LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
ByPastor Mensa Otabil
Monday 7th July 2025
DECLARE GOD’S WORD
Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 17:1-7
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.” 1 Kings 17:1
Elijah is a fascinating character who exemplifies authority. He burst onto the scene in the scriptures, without a previous introduction or reference, to make an all-important announcement. His name, Elijah, means Yahweh ‘Jah’ is my God ‘El’.
At the time Elijah showed up, Israel had bowed to the worship of Baal. They were ruled at the time by King Ahab, who had fallen away from God. Through a process of political and religious intrigue, the worship of Jehovah had been relegated to the background. Baal, who was reputed to be a storm or rain god, was widely worshipped in Israel.
Elijah went against Baal, the rain god, and declared that there would be no rain. This was no ordinary contest. Elijah set up a contest between Jehovah and Baal to determine who really controlled the rain. He did that by declaring, “AT MY WORD.”
The Christian has enormous power in their spirit. And that power will not be evident until we declare it with our mouths. And that is why Elijah came and made that declaration. The power of God always needs a connection, just like electricity. For the electrical power coming from a transformer to be activated, it needs cables and a switch. The words we speak are the cable and switch. They release the word of God into action.
Although Elijah seems to have appeared from nowhere, the book of James indicates much later that he had been praying fervently. Elijah himself gives a hint with the words, ‘before whom I stand’. That speaks of a relationship with God. It is therefore evident that Elijah literally emerged from prayer to make that declaration. The audacious declaration Elijah made was born out of a time spent in the presence of the Lord and in earnest prayer, probably like what we are going through now.
We spend time praying to build our relationship with God, to harness the power of God after which we speak to release the word of God through our mouths. If you are a child of God and have accepted Jesus as the Lord of your life, you have the awesome power of God residing in you. Spend time studying the scriptures and speak to release the word of God and the power of God out of your mouth. That is how we take authority.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, you have placed your word in my heart and in my mouth. I release your power through my words. In Jesus’ name, Amen
