"_And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah_."--1 KINGS xvii. 22.
Yes, and He will hear your voice if you are as much in earnest as he was!
Why should not God hear the voice of William, or Robert, Sarah or Edith?
He is no respecter of persons. Is it not written over the door of mercy,
"Knock, and it shall be opened?" Aye, and the knocker is so low a
child's hand may reach it. St. James tells us that Elijah was "a man of
like passions." He was a human being like you and me, but he had faith
in God. Why should we not believe in God as much as the prophet did? Is
He not God yet? Have any of these sceptics removed Him from His throne?
If He is still there, let us come with boldness as Elijah did.
This was not the first time God had heard the voice of His servant, and
answered his prayer, and there is no reason why we should not have
repeated and continuous replies in answer to our requests. Had Elijah
the same wealth of promise we have? JESUS CHRIST has spoken since those
times, and has said things which ought to fill us with hopefulness
whenever we pray. What wonderful words of cheer He said in those last
few days of His life, such as "Ask and ye shall receive, that your joy
may be full." Look up the references to that verse, and you will feel
you must kneel down and ask for something.
But is there not suggested by that word "Ask," the secret of so much
failure? Do we ask? How often, in what is called prayer, there is
little or no supplication? We are to make our requests known. Listen to
Elijah: "Lord, let this child's soul come into him again." Why should we
not pray in the same direct style? Our prayers would not weary others by
their length, if, before we knelt down, we thought