I want you to look there at verse 43. And it's the last few words found in this particular verse. Notice what it says there at the end of verse 43. And he said that this Elijah the prophet go again seven times. That's the message for tonight. Go again seven times. In the closing verses of chapter 18, Elijah is standing on the mountain of victory. Maybe he's thinking that his battle with Ahab was finally over. I don't know if that was in his mind. It's possible something like that was in his mind. However, the opening verses of chapter 19 brings to attention a change, a sudden change, a dramatic change. Everything changes. Elijah topples from the mountain of victory to the valley of despair. And sometimes that's the way it is with us. We have a mountain top experience, we get our way up there, God blesses, and we are really enjoying the things of God, and enjoying the word, and enjoying prayer, and attending the house of God. And then something happens that causes us to topple from the mountain of victory to the valley of despair. But let us not forget that Elijah was essentially a man of prayer. And we are going to think about him in a very positive way this evening. It's always good to look for the positives in people, not the negatives. So we're looking at Elijah in a positive fashion this evening. And verse 43 focuses on what this man of prayer said to a servant. when he bowed on his bended knee, with his head between his knees to seek the face of God. This is what he said to his servant as he began to pray, go again seven times. Now, when James is dealing with the efficacy of prayer in his epistle, he uses Elijah as an example, and he remains as there. As many preachers have reminded you on former occasions, Elias or Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are. James 5 verse 17. In other words, in spite of our weaknesses and our failures, we also can become prayer conquerors. The point of Elijah's intercession that I want to stress tonight is again and again, go again seven times. The last Tuesday night, if you can recall, I preached on three great commands. We're to pray at the Lord's throne, we are to remember the Lord's table, and we are to engage in the Lord's task. But this evening, I want to speak on three little phrases. brought to attention here in 1st Kings chapter 18. That's what we're about tonight, three little phrases. And the first one is found there in verse 43, if you can look at it there, and said to a servant that is, Elijah said to his servant, go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up and looked and said, listen to it now, this little phrase, there is nothing. Now, in the context of prayer, what does that suggest to you? Well, I know what that suggests to me. It suggests to me the challenge of faith. Now, as we have read, Elijah had said to a servant, go up now, look toward the sea. And he returned saying, there is nothing. That is the first report. Indeed, that is the nature of the first six reports that he brought to his master. Some even believe that the servant was the young boy that Elijah had raised from the dead. Some Jewish scholars hold that view. I'm not sure. I don't know. I have nothing definite or concrete to bring to you tonight. I'm just throwing it out there so that you know what the thinking of some people really is. Remember the story in Luke chapter 11 of the man who came to his friend and he said unto him, lend me three loaves. Why? He said, for I have nothing to set before him. That's the friend who came knocking on his door at midnight. So that would have been disappointing. And no doubt when the servant went to look across the sea, he was expecting to see something. I'm sure he was disappointed. Maybe he was discouraged. But maybe you're here tonight and you have been discouraged of late because You'd be looking to the sea to see what God is gonna do and nothing has happened yet. Let me emphasize yet, nothing has happened yet. So this must have been disappointing. Yet, are we sure that there was nothing? Visibly, there was nothing. But really, was that so? Perhaps there was nothing to be seen. There was no cloud in the sky to indicate that rain was coming. There was no thunder. There was no lightning, nothing that gave visible proof that rain was imminent, that rain was on the way. Now frequently God is pleased for his own divine purposes to test the faith of his people. And no doubt this was a test to him and a test to his servant, whoever that young servant was. However, Elijah was not living by sight. How do I know that? There's a simple reason. Because he said to Ahab in verse 41, there is a sound of abundance of rain. What does that mean? Well, that word sound is translated in other places by the word voice. I think I've mentioned this before. There is the noise there in the Garden of