Thank God Elijah was “just like us”! He sat under a tree, complained to God, and expressed his unbelief—just as we have often done. Yet this was not the case at all when he was truly in touch with God. “Elijah was a man just like us,” yet “he prayed earnestly.” The literal meaning of this in the Greek is magnificent: instead of saying, “earnestly,” it says, “He prayed in prayer.” In other words, “He kept on praying.” The lesson here is that you must keep praying.

Climb to the top of Mount Carmel and see that great story of faith and sight. After Elijah had called down fire from heaven to defeat the prophets of Baal, rain was needed for God’s prophecy to be fulfilled. And the man who could command fire from heaven could bring rain using the same methods. We are told, “Elijah . . . bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees” (1 Kings 18:42), shutting out all sights and sounds. He put himself in a position, beneath his robe, to neither see nor hear what was happening.

Elijah then said to his servant, “Go and look toward the sea” (1 Kings 18:43). Upon returning, the servant replied, “There is nothing there.” How brief his response must have seemed! “Nothing!” Can you imagine what we would do under the same circumstances? We would say, “Just as I expected!” and then would stop praying. But did Elijah give up? No. In fact, six times he told his servant, “Go back.” Each time the servant returned saying, “Nothing!”

Yet “the seventh time the servant reported, ‘A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea’” (1 Kings 18:44). What a fitting description, for a man’s hand had been raised in prayer to God before the rains came. And the rains came so fast and furiously that Elijah warned Ahab to “go down before the rain stops you.”

This is a story of faith and sight—faith cutting itself off from everything except God, with sight that looks and yet sees nothing. Yes, in spite of utterly hopeless reports received from sight, this is a story of faith that continues “praying in prayer.”

Do you know how to pray in that way—how to prevail in prayer? Let your sight bring you reports as discouraging as possible, but pay no attention to them. Our heavenly Father lives, and even the delays of answers to our prayers are part of His goodness. ARTHUR TAPPAN PIERSON

Each of three young boys once gave a definition of faith that illustrates the important aspect of tenacity. The first boy defined faith as “taking hold of Christ,” the second as “keeping our hold on Him,” and the third as “not letting go of Him.”

Elijah was a man who hoped perfectly; hoped against hope until the abundant answer came. He continued, in the very face of darkness and perplexity, to expect, because the very God of hope lived in him and expected through him. And he was not ashamed, for it came to pass the seventh time his servant said, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea” (v. 44), and in a little while the heaven was black with clouds, and there was a great rain!

Can you count God faithful when only the still small voice speaks? When there is neither wind, earthquake, nor fire? Can you start when you see the cloud no bigger than a man’s hand? Can you say: “ ‘There is nothing,’ but I wait on Thee. My mind is peculiarly in the dark regarding the way I am to take, but Thou knowest. Unto Thee do I look up!”

“There is nothing”—though the raindrops needed sorely and so long Have been promised by Jehovah, by the Father true and strong. And the sky is blue and cloudless, and the earth is parched and dry, Yet no showers are forthcoming from the reservoir on high.

“There is nothing”—but the prophet knows and trusts his Master’s word; He is not a senseless idol, but the mighty, powerful God. He has seen His wondrous working, he believes Him faithful still; So he humbly waits in patience for Jehovah’s perfect will.

“There is nothing”—oh, how often doth the enemy declare, Nothing for your constant wrestlings; nothing for your cries and tears. And the faithless heart says “Nothing,” though deceived she ne’er has been, For the little cloud so longed for, at the seventh time is seen.

“There is nothing”—but there shall be: God is still the Great “I AM.” He is now Almighty, faithful, and forevermore the same; And the tears, and cries, and wrestlings, have been recorded on high; Not forgotten, nor neglected, to be answered by and by.

JAMES BOOBYER