A Cloud As Small As A Man’s Hand

 There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea - 1 Kings 18:44.

                   God told Elijah that He will send rain to earth. And it came to pass after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth.” - 1 Kings 18:1. Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.” So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees,  and said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea - 1 kings 18:41,42.

                 Elijah never gave up, because God had spoken and so he told his servant to look toward the sea for seven times. In the seventh time, the servant told that there is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea and then there was a heavy rain. So he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again” - 1 King 18:43. Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” So he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you’” - 1 King 18:44. Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain - 1 King 18:45.

                 Let us never give up but pray with expectation like Elijah as every promise of God's Word will be fulfilled. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit - James 5:16-18. You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink. And this is a simple matter in the sight of the Lord - 2 Kings 3:17,18.

                                                                   

PRAYER: You are the promise keeping God. Help us to pray in faith with expectation. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.