Eden, the voice of the Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the day, the sound over there in the book of Acts chapter two of the presence of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. So we have this thought before us. This is not because he heard the sound of rain or the fire of thunder, but because God's promise was ringing in his ears. There's a sound of abundance of rain. Now, why do I say that? The ears of faith hear what the eye of flesh cannot see. Now, God had promised to his people to send rain, when his people returned to him. Now, I'm not gonna turn to it now, but take a mental note of this. It's important that you see these things. Deuteronomy chapter 11, verses 13 through 17. There, God gives a promise. If you turn to me, okay, you've gone astray, but if you turn to me, humble yourselves, seek my face, then I will give you rain. There's a sound of abundance of rain in the promises or not. I think there is. That's what was ringing in Isaiah, the promise of God, the voice of God, if you like. That's the promise, the promise of God. And Elijah, he had also a direct word from God in chapter 18, verse one, and it came to pass after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year saying, go show thyself onto Ahab and I will send rain upon the earth. So he had a promise from Deuteronomy, from his scriptures, and then he had a direct promise from God that God would send rain. So the statement, there's a sound of abundance of rain, was based solely on faith in the word. Now, you know all about the great contest that took place here on Mount Carmel. Elijah stood up against all of the prophets of Baal and the prophets of the groves, a lot of them, We know 450 prophets of Baal and others, so he was standing alone. Sometimes, as the people of God, we've got to stand alone in the service of God, but the man who stood alone got the victory because he was God's man at the time in the land of Israel to do this great work for him. And as a result of what God did in answer to prayer, the people cried, the Lord, he is God, the Lord, he is God. The temporary nature of this positive response of the people would not keep God from being gracious. It didn't last. It didn't last. They sinned for God, they sinned on the back. That's the way it is sometimes with us. God does wonderful things for us, he intervenes for us, we soon forget. Is that true or not true? Faith looks upon the things promised as though they were already fulfilled. Hebrews 11 verse one, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. So Elijah had a promise from God, but that did not prevent him from praying. So he had the promise and he prayed that God would honor the promise. there's a sound of abundance of rain. The promise was ringing in his ear. Remember, as he prayed, the rain was stopped. His prayer stopped the rain. And then, in the story before us, his prayer started the rain again. God always answers true prayer. Sometimes he says yes, and sometimes he says it quickly. When Elijah was at the altar and he was praying for fire to fall, it came immediately, right away, quickly. Sometimes he says no, because it's not in our best interest to give us that particular thing in a way at that particular time. And sometimes it is wait. And that's what Elijah had to do here. In this portion, because he said to his servant, go again seven times. Had he wait, didn't happen immediately. Had he wait, go again seven times. Teaching him to be persistent in prayer. Don't give up, go again seven times. That's the word of God. Go again seven times. Put yourself in Elijah's place. What will that six-fold nothing do for him? Six negative responses. Six times the servant viewed the horizon. Six times he returned and said to his master, nothing, nothing, nothing. Maybe you've prayed in recent times and you've gone, in a sense, to look towards the Mediterranean Sea and there's nothing. You've gone again, there's nothing. You've gone again, there's nothing. A prayer seems to be unanswered, go again seven times. Seven in the Bible is the number of perfection. In 2 Kings 5, verse 10, remember Naaman, the mighty captain of Syria? What was the word to him? He was a leper. And initially he came to the king of the land. His master had written a letter That was really an insulting letter to the king of Israel. The king of Israel received it. He thought the king of Syria wanted to enter into a war. He sent the wrong person. And then the word came through to Elijah. Send him to me. Bring him to me. He sent the man to the king. He needed to get to the prophet. And so it happened. And he was reluctant to do what he was told to do by the prophet. And one of his generals said, be sensible, sir. If he asked you to do some great thing, would you not do it? Oh, yes, I would. Why don't you do the simple