"And the seventh time he said, I see a little cloud, like the palm of the hand, coming up out of the sea." I Kings 18:44

The story of the prophet Elijah, the King Ahab and the prophets of Baal should marvel at the challenge of Elijah and the outcome of the drought intrigue that lasted three and a half years as reported in I Kings 18.

Elijah was a prophet of the Lord, God of Israel. He ministered when Israel was being ruled by Ahab, a king who diverted Israel from God to worship Baal, the foreign idol his wife Jezebel had been worshiping. To punish this apostasy and infamy and bring the people back to God, Elijah prayed that it would not rain for three and a half years.

At the appointed time, after proving to all the prophets of Baal that the Lord is the true God, Elijah had to pray again to make the rain fall.

However, this time around, Elijah had to pray seven times. While it only took him a simple fervent word to ban the rain from falling on Israel the first time, he then had to pray up to seven times for loose heavens. At each prayer, he sent the young man who was with him to check for any sign of cloud. "Go again seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not." (v. 43).

Many lessons flow from this experience. God uses many methods to deal with us his children and our relationships with him are based on faith and prayer. Before Elijah started praying, He spoke to the king in these words: "Go up, eat and drink, for I hear a sound of great rain”. It was by faith that Elijah declared these things. He had to pray for the fulfillment of what his spiritual ears heard.

Have you already prayed the seventh time for a cloud of hope to darken the horizon of your sky? The number of times does not matter; what is important is that you pray until God answers your prayer. Persevere until the next time you are finally showered with rain of blessings. God always watches over His word to fulfill it. So pray your seventh time!

Good week