Do It Again, Lord! Send the Rain!
(Zechariah 10:1 ESV)
Ask rain from the LORD in the season of the spring rain, from the LORD who makes the storm clouds, and he will give them showers of rain, to everyone the vegetation in the field.
In the world of agriculture, farmers prepare for the harvest by doing certain things. First, they select the crop, what they are going to grow this year. They do this on a rotation schedule to prevent insects and disease from spreading from year to year. Next, they select the type of seed and seed quality. There are many varieties and hybrids. Next, they use a tractor to till the land, or churn it up before the rainy season. This is done to mix the stubble from the last harvest in with the soil which provides nutrients for the next harvest. They do this during very hot, dry days. Then, some time later, they plow again, this time adding fertilizer to the soil and removing any weeds that have grown. After this, they put out the seed and spray pest control to reduce infestation. Finally, they irrigate the soil to prepare the land for rain. Then, they simply wait for the rain which brings the harvest.
Thirteen years ago, the worst storm in American history struck the Louisiana coast. Contrary to popular belief, however, Hurricane Katrina was not the strongest storm ever to hit American land. It was a Category 3 by the time it struck land. Yet it caused $125 billion in damage. The problem was a lack of preparedness. The city of New Orleans was ill-prepared. It was built on a marsh, surrounded by the Mississippi River and two lakes. The levees that were built to protect from flooding were poorly designed. Their level of preparedness for a hurricane like Katrina was simple: evacuate. However, even this plan was inadequate as it did not make provision for evacuating people who could not leave, such as the elderly, the disabled, the homeless, and people without cars. There were problems at every level. At the local level, plans to evacuate were not followed correctly. At the state level, there were delays in requesting federal help and declaring a state of emergency. At the federal level, there was no plan. This failure to prepare resulted in the loss of thousands of lives and the most catastrophic hurricane ever to hit the United States.
We often use the passage of 1 Kings 18.41-45 to talk about the spiritual rain. Although this passage talks about a physical rain that came upon Israel after a 3-and-a-half-year drought, we often use principles in this passage as a reflection of the spiritual. In verse 41, Elijah heard the rain in his spirit before it actually fell. Do you hear it coming? In verse 42, we point out that Elijah got into the “birthing” position before the rain fell. We must birth the spiritual rain through intercession. Verse 43 reveals the importance of persistence as Elijah’s servant went back and forth 7 times. We often give up after praying two or three times for rain and not seeing anything happen right away. Yet we need to be willing to keep asking until it comes. In verse 44, we see that the storm started out small, “about the size of a man’s hand,” but it quickly became “a great rain” as we see in verse 45. This is powerful, but I have to ask you, how did we get here? How did Elijah prepare for the rain? Let’s rewind a few years.
In 1 Kings 17.1, we see Elijah confronting the evil King Ahab and letting him know that it would not rain in Israel until he gave the word. One chapter later (1 Kings 18.1), we see that it has now been 3 years when God came up with the idea of sending rain. It is important to note that it was God’s idea, not the prophet’s. Today, again it is God’s idea to send rain upon our dry and weary land. But before the rain fell, he had to confront the evil king with his sin (verse 17-18). He then had to confront the people with their sin and force them to choose (verse 21). We then see the prophet rebuilding the altar of God and leading the people in repentance (verse 30). Interestingly, in verses 33 and 34, we see the prophet pouring water over the sacrifice. If you recall, there was a drought in the land. So, Elijah was pouring the one thing they had very little of, not once, not twice, but three times over the sacrifice. He then finally calls the fire from heaven in verse 38 and it burns up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the dust, and the water! That must have been some fire to burn up the stones! Stones don’t normally burn. They get hot, or they melt if the heat is hot enough. Lava, for example, is melted stone. Finally, in verse 40, Elijah had to kill the false prophets.
If we are going to ask God for spiritual rain, then we must prepare for the rain. Like the farmer, we must act. We must till, plow, and irrigate our land if we are to be ready for the coming rain. Otherwise, the rain will come, but we will be destroyed like New Orleans.
We must do the following:
Understand it is God’s idea to send the rain. (Joel 2.23)
Repent of our idolatry and rebuild the altar of God in our lives.
Learn to give sacrificially of ourselves. I’m not necessarily talking about finances. We need to learn to give even when we don’t feel we have anything left.
Call down fire from heaven to burn up every trace of sin.
Kill the false words in our lives. We cannot allow the enemy to lie to us anymore! We are more than conquerors!
God has sent the rain in times past! He can do it again! He WILL do it again! The question is: will we be ready?