thing? Sometimes it's doing the simple thing that helps and brings about that resolution before God and answer to prayer. And so he goes down six times. What did he say when he got up the first time? Nothing. Second time? Nothing. Third time? Nothing. The sixth time? Nothing. But he went the seventh time. That's the perfect number. And what happened? I'm clean. I'm cured. I'm delivered. Go again seven times. Go again seven times. Now, remember what Elijah had done there on Mount Carmel. He repaired the altar, he got the sacrifice in place, prayed for the fire. Fire fell, God consumed the sacrifice, pointing us to Jesus Christ, the perfect sacrifice for sin, and by him we draw an eye to God. And as he drew near to God through, and upon the basis of the sacrifice being offered, he lifted his heart to God and he prayed, and God sent down the answer from heaven. That's where we're at tonight, here in God's house. It's a matter of faith. It's a matter of trusting in the finished work of Christ to get our prayers answered. But the message for you and for me tonight is, go again seven times. Okay. That's the first little phrase, there's nothing. Now tomorrow morning you might get on your knees and you're looking for the Lord to give you a token for good and you might come and these words might come to you from tonight, there's nothing, still nothing. Go again seven times, don't give up. Second thing I notice here, the second little phrase is this, found in verse 44. Look at it with me again, please. And it came to pass at the seventh time that he said, behold, now it's coming. Listen, behold, look at this, see this. What's the little phrase? There ariseth a little cloud. Now, what does this do for faith? It speaks to me. of the confidence of faith. So the servant of Elijah has obeyed. It came to pass at the seventh time there ariseth a little cloud. Something was beginning to happen. Do you see that now? There's something happening after all. Elijah's prayer had made an impression in heaven. And the servant said about the little cloud, it's like a man's hand. That made some impression upon the servant of the Lord, whoever he was. The servant's description of the shape, it's like the little cloud. And Arthur Pink, he's got a great book on the life of Elijah. And this is what he said, a man's hand had been raised in supplication. Here he's praying, head down, his hand up to heaven, he's interceding. A man's hand had been raised in supplication and had, as it were, left its impression on the heavens. A man's hand is very suggestive. Daniel chapter five, there we read about Belshazzar. He saw the fingers of a man's hand writing upon the wall. It pronounced doom upon him and the Babylonian sister. But here we can see This little cloud, like a man's hand, it's promising blessing. Listen what Jesus said. In Luke chapter 12, 54, when you see a cloud rise out of the west. Now, Elijah was on Mount Carmel. I stood there myself. I'm sure Mr. Madole and Mrs. Madole, they were there maybe this time. I may tell you about this confirmed things on Thursday night. I've stood there myself, and you look out west to the Mediterranean. A powerful sight to behold there, and to imagine what happened there so long ago. It's a privilege to have been there to see that, to be reminded of what God did then. But what God did then, he can still do, because he's God. He hasn't changed. He hasn't grown older. He's still the same. He's our God. When you see a cloud rise out of the west, and Elijah Serbo was looking to the west, straightway ye say, there cometh a shower, and so it is. So here's the cloud now. God is about to send the shower. Here's the confidence of faith. God is moving. Something is happening. Amen. Something is happening. Whether we know it or not in this congregation, something is happening. Whatever delays, whatever difficulties, whatever disappointments, whatever discouragements we may face and have faced, don't stop praying. Sooner or later, perhaps, then we realize there will arise that little cloud. I've been praying this morning. I prayed it quite a number of times on my knees today in the study. I prayed, oh God, give me a little hand in the sky just to encourage me, to help my faith. I'm only a poor believer. I have feet of clay. I need to be encouraged in the Lord. Oh, just give me a little cloud. Let me see a little cloud in the sky to encourage my faith, to let me know that thou art still in control. Over and over again, Jesus taught his men, his disciples, men not always to pray and not to faint or give up. That's the secret. Go again seven times. And after his servant saw the cloud, and he came and he told his master, I want to tell you something. Elijah knew that a cloudburst was on its way. How do I know that? For he said to Ahab, go and tell Ahab, prepare thy chariot, that