One of the most captivating miracles in the Old Testament is found in 1 Kings 18. A physical drought has ravaged the land due to the ongoing disobedience of God’s people. It’s in the third year of the devastating drought that Elijah gets a word from the Lord – a miracle is coming. Elijah understands something critically important about the word he received: if he’s going to see the miracle happen, he will need to prepare.

Elijah gathers all of Israel, including hundreds of prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel and in 1 Kings 18:20-35, Elijah leads them in preparation for a miracle:
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Vs 23, “I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood on the altar…”

Vs 25, “Choose one of the bulls, and prepare it and call on the name of your god.”

Vs 26, “So they prepared one of the bulls and placed it on the altar.”

The prophets of Baal spend all day calling on their god to send fire to burn the offering, but nothing happens.

Next, Elijah prepares for a miracle. He repairs the altar, places the wood and the sacrifice, and even has a trench built to surround it. During a drought when water was scarce, Elijah has four large containers of water poured over the altar three separate times, drenching the sacrifice, and filling the trench.

The drenched wood represented a big problem because it couldn’t catch fire, but Elijah understood that our problems are no match for God’s power. Verse 36 says, “Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed…”

Elijah had a unique understanding that what must accompany preparation is faith-filled prayer. He prays, and fire immediately falls from heaven, burning up the sacrifice and drying up all the water in the trench! It was an amazing miracle!

Elijah’s preparation resulted in a supernatural miracle, the defeat of false prophets, and a nation turning back to God. But none of that would have happened if Elijah just sat on the word and waited around for it to happen. Instead, he began taking action and prepared for the miracle.

God wants to do even greater miracles in our lives. Our prayer and fasting is preparation for those miracles. As you pray for specific needs, ask God how you should begin preparing for the miracle that is on the way!

Scriptures

1 Kings 18:20-35 (NIV)

“So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing. Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.” Then all the people said, “What you say is good.” Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention. Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.” “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again. “Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.”