1 Kings 18:41-46
"41 And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.” 42 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. 43 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. 44 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.’” 45 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.46 And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel."
Elijah's statement in 41 must be understood as an expression of unwavering faith, for as yet the drought seemed as binding as ever, and six times the prophet's servant returned from the brow of the hill with the bald statement, 'There is nothing'. This is a striking example of the prayer of faith at work. Elijah was resting on the faithful promise of God given in 18:1 and counting upon it so utterly that circumstances and evidences to the contrary were irrelevant. To him, as to the writer of Hebrews, 'faith was the substance of things hoped for.' But resting on the promise did not absolve him from the discipline of intercession and supplication - on the contrary it brought him to his knees before God (42), and this ought to remind us of the dangers of complacency and presumption in relation to the promises of God. It was Luther who said, 'The prayers of the saints are the decrees of God beginning to work', and we must learn to understand the mysterious relation between the divine promise and the human response to it that brings it to fulfilment. The important thing is that Elijah waited for the fulfilment, and kept on believing until his faith and hope were rewarded. He 'staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief (Romans 4:20)'. It is this that proves that faith is real; the truly believing man will not be discouraged - by anything.