June 22, 2025
Teacher: Mike Laughrun
(36) Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. (37) Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” (38) Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. (39) And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God.”
1 Kings 18:36-39
Big Truth:
God deserves whole-hearted devotion
(30)And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. (31) And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. (32) He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. (33) And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
1 Kings 16:30-33
Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”
1 Kings 17:1
(2) And the word of the LORD came to him: (3) “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.
(4) You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
1 Kings 17:2-4
(5) So he went and did according to the word of the LORD. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. (6) And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. (7) And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
1 Kings 17:5-7
(8) Then the word of the LORD came to him, (9) “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”
1 Kings 17:8-9
(10) So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” … (12) And she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.”
1 Kings 17:10, 12
(13) And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. (14) For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.'”
1 Kings 17:8, 13-14
(15) And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. (16) The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah.
1 Kings 17:15-16
(17) After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. … (21) Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” (22) And the LORD listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. (23) And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.”
1 Kings 17:17, 21-23
How do we pursue whole-hearted devotion?
Big Idea:
Daily rehearse the greatness of God from His Word.
(1) After many days the word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth.” (2) So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria.
1 Kings 18:1-2
(17) When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” (18) And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the LORD and followed the Baals. (19) Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
1 Kings 18:17-19
A person’s own foolishness leads him astray, yet his heart rages against the LORD.
Proverbs 19:3 CSB
(20) So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. (21) And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.
1 Kings 18:20-21
No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
Matthew 6:24
How do we pursue whole-hearted devotion?
Big Idea: Consistently repent from lesser authorities in our lives.
(25) Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” (26) And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made.
1 Kings 18:25-26
(36) Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. (37) Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”
1 Kings 18:36-37
How do we pursue whole-hearted devotion?
Big Idea: Humbly recognize God’s faithful pursuit of our hearts.
(38) Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. (39) And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God.”
1 Kings 18:38-39
(16) And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, (17) and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
Luke 1:16-17
(29) The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! … (34) And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
John 1:29, 34
Talk About It
- Are you daily rehearsing the greatness of God from His word?
- What authority is driving your daily decisions? God’s Word? Emotions? Relationships? Traditions?
- How do you respond when others help you identify areas of compromise in your life?
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