Looks like my Mic dies at 25 min.

Why in the heck does God need our prayers?

“After many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth.”” (1 Kings 18:1, ESV)

“When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals. Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”” (1 Kings 18:17–19, ESV)

“And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.” So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. 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. And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.’ ” And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel. And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.” (1 Kings 18:41–46, ESV)

It is about a distance of 10 miles that Elijah ran to get to Jezreel before Ahab’s horses and chariots.

God said he would send rain. Why did Elijah have to pray, and that 7 times?

Givehim15.com - March 11, 2021

“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.” (James 5:13–18, ESV)

God is Sovereign, he can do what he wills. Why does he desire and require our cooperation and participation?

Faith or Fatalism:

Fatalism: God is Sovereign. He will do whatever he wills, so why bother praying? Extreme Calvinism and Islam are similar in this regards towards God.

God is indeed sovereign and sometimes he acts without human participation, but often it is for judgment of a rebellious people. Even then, he relents when people repent.

“Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.” (Jonah 3:4–5, ESV)

“When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.” (Jonah 3:10, ESV)

“The heavens are the Lord’s heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man.” (Psalm 115:16, ESV)

The Truth is that God’s will is for our victory, our healing, our deliverance and for salvation, but there is resistance in the earth and the atmosphere.

“Thy will be done on earth, as it is already being done in heaven....”

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,