Immeasurably More Than We Can Ask or Imagine
Written by Anneke Toliver
Elijah is Ahab’s enemy. Ahab, king of Israel, “did what was evil in the Lord’s sight more than all who were before him” (1 Kings 16:30). As a result, the land experienced several years of famine. During that time, God miraculously sustained Elijah with bread brought by ravens and through a widow’s bit of oil and handful of flour.
After three years, God told Elijah to go see Ahab and tell him that rain was coming. But it wasn’t quite that simple. Ahab and the people had rejected the God of Armies, and He was going to do more than just bring rain to the parched land. He was going to show them the reality of a God Who hears.
When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, the one ruining Israel?”
He replied, “I have not ruined Israel, but you and your father’s family have, because you have abandoned the Lord’s commands and followed the Baals. Now summon all Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table” (1 Kings 18:17-19).
Elijah faces off with the prophets of the false gods. He proposes a contest: they each build an altar, top it with wood and a bull, cut in pieces as an offering. Then, they pray. The prophets to the false gods, Elijah to the Lord. The God who answers with fire is the True God.
The false prophets agree, and Elijah offers them the first turn. They begin to pray. And pray. And pray. They call on the name of Baal for hours—from morning until noon, from afternoon until evening—begging him to answer. Silence. They dance, they shout, they rave, they cut themselves with knives.
Silence.
Elijah steps up and calls the people to him. He rebuilds the altar with twelve stones. Then, he does something unexpected: he digs a trench around the altar. After he’s arranged the wood and the sacrifice, he has four pots of water filled with water and poured over the whole thing. He does it again. And again, enough that the trench surrounding the altar is full.
Now Elijah has an altar with a ready sacrifice, waiting to be lit and soaking wet.
When I read this story again last week, my mind immediately jumped to a passage in Ephesians. If I put myself in Elijah’s shoes, I would have done some things differently. I would have arranged the wood perfectly, added some good tinder, some kindling, made sure there was good air flow under the sacrifice. And I would have prayed for a spark. Just a spark to get this thing going. Not Elijah. Elijah recognized what Ephesians tells us: that we serve a God “who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).
We know the end of this story. Elijah prays to the Lord God: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that you are God in Israel and I am your servant, and that at your word I have done all these things. Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God and that you have turned their hearts back” (1 Kings 18:36-37).
God doesn’t just answer Elijah with fire, He answers with FIRE. Fire comes not only to burn the sacrifice, but it completely consumes the bull, the wood, the stones, the dust, and every drop of water. The people respond on their faces in worship.
Immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. This part of the Story reminded me that I often underestimate what my God is capable of—I ask too small—especially when it is His reputation at stake. But He wants my extravagant requests. Elijah knew that God could do more than just light the spark; He could send the fire that would consume it all. Elijah asked and God met Elijah there.
And when Elijah asked and God answered, it resulted in worship. When we ask in His name and according to His will, God gets all the glory. So when you know your prayers are aligned with the heart of God, ask. Let your requests be made known to God. He’s able to do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
Ephesians 3:20-21
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