Discover the secrets of powerful prayer with Rabbi Schneider as he examines the prayer lives of key biblical figures. This session highlights Elijah’s extraordinary faith and dedication in confronting obstacles while standing firmly for truth. Rabbi Schneider encourages listeners to engage with prayers of greater substance, focusing not just on personal needs, but on spiritual growth and alignment with God’s will. Align your soul with divine purpose, asking God to prove Himself and His truth in your life. Explore how praying for wisdom and divine insight can yield blessings and unfold God’s favor as seen in the lives of
Welcome to Discovering the Jewish Jesus. I’m your host, Dustin Roberts, and today Rabbi Schneider is going to continue to help us deepen our communication with Father God. Prayer, it should be our foundation. It should be the first step in any situation that we face in our lives. But oftentimes, instead of making prayer our top priority, we relegate it to a couple of routine phrases that we say before eating a meal or even going to sleep. But As we’re going to learn today, Rabbi Schneider will show us that there is power in prayer with examples from Elijah, Solomon, and even Yeshua, Jesus himself. So if you’ve missed any of the previous messages, I want to encourage you, catch them online at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And now here’s Rabbi Schneider.
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In today’s broadcast, we’re gonna look at the prayer life of Elijah. You know, the New Testament tells us that Elijah was a man just like you and me, and yet when he prayed it would stop raining, it stopped raining. Of course, Jesus gives us that word of encouragement to know that we can move the heart of God just like he did. Those of you that have been tuning into this series understand that the reason I’m taking the time, beloved ones, to go through these outstanding prayers of the patriarchs of the Hebrew Bible is to help us understand the type of prayer that moves God. We look at Solomon and the prayer for wisdom and how that pleased the heart of God. I looked at Moses and how Moses prayed for a revelation of God’s glory. And we talked about the fact that even though we’re on earth, Even in this life, while we’re in the flesh, God desires to reveal elements of His glory to us. We looked at Jacob and how Jacob was an imperfect human being, and that because of Jacob’s desperation and his desire to experience the Lord, God blessed him and changed Jacob’s destiny. And when we pray similar types of prayers as those that we’ve examined and the ones that we’ll be examining today, when we pray these types of prayers, beloved, from a pure heart and with faith, these prayers will move mountains and move the heart of God. And we’re going to get answers to our prayers. You see, I remember years ago when I started out pastoring and I was in a church at the time that was just very, very traditional. And, you know, sometimes what happens is a religious institution that starts out being a powerful movement and is powerfully moving in the spirit Sometimes what happens is that religious institution can begin to just do things on autopilot. In other words, the things that they began to do years ago that were very effective years ago when they were being done from a fresh move of the spirit, if we continue to do those things year after year after year and don’t catch the fresh wave of God’s spirit, the things that we begin to do just by rote and habit will no longer be effective. I remember years ago, I was in a church, pastoring a church, and they had a Wednesday night prayer meeting. And I would come to the prayer meeting along with a handful of others every Wednesday night. What I found was in this midweek prayer meeting is people came week after week after week You know, just requesting the same things, but it seemed like none of the requests that ever came forth week after week ever dealt with, listen now, the weightier matters of the Spirit that we’ve been looking at during this series. They were always for things that were important, the request, but never the most important. Things like health needs. Very, very important to pray about our health needs. But the deepest issues, beloved, are issues that have to do with the spirit, the soul. Issues that have to do with knowing God, being empowered by the Holy Spirit, et cetera. And week after week, they would just lift up these requests to the Lord to pray for so-and-so and, you know, kind of make fun, let’s pray for so-and-so’s, you know, hang toenail, you know, let’s pray for so-and-so’s traveling mercies. And again, these are important, but it was just these same things week after week. No one ever prayed for wisdom. No one ever prayed to be sanctified. No one ever prayed to be washed of their sin. No one ever asked God to show up supernaturally in the here and the now. And what I believe I was in was a form of religion that was devoid of power. Now, why do I share this with you today, beloved one? Because perhaps some of you have a prayer life that resembles the one that I just described. You’re praying out of obligation. but you’re not really being moved by the Spirit in your heart and asking God with passion for the weightier things. So for example, when I speak of the weightier things, we talked about Solomon’s prayer and how Solomon said, Lord, give me wisdom to lead your people. And the Lord said to him, Solomon, because you’ve asked this thing, because you’ve asked me for wisdom and a discerning heart to lead my people, I am gonna give you, Solomon, a heart to lead, understanding and discernment. And in addition to that, Solomon, the Lord said, because you asked me for this thing that is so important to my heart, God said, I’m gonna also bless you with riches and honor. You see, some prayers carry deeper weight with the heart of God. Many people on planet earth right now that say they know God, the reality is, if you think about this, many that claim to know God, hear me now, are much more focused not on moving God’s heart, but they’re more focused on moving other people’s heart. Even sometimes when people pray, they’re not really even thinking about God when they’re praying. They’re just thinking, how can I sound spiritual to the two other people that I’m praying with? How can I sound spiritual in this group that’s hearing me pray? You see, beloved, there is such a thing as false religion and even having a false type of prayer language. We’re talking today, beloved, not about the superficial. not about religious prayers of obligation and tradition. We’re talking today, beloved ones, about prayers that move the heart of God. And so by studying the prayer life of these important figures in scripture, these important individuals that stand out from the pages of the Bible, by looking at their prayer life, we can understand the type of prayers that move God’s heart. Well, with that said, I want to continue on today. I want to look at Elijah. What a charismatic figure from the Hebrew Bible. You know, we read a messianic prophecy in the book of Malachi that before Messiah came, Elijah would come first to announce his coming. In fact, when Jesus was on earth, some of the skeptics said to him, If you’re Messiah, they asked, where is Elijah? For the prophet has told us that before the day of the Lord, Elijah would