Is Your Seat Drowning?

In 1Kings 18:41-19:8, a story most are familiar with. Elijah prays for rain in the drought aka "The Battle of the Prophets."

In life, the things we regret the most are the things we missed. You checked on what you thought should have been in trouble, but you missed the very thing you could have never expected. How did I miss the fact the I was failing, how did I miss the fact that I was headed toward bankruptcy, how did I miss that Coronavirus entered our country? How did I miss it? This business is not booming the way that I thought it would, this ministry is boring, irrelevant, and not impactful, young people are no longer attracted to church or SS, how did I miss it? It wasn't that you weren't prepared, you were prepared but you were struck in a place where you did not expect. You could have faced, but you missed it and it feels like you're drowning. When you miss it, apart of you thinks you can not recover. That is why it is imperative that when you do not have the Bible in your hand that you have it in your head. David said "thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee." Now you do not have the faith in God that you are coming out of this but in Ephesian 2:5 &6 says: "Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:" And it is not that you are drowning but your seat in Christ is drowning because you can not connect with the source. You can not tap into prayer the way you used to, you can't tap into worship the way you used. You are tired of 2020, 2021 and all of its cousins. You are tired of Coronavirus, Police brutality, rule and regulations. Your seat is under water.

This is where Israel is in the text. Israel the chosen people, don't feel chosen anymore. The drought will convince you, you will never recover from here. But when God gets ready to save His people from drowning, He sends the drought because drought air and dries things out. It brings you to a place where you have to reevaluate your life because everything you counted on turned out to be nothing and now you down to nothing. So can you still save me, can you meet down here. God send prophet Elijah because Israel is drowning spiritually. They drowning in baal worship, astereth worship, and they are under the most evil king and queen in all of its history. In 1Kings 17:1-4, God calls Elijah away. Because it important that Elijah stays focused on who he has to be in this moment. Sometimes we are so somber or we try to prove to people that we can be in drought with them that we miss the opportunity to be the person who deliver them from the drought. Spending time with God will help you to up and get back in position. David says in Psalms and I am summarizing that David and had lost his position and he had to get back in position and fight. When we are delivered from the drought, we have to get back in position which is our seat in Christ, put on our spiritual gloves, and get ready to fight. Elijah gets down with the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah. The prophets of Baal and Asherah go first they sing, cut themselves and make a fool of themselves until Elijah has had enough. His service was different. Elijah begins to pray. Nowhere in scripture is it recorded that Elijah asked God to rain down fire. Instead, the synopsis of his prayer is God show them who you are. His prayer is 63 words. Which shows us that it is not the arithmetic of our prayers, how long they might be, or the geometry of our prayers, how pretty and eloquent, but it is the fervency, frequency, and consistency. In James 5:6 "The effectual prayer of a righteous man/woman availth much." The prayer ain't gotta be long as long as it is strong. It is not length of the prayer but the strength of your prayer that makes it effective. So 63 words was all it took for God rain down fire on Elijah's altar. Eventually the drought ended and God's people were brought back to Him.

When a person drowns under water the water enters a person's lungs. That is why it is said "do not panic when in water" because when a person is in water and they panic it makes you sink. When you are relaxed your body is able to float to the top. So it true in our spiritual walk. When you are drowning under water and you panic, meaning you doubt, worry, panic. Then you end up worshiping the god (lowercase g) of doubt and worry. It is not that you meant to do that but it all got diluted in your struggle to rise back up. Just like the water that enters a person's lungs when droning in water, the devil and his tactics get in your head when your seat is drowning.

We are reminded again in Ephesians 1: 20 & 21 that "Which He worked in Christ when He raised Him, from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in Heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come." Basically, we are seated in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus above powers, principalities, might, and dominion.

Remember that you are not drowning but your seat in Christ is and all you have to do is cry out to Him because Peter says, "When the righteous cry out He will deliver them."