God Answers Elijah’s Prayer
Hi kids! In church, we learn about what is right and wrong, and how God wants us to act and treat others. But sometimes we see other people doing something different than what God wants. Maybe you see a friend at school teasing another person or being dishonest and you know it is wrong. Maybe others say it’s silly to believe in God or pray. It can be hard to do the right thing when you’re the only one.
1 Kings 18:16-39
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There’s a story in the Bible about Elijah, a follower of God who had the courage to stand up to others and show them what was right. He didn’t need a crowd of people on his side. He just needed faith in God. Read this issue of Just for Kids to find out what happened.
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lijah was a prophet who loved and obeyed God. But unlike Elijah, many people in Israel were following a false god named Baal.
God told Elijah to go remind people about the real God. So, Elijah gathered the people of Israel on a mountain called Mount Carmel and said, “You have turned away from the Lord’s commands…. If the Lord is the one and only God, worship Him. But if Baal is, then worship him.”
To prove his point, Elijah challenged the people to a contest. Two altars were built, one for the Lord and one for Baal. On each altar, they placed meat but did not light a fire to cook it. . Instead, Elijah told the people to pray to their God to ntain Climb the mou send fire from heaven. Whichever god answered with fire would be the real God! The people that worshipped Baal went first. They prayed from morning until evening. They danced and shouted, trying to get Baal to answer. But nothing happened. Then Elijah stepped up. He rebuilt the Lord’s altar using stones and poured water over it so that everything was soaking wet. He even filled a trench around it with water. He prayed, “Lord, show everyone that You are the one true God, and that I am Your servant. Answer me, Lord.” Right away, fire came down from heaven and struck the altar. It burned up everything, even the stones and water. All the people fell to the ground and cried, “The Lord is the one and only God!” After that, the people turned back to God.