Elijah called down fire from heaven. And then one threatening message from Jezebel sent him running face-down under a tree, telling God he might as well be dead.
Fear does that. It doesn’t matter what God just did for you. Fear has a way of making you forget all of it.
First Kings 19 is the story of what God did next for Elijah and what He’s still doing for us today.
You’ll discover:
- Why fear after a victory can be more disorienting than failure ever was
- What 1 Kings 19:4 reveals about praying from total brokenness
- Why God answered a threatening voice with a whisper — not a louder one
- What God said when Elijah told Him he was the only one left
- How God’s answer to isolation almost always involves people
Resources mentioned:
- One More Step: Finding Strength When You Feel Like Giving Up — rachelwojo.com/books/one-more-step
- The Hope Circle — rachelwojo.com/the-hope-circle
Until next time, remember — God sees you, He hears you, and He knows your needs.
Transcript
Why there, I’m Rachel, and I’m so glad you’re here today. I am going to be real with you right from the very start. This morning was a morning I woke up looked at the side of my bathroom like I always do. That says Starty Today with gratitude, and I just thought, Lord, I really need some help with that today. I’ve been doing this, writing, podcasting, showing up online in some form or another for sixteen years. And I started with a little blog spot blog and just kept going, not because it was easy, but because God kept nudging me forward. And the first quarter of this year has been long, family stuff, financial stuff, the weather, just a lot. And some mornings you wake up and you genuinely wonder, do I have anything to give today? Maybe you know what I’m talking about. And so today we’re talking about a guy in the Bible who hit that wall hard and what God did next? I need this today and I have a feeling you might too. But first, if you’re in a season where One More Step feels genuinely impossible, I want to make sure you know about my book One More Step, Finding Strength when you feel like giving up. It’s available at rachelwojo dot com Slash Books, Slash one hyphen More hyphen Step. I’ll leave that link in the show notes. And today we’re going to go into questions in hard spaces. The first segment of the podcast is always a question, and today’s question is it okay to tell God that I don’t have the strength to keep going? Is it okay that you don’t have the strength to tell God that you know, I just can’t keep praying? Why? I look at the Bible on First Kings nineteen. I read this last week about where Elijah was, and he had just come off of this enormous victory, and in his ministry Mount Carmel, fire fell from heaven, four hundred and fifty prophets of bail were gone. It’s one of the most dramatic moments in the Old Testament. And then immediately afterwards he runs and he collapses under a juniper tree and says, Lord, this is enough, take my life. And we’re not talking about a man with weak faith. We’re talking about somebody who just had exhausted themselves. And what did God do. Did he tell him, Hey, just get it together. You just called fire down from heaven. No, he sent an angel, and the angel said, you need to eat and you need to sleep, and so he fed him twice, and the angel said to him, the journey is too great for you. I like that. The angel didn’t minimize what Elijah was caring. He put a name on it. He said, you’re too tired, and he served him in a very practical way with food and rest. So it’s okay to tell God you have nothing left. That I actually might be one of the best things that you can say. That exhaustion does not equal failure. But Elijah’s collapse did not disqualify him. God still had big dreams for him. And if you’ve been holding back in prayer because you felt you’re too weak, then God can handle it. He already knows everything. Anyway, Thanks so much for listening into questions in hard spaces. We’ll be right back after this word from our sponsors. Thank you for allowing that brief word from our sponsors. And now for this second segment, Pray More, worry Less. I want to dive back into Elijah’s story because I really just saturated myself with it. God is under juniper trees, and I think this important. This segment is always one prayer principle to help you pray more and worry less. And today’s principle is God meets you under the juniper tree and then he sends people. So, after God gave Elijah the opportunity to rest, Elijah went to Mount Horror, but he went into a cave and this is where God spoke to him and said, what are you doing here, Elijah? And Elijah just unloaded and said, I’ve been zealous for you Lord, and he doesn’t argue with him. He says, go stand on the mountain. And then we often are familiar with the story. There was wind it could have torn the mountain apart, but God wasn’t in the wind. And then there was an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake. And then there was fire, but God wasn’t in the fire. But after that a still small voice came and so many of us. We want that dramatic sign, the unmistakable miracle, and when it doesn’t come, we start to wonder if God’s even paying it to. But I want you to know that God is in the whispers, and you have to be still in order to hear him. I think a lot of times we stop at the whisper. Though after that quietness, we stop at the whisper. We listened to the small voice. But then God gave Elijah instructions, go anoint Hazel, Go anoint Jay, Hugh, Go anoint Elijah. And God says, I’ve reserved seven thousand in Israel who have not bowed to bail. Elijah had thought he was the only one. He was convinced that he was completely alone, and God said, no, there are seven thousand. You just can’t see them when you’re sitting under a juniper tree. Elijah went, he did the anointings. He found Elisha, and Elisha became his successor and his companion. He walked with him, he learned from him, he stayed with him, he ministered to him, and when Elijah was taken up to heaven, Elisha was right there. God’s answer to Elijah’s issues wasn’t just a whisper, it was a person. When we feel like quitting, when we feel like the only one, when prayer feels impossible, then God’s provision often comes in the form of people that he places around us. And they’re usually not perfect people, because none of us are. They’re just people who will walk with us, pray with us, stay with us. That’s community. It’s a part of how God tends to our souls when we’re depleted. And so I wanted to share with you in this final segment of the podcast. I always share an answer prayer story, and this is one from just this morning. Actually, I shared with you that for sixteen years, I’ve been doing some form of online ministry, and it started with that little blog spot blog back when nobody really knew what a blog was. And I’ve never chased popularity. I’ve honestly not thought. I’m not crazy about being on social media. I just love books and stories and writing and I hope I can help somebody get through a hard day. I’ve seen a lot of discouragement in these sixteen years. I lost my mom to leukemia, lost my daughter Taylor slowly through a rare metabolic disorder, and she went to heaven on January second, twenty nineteen. And I’ve lost my dad to cancer. And this quarter, this year has been long for a lot of reasons. So when I woke up this morning and I knew it was a podcasting day and I saw that sign start each day with a grateful heart, and I was feeling heavy, I said, Lord, help me see things the way that you see them. I need an attitude realignment. And I opened my email and there was a message there from a reader. I don’t know how she found me initially or what made her write today, but the last lines of her email said, stay strong in him. He has mighty things in store for you. Stay strong in him. He has mighty things in store for you. There was the answer sitting in my inbox from someone that i’d never met. God met me nder a juniper tree this morning, not with a wind or an earthquake, but a whisper through a kind woman and her email. He tends to us, He sends people, He really does. And if today’s episode found you somewhere real, if maybe you woke up this morning under a juniper tree, there’s more encouragement waiting for you. I have two things for you. One my book One More Step Finding Strength when you feel like giving up. It’s at Rachel wojo dot com, slash Shop, or wherever you buy books. And then, if Elijah’s story resonated with you today, if you’re feeling like you just might be the only one, I wanted to tell you about a brand new opportunity called the Hope Circle. It’s a community of women who pray together, walk together, and show up for each other. Because God’s answer to isolation is people, and the Hope Circle is one of the ways He might be answering that for you right now. You can find out more at Rachel wojo dot com, slash the High and Hope hyphen Circle will put the link in the show notes. You are not the only one and you don’t have to walk alone. Thank you so much for joining me on the Untangling Prayer Podcast today. I pray this episode has encouraged your heart. Until next time, Remember God sees you, he hears you, and he knows your needs. Thanks for joining me on the Untangling Prayer Podcast. If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who could use a little hope, and be sure to subscribe for more. Until next time, keep seeking, keep trusting, and keep praying.