When I pray, I want my answers immediately. Just like when I put my money into a vending machine, I want my candy bar asap.

In light of that, I find myself enjoying Elijah’s confrontation with the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18). Initially, I laugh at Elijah taunting the Baal-ites as they jump around and slash themselves and cry to an empty sky. The mockery and trash-talking adds a piece to my religion I usually enjoy elsewhere.

But with a longer look I notice something else—three different types of answers to the prayers offered up in the story.

First, the prophets of Baal pray with intensity and fervor, for hours and hours, even harming themselves in the process. No answer—no god exists to answer.

Second, Elijah asks God to answer him, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again. BOOM! The fire of God rains down and everyone falls on their faces.

Third, after the explosion on the mountaintop, the Lord delivered rain to quench a severe drought. Even then, the heavy clouds took their time in rising from the sea and covering the land. Finally, the Lord answered the years-long prayers of thirsty people with life-sustaining rains.

What do I learn from this story? Obviously, I prefer fiery answers to my prayers—immediate, dramatic, final. However, since I’ve never experienced fire from heaven, I’m also quite happy with answers to my long running prayers. Like water on parched ground, relief and joy spread through my soul.

Approaching God like a vending machine uncovers my bad beliefs about prayer. Trusting the Lord of the Universe to work, in his time (which still takes forever, in my opinion), reflects the way the Lord worked for Elijah, and the way the Lord continues to work today.

I Kings 18 in week twenty-eight of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Max LaRochelle