00:10:14] (78 seconds)  #TunedInToGod

What part are we giving attention to that actually encourages and builds up and expects God to move and looks forward to a reality that is seemingly, right now, far from possible. You know, a lot of us have grown old in our faith but we've also we've actually leveled down in the faith at the same time. Here's what I mean by that. Elijah told his servant to go out seven times. That happens so many times in scripture. How many times did the Israelites walk around the walls of Jericho? On this on the seventh day, so seven days of walking around, they walked around it. [00:30:56] (65 seconds)  #FocusOnWhatBuildsFaith