SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22
Scripture: 1 Kings 17:1

1 Kings 17:1 says, “And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.” How do you restrain evil when everyone who is promoting evil gets all their money from an agrarian economy? Ahab’s culture did not have a way to keep the economy functioning without rain. And how did God decide to restrain Ahab’s evil? He prepared the people so He brought the affliction of poverty by withholding rain. Without rain there was no production and without healthy crops prosperity was lost. People were facing economic destruction and eventually famine and even death. God raised up a restrainer of evil and his name was Elijah the prophet. God is no respecter of persons and you and I can use our faith to pray God’s restraint in any given situation. We have to keep our ears tuned to the Holy Spirit and when He leads us, we ought to be willing to pray restraint.