the rain stop thee not. The rain's coming, he said. And all he had at that time was the little cloud. The forerunner to this great shower that was due to come. Verse 44. Get in your chariot and move to Jezreel, because if you don't, the rain might stop you, the rain might hinder you. It's on its way. That was an act of faith, confidence in faith. And it says here in verse 45 and 46, Ahab rode away in the chariot. That's just an interesting part of what we see next. Elijah ran before him. Now, Elijah is an older man. I'm not sure exactly what age he was, but he must have been the right age at this particular time. And you know, as we grow older, you just can't run as fast as you did when you were 15 or 20. And so we've got to understand the picture here. Elijah is repairing the altar in chapter 18, verse 30, and now he's running before Ahab like a young fellow. Now, the distance between where he was and Jezreel was 16, 17 miles. So after the strenuous activity of the day, how did Elijah possess the ability to run that far that fast? It's been an emotional day, it's been drained. He's been contending with all of these prophets. They're mocking him, but he's trusting in God. He's standing straight and erect there as a man of God, declaring the whole counsel of God. And this has been an exhausting day. And then after that, he slew all those prophets of Baal. Oh, he's under great pressure, exhausting. How was he able to accomplish that? Verse 46 provides the answer. The hand of the Lord was on Elijah. That's the secret. Oh, that I might know the hand of God upon my life. And may you know the hand of God upon your life. That will make the difference. That really will make the difference. and of the hand of God that's not evident on your life, you need to pray, oh God, touch me. Touch me afresh, just the way the Lord touched Elijah of Oak. When a person is enabled by God, he can do things that are beyond the scope of ordinary man. That's the secret here. He gives strength, he gives stamina and ability to those who will walk in his power. Paul said, I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. Philippians chapter 4, 13. Before I leave this point, think about it. Let it sing out. Man and woman, we need the power of God as never before. This congregation needs a divine visitation. We need fire from heaven. We need water from heaven. Whatever it takes, we need it. to bring about blessing, to bring cool rain to Christ, to bring the message to cool rain. We need to be right with God in the quiet place often before the throne of grace and perfect harmony and perfect unity before the God of heaven who sees all things and knows all things. Need to get before him. But by running before Ahab's chariot, the prophet was giving to the king a powerful object lesson. What is it? Elijah was a bearer of the word of God, and his running before Ahab showed what Ahab, as a king, had what he must do. He must follow the word of God. But sadly, he didn't. Here's the message. We need to follow the word of God. Ahab didn't. He went on a timely end. But he didn't. He didn't follow the Lord. The final phrase found here. So there is nothing, that's the challenge of faith. There was, there riseth a little cloud, that's the confidence of faith. And then if you look at verse 45, you'll find the third little phrase mentioned here. Look at it. And it came to pass in the meanwhile that the heaven was black with clouds. Oh, we see that a lot around Ulster these days, don't we? And wind, we've had the wind as well. And listen to it. And there was a great rain. The third little phrase, there was a great rain. This is the climax of faith. So after three years of drought, nothing little will satisfy. Only what is great will suffice. Five little barley loaves and two small fishes were used to do a great thing. Were used to do a big thing. We are to expect great things of God. We honor him by asking him to do great things, impossible things, knowing that with God, all things are possible. So can God fill this church here during the time of the bishop? Do we believe that or what? Are we gonna ask God for big things and do great things for us? Well, that's exactly what God did. First of all, he gave the little cloud and then he gave a great rain. There's a contrast here. the little, and the big, and the great. And you'll notice that it's cloud singular, verse 43, and clouds, verse 45. There's a darkness now, there's a wind, there's the clouds. Something amazing is happening. The single cloud had become several clouds. Rain is coming, hallelujah. Not only was there a sound of abundance of rain, but it was near hand. The deluge was about to come. First Elijah prayed for fire, then he prayed for rain. What happened when he prayed for fire? Fire fell. What happened when he prayed for rain? Oh, there was a great