And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again,” seven times.
Elijah has just seen fire fall on Carmel, and he has already told Ahab that rain is coming. Yet here he lies face down, sending a servant to scan an empty sea — so why pray for what God has already promised?
Prayer and a promise
God had told Elijah He would send rain, and Elijah prayed anyway. One writer points to a common mistake: treating God's certainty as a reason to do nothing.
A J PollockMany Christians throw their responsibilities and privileges overboard because of God's sovereignty. God in His sovereignty was about to bless Israel, to remove the curse that had for so long dried up her streams. The prophet might have said, "Why do I need to pray, when God has told me He is going to send the rain?" But not so. He went to Mount Carmel — a place of expectancy. From there he could scan the whole seaward horizon.
The same pattern appears elsewhere: God states His purpose, then invites His people to ask Him for it.
W. W. FeredayThe knowledge that God means to give does not make prayer unnecessary. So in Ezekiel 36–37 the Lord declared His purposes of grace for Israel in a very full way. Then He said, "this also I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them."
While the world feasts
The same news moved Elijah and the world in opposite directions.
Hamilton SmithHe hears the sound of coming rain. He knows it is no time for feasting with the world. It is time to draw apart from men — to get alone with God at the top of the hill. When the world goes up to feast it is the time for God's people to go up to prayer. Nature might say that if rain is already on the way, there is no need to pray. But for the spiritual man that sound is a call from God to pray.
Hearing, and then looking
Elijah had certainty in his ears before anyone had seen a thing.
William KellyNo ear of man on earth heard that sound but Elijah's. "The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him." Elijah goes up, as the king does, and sends his servant to look. He had heard the sound, but he wanted to get the testimony of the sight from his servant. His servant goes, and looks, but sees nothing.
The older translation Kelly quotes reads, "The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him."
"There is nothing"
Anyone who has prayed and then seen nothing change knows this report. One writer says the waiting itself is God's teaching.
Hamilton SmithWe must not only pray but watch and pray. As the apostle urges us, "Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving." In Elijah's prayer we see this watching. He heard the sound that summoned him to prayer, and he prayed, and he watched, but at first he sees nothing. How often it is like this with God's people today. God has lessons to teach us, and so for a while He may keep us waiting at His door. We watch to see God's hand at work, and we see nothing. Is it not to teach us that we see nothing of God because something of self fills our vision? We must learn our own nothingness before we see God at work. God will also teach us that prayer is not some secret charm we can use at any moment to get what we ask. Its power lies in the One to whom we pray.
"Go again, seven times"
Elijah's reply to the empty report is not a new prayer but the same one, repeated.
Hamilton SmithIf then we pray and watch, and yet have to own with Elijah's servant, "There is nothing," what more can we do? This question receives a very definite answer from Elijah. He says, "Go again seven times." In other words, we must persevere. We cannot hurry God. We think of what is agreeable to ourselves; God thinks of what is for His glory and our profit.
The silence between the first look and the seventh is not what it seems.
William KellyGod may seem indifferent, as Elijah found on Mount Carmel ("Go again seven times"). But it only seems so. Human friendship may break down under too much strain. We honour God when we count on Him like this.
Summary
- Promise → prayer. A settled purpose of God is a call to pray, not an excuse to stop; Elijah prayed for the rain God had already guaranteed.
- Prayer → separation. Ahab went to the feast, Elijah went up the hill alone. The moment the world relaxes is the moment for God's people to pray.
- Prayer → watching. He did not only ask; he sent someone to look. Real prayer expects an answer and keeps its eyes open for it.
- Watching → waiting. "There is nothing" is a normal report. God may keep us at His door until self stops filling our view of Him.
- Waiting → perseverance. "Go again" is the answer to an empty horizon. God's indifference is only apparent, and we honour Him by counting on Him.