Know the word - week 13 - Spirit of Elijah

Spirit of Elijah 

1 Kings 17-19

Elijah is a mighty prophet of the Lord who spoke up with boldness against the rulers of his days. In fact, prophet Malachi talks about the coming of Elijah before the coming of the Messiah. Four hundred years later, gospel writer Luke writes about the ‘spirit of Elijah‘ bringing people to a state of readiness to meet the coming of the  Lord. 

God wants all of us to be like prophet Elijah and have his character in us. What is the ‘spirit of Elijah’?

Spirit of Elijah symbolizes a spirit of repentance in us. What does it mean?

If we have the spirit of Elijah, we 

• shun seeking personal greatness 
• Never rely on human ability 
• Obey precisely what the spirit of the Lord says 
• Refuse to depend on the facts but relies on what God says
• Fear the lord more than we fear the rulers of the land. 
• Strike down the Gods of the land. 
• Triumph over false prophets and principalities of the world 

There’s another important point about Christian faith that we can learn from prophet Elijah’s life. Despite performing massive miracles in Israel in front of the King and Baal’s prophets, the next day, he flees in fear. In fact, he speaks the words that a person with clinical symptoms of depression usually says - ‘God, please take my life.’ Elijah’s life shows us that Christians are not immune to depression. But the response of the Christian should be to stay in touch with God. Elijah did just that. And, he heard back from God who healed his depression and provided him courage to anoint a successor. 

Isn’t Elijah an amazing example of the power of the living God at play in an individual’s life? We should not forget that the success of Elijah lies in his unflinching faith in God.