A prayer that was not answered!

1 Kings 18:20-29: So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets are 450 men. 23 Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. 24 And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.” 25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” 26 And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. 27 And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” 28 And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. 29 And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.

In our pluralistic society it has become politically correct for apostate professing Christians to gather with priests of false religions and hold joint prayer services for different causes. We are told that we are all praying to the same God and that there are many paths to salvations and many ways to “get in touch with the Sacred.” We are told that we must take a fresh look at the Bible and deconstruct it. We are told that we should sit down and have a conversation as we consider what the Bible really means. We are told in books that everything must change. We are told that a new postmodern church is emerging. We are told in a book that Jesus had a secret message. We are told in a book title that the church should be “Re-Imagined.” We are told that discipleship and sanctification are optional. We are told that Christians should be wealthy and healthy in this world. We are told that churches should be seeker friendly and entertaining. We are told the churches that preach repentance and turning to Christ in faith are rigid and intolerant fundamentalists.

Therefore, nothing much has changed since the days of Elijah as can be seen by the Scripture passage above. The prophets of Baal prayed to a false god fervently and long in this passage, but it was to no avail. You know the rest of the story as Elijah prayed to the true and living God and his prayer was answered with power. How does a person know today which gods are false and what religions are false? In the High Priestly prayer that Jesus prayed (see below) he answered this question directly when he said, “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” In short all religions and gods are false other than the triune God of the Holy Bible. Even a reconstructed non-biblical Jesus of human imagination is a false God.

Only the true and living God who created the universe can answer prayer. He has revealed himself through prophets and most importantly through his son Jesus Christ and The Holy Bible. The gods of other so-called holy books and faith traditions are false gods and are just as impotent as Baal was on Mt. Carmel. God’s plan of using Elijah’s prayers to bring rain did not include praying with false prophets to the false god Baal.

Shouldn’t this passage give us a clue on how we are to pray today?
Any thoughts?