rain, a great rain. That's what God can do. And both came from above. Oh, we can't expect to get anything from anywhere else. So we've got to look up to him. Our father, remember, Father, our Father, which art in heaven, oh, send the fire, send the rain, send the showers of blessing. Send us the great rain, this congregation. There's public prayer, verses 36 and 37 on Mount Carmel. It's very public. He's praying before the false prophets and the people of the land, the nation. And here, there's private prayer. He's there alone. Well, his servant is to and fro in there. So, you can see the contrast here. Pink says, a few hours before he stood erect as an oak, now he is bowed as a bulrush. He's on his face before God. He's on his knees. And when he stood on his feet, now he's on his face, on his knees before God. And he's very specific in prayer. What's he praying for? He's praying for rain. Before, prayer was stopped when he prayed, or rain was stopped when he prayed, and now he's praying, send the rain. Stop the rain, send the rain. Go back to the man I mentioned earlier, Luke 11, verse 5. He was very specific. He didn't go to his friend and say, I need food. He could have done that. But he was very specific. He said, lend me three loaves. Do you see that? Very specific. Be specific when you pray. As you get before God. We can pray generally. Oh, for food. But oh, let's pray that God will come like the man. Give me three loaves. Send rain, send fire. Zechariah 10, 1, Ascii of the Lord reign. We look around the world today, it's a depressing place. The need is great, the decadence of the people, the morals, the desecration of God's day, the disregard for God's precious word. And it has to be said, the deadness of many professing Christians and the cry of those who want to see God at work is, will they not revive us again? that thy people may rejoice in me." So, if you have been praying about this and that and something else, and there's nothing, go again seven times, because God has something great in store. A great rain comes, for there's nothing little about God, because the Lord is great. That's what it says in Psalm 96, verse four. And the works of the Lord are great, Psalm 111, verse two. The Lord is great. So, if you get a little cloud, as I have been praying for, a little cloud, that is just a sample. Don't rest content with that or be satisfied until you get the great rain. I don't think it is honors that ought to be asking great things. Oh, think about the great things. Suppose Elijah had given up there, say, the sixth time. Suppose he thought to himself, there's no point in praying anymore. What would have happened? Today God's people are longing for revival reign and who knows but that we may be even at the sixth time. Maybe we've come so close, so near. Six times are past. Maybe the seventh is just around the corner. willing to come. It's willing to happen. Don't let us give up now. Let's pray on through to the glory of God. So, we're told that Elijah, Ahab went up to eat and drink. Elijah went up to pray. Ahab went to gratify the flesh. Elijah went to meet the father. That's what we're going to do in a minute or two. going to meet with the father. Amy Carmichael from Northern Ireland was a well-known missionary. And this is what she said on one occasion. We have a choice. We have to choose whether we should follow in the way of Ahab or Elijah. He went up to gratify the flesh, but Elijah went up to meet with the father. I think that this story is a good example of what we read of in the Bible, watch and pray, and continue until God gives the answer. Now, I'm at an end. At the altar, there was a swift reply. I've mentioned this already. Up there on the top of Carmel, there was a slower reply. Go again seven times. You see that now? Get the picture? A swift reply, a slower reply. But in both cases, it is the sovereign reply. It always comes at the right time. It's always right. It's never imperfect. And what God does, he does well. So God had chastened his people by the drought and through the famine, but God had cared for Elijah. And God sent the fire to prove that he was indeed God's servant. He also answered his prayer to prove for the rain that he was God's man for the hour. Go again seven times. Keep at it. Don't despair. Because the God of Elijah is our God. He hasn't grown old. He's not outdated. He's supreme in the heavens. So, these three little phrases, you might remember them tomorrow. If you don't, write them down tonight. There is nothing. The challenge of faith. The rise of the little cloud. The confidence of faith. Something is happening. It's on its way. Then the climax of faith. There was a great rain. Oh, let's pray to that then tonight. May God be pleased to bless his word too. of our hearts for Jesus' sake. Well, let's get down to our...