FRIDAY, JULY 19, 2024
God sent the prophet Elijah to a widow in Zarephath in the country of Sidon. That entire nation worshipped Baal. But a beautiful surprise was awaiting Elijah! When he met the widow, she immediately let him know that she believed in Jehovah, the God of Israel, the only true God. Today that would be like a preacher of the Gospel who goes to Mecca in Saudi Arabia and meets a local person there who worships Christ! Elijah must have been happily shocked.
In our day, this story is multiplied many times over. God’s Spirit is drawing to Christ people who live in societies that are hostile to the Gospel.
PRAYER
Blessed are you, Lord God, for ever and ever. You alone are God. You are the King of kings and Lord of lords. We praise your most holy name for what you are doing by the power of your Spirit.
We know that, because of your power and authority, there was an Abraham in the city of Ur (Genesis 11:31), a Joseph in Potiphar’s house (Genesis 39:1-6), a Moses in Midian (Exodus 3:1), an Obadiah in King Ahab’s palace (1 Kings 18:3-13), a Nehemiah as the king’s cupbearer (Nehemiah 1:11), an Esther as queen of Persia (Esther 2:15-18), a Nicodemus in the Sanhedrin (John 3:1; 7:50), a Cornelius in the Roman army (Acts 10:1-2); and there were saints in Caesar’s palace (Philippians 4:22)! All these people worshipped you, the true God, in the midst of societies that did not acknowledge you and were often hostile towards you.
We pray for a special visitation by your Spirit to Muslims from all walks of life. Lead them to the cross of Calvary. May they be like the widow in Zarephath, ready to declare that they worship God and adore Christ his Son, even in the midst of antagonistic societies. As a saint of generations past prayed, “May Messiah’s Kingdom come to the overthrow of her that sits on the Seven Hills and to the eternal waning of Mohammed’s moon, to the overthrow of every idol, that Christ alone may reign.”1
Yours, Lord, are the greatness and the power and the majesty for ever and ever. Amen.
PROMISE
He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things (Psalm 107:9, NIV).
I’ve kept 7,000 people for myself who have not knelt to worship Baal (Romans 11:4, GW).