This past weekend at Eastbrook, we continued our series on prayer entitled “Sacred Invitation: A Life of Prayer.” I preached a message entitled “Praying Inward,” with a grounding text of 1 Kings 19:1-15a, the story of Elijah running away from Jezebel’s death threats to Mount Horeb to meet with God. This message explored the way our movement toward God also connects with a movement toward ourselves.
As John Calvin wrote in the very beginning of his Institutes of the Christian Religion: “Every person, therefore, on coming to the knowledge of himself, is not only urged to seek God, but is also led as by the hand to find him….[and one] never attains to a true self-knowledge until [they] have previously contemplated the face of God, and come down after such contemplation to look into himself.”[1]
You can find the message outline and video below. You can access the entire series here. Join us for weekend worship in-person or remotely via Eastbrook at Home.
“There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the Lord came to him:
‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’” (1 Kings 19:9)
Prayer and the Power of God
Elijah on Mount with Baal’s prophets and the dramatic answer
Elijah praying for rain and the dramatic answer
Elijah’s experience of God’s power throughout his life and ministry
Running From…
Elijah running (1 Kings 19:3)
Elijah’s weary prayer (1 Kings 19:4)
God’s unasked provision (1 Kings 19:5-9a)
Prayer and the Presence of God
In the cave with God’s question (1 Kings 19:9b)
Elijah’s informative response (1 Kings 19:10)
God’s invitation (1 Kings 19:11)
From prayer as power to prayer as presence (19:11b-12)
Elijah stepping forth (19:13a)
God’s question re-asked (1 Kings 19:13b)
Elijah’s repeated response (1 Kings 19:14)
God’s invitation to return (1 Kings 19:15a)
Dig Deeper
This week dig deeper in one or more of the following ways:
- Memorize 1 Kings 19:11-12
- Draw, paint, or letter some or all of 1 Kings 19:1-15a. As you do that, prayerfully talk with God about what God wants to speak to you through this story of Elijah.
- Consider reading a book on prayer, such as:
- Anthony Bloom, Beginning to Pray
- Eugene Peterson, Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer
- MaryKate Morse, A Guidebook to Prayer: 24 Ways to Walk with God
[1] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 1, sections 1 and 2, https://ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes/institutes.iii.ii.html.
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Matthew Erickson 