come first, prepare his coming. You know what Jesus said? John the Baptist is Elijah, if you can receive it. Kind of a mysterious scripture, but John the Baptist came in the power and in the spirit that was on Elijah. Elijah is a very powerful, charismatic figure in the Hebrew Bible. Elijah and Moses appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration as the two primary figures of the Old Testament. We could tell of Elijah’s many great miracles and the outstanding way that he displayed the glory of God, but I wanna go right now to the book of 1 Kings, chapter number 18. I’m gonna be reading there verse number 36 through 39, and we’re gonna look at one of Elijah’s famous prayers And then we’re going to look for application, beloved ones, for our own life today. Hear the word of God. At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “‘O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, “‘today let it be known that you are God and Israel “‘and that I am your servant.'” And I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me that this people might know you, O Lord, that you are God and that you have turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, the Lord, he is God, the Lord God. He is God. Elijah’s prayer is that God would number one, prove himself, that the God of Israel was indeed the true God. And that secondly, Elijah prayed that God would vindicate that Elijah was his servant and that the things that he was doing was at the command of the Lord. Now let me ask you today, beloved ones, what about in your life? Are you in situations where you’re up against individuals that believe in a false religion? Your family, your friends, people in your workplace, your neighbors, they don’t believe that King Jesus, that the Lord Jesus Christ is God. Instead, they don’t believe in God at all. Or they believe in a New Age religion. Or they believe in some other religion. And sometimes they may even mock you and they may even make fun of you and they treat you cynically and condescendingly. This is what Elijah the prophet was up against when he came against the prophets of Baal. The prophets of Baal believed that Baal was God. They laughed and scorned at Elijah and the God of Israel. So you know what the great prophet Elijah did? He prayed to the God of heaven. He prayed to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And he said, oh God, prove to everybody that you are God. And as you know, Elijah built a sacrifice. along with the prophets of Baal. The prophets of Baal built their sacrifice. They stacked up the wood on the altar and they called upon the God of Baal to come down and consume the sacrifice. And most of us know the story. They cried and they cried, they tore their clothes, they cut themselves. The prophets of Baal screamed and shouted, but no fire fell from heaven. Elijah the prophet began to make fun of him. He said, where’s your God? Can he not hear? Where’s Baal? Maybe he’s taking a nap. Finally, Elijah said, enough is enough. He called out to the God of Israel. He said, oh God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, most high God and living God, prove to all of Israel and the prophets of Baal today that you are God and that I am your servant. And when he did, beloved one, the fire fell. It consumed the sacrifice. It burned up the wood. It even caused all the water to evaporate so there was nothing left but the smoke of the glory of God. And then Elijah commanded his servants to go destroy the false prophets of Baal. What an awesome, awesome sight. In fact, many of us that have been to Israel have even gone to where this actual sacrifice took place, to the mount there. What an unbelievable memory.
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You’re listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus and Rabbi will be right back. So please keep listening. Did you know that you can connect with Rabbi right on your phone? The Rabbi Schneider app is packed with resources, videos, and a daily devotional that are designed to help jumpstart your day. The Rabbi Schneider app is free, bringing you inspiration and encouragement 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Simply search for Rabbi Schneider in your phone’s app store and download the app today. Discovering the Jewish Jesus could not accomplish its mission without partners like you. Together, we are preparing men and women for the soon return of Jesus. So please stop by our website to give a one-time donation or to partner with us on a monthly basis. Through your simple act of generosity, you are making an impact. Go to discoveringthejewishjesus.com or call 800-777-7835. And now with the conclusion of today’s message, here is Rabbi Schneider.
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I want to ask you today, are you against some forces in your life? People that believe in a false God, again, they don’t believe in God at all. They’re mocking Jesus. They’re mocking you. You know what? You can pray the same prayer that Elijah prayed. You could say, God, listen, prove yourself. Isn’t that what Elijah was doing? Listen again what Elijah said. Oh Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that you are God and Israel and that I am your servant and I have done all these things at your word. I believe that God wants to vindicate his children. I believe he wants to vindicate many of you. I believe that some of you are in relationships right now where in some way the devil has the upper hand. Not that greater is he that is in you is not greater than he that’s in the world. I’m not saying that at all. Greater is he that’s in you than he that’s in the world for everyone that’s born of God. But I’m saying that you’re in some relationship dynamics. For some of you, it’s with a mom or a dad. For others of you, it’s with an in-law. Others, it may be people at work, brothers and sisters. But you’ve gotten into a relationship dynamic with somebody where you began to witness for Jesus and they began to make fun of you. They began to twist your words. Maybe they even have a higher intellect than you do. And somehow they made you seem small. Somehow you began to pull back. Somehow you began to feel intimidated. And somehow right now, you’re feeling that you have the lesser hand in that relationship, that Jesus isn’t being magnified through your life as Lord, and that Jesus isn’t being magnified in the relationship as Lord. I’m here to tell you right now, I want you to call upon Jesus and ask him to prove that he’s God in that relationship. Ask Jesus’ fire to fall. Ask His glory to fall. Whether it’s between you and a brother and a sister, you and a mom and dad, you and someone in your neighborhood, you and people at work, I want to encourage you right now, beloved child of God, get on your knees and do what Elijah did. And say, oh God, I love you. Jesus, I love you. I feel the devil right now is making fun of your word, of your truth, of your salvation. And I ask your fire to fall right now, Father God. And I ask that you would prove that you are God. Isn’t that what Elijah did? Isn’t that what Elijah prayed? The God of Israel, the fire of his glory fell and he separated the true from the false. He set apart Elijah as his prophet and he put to shame the prophets of Baal. Do you know what? I believe that God wants to do that for many of you right now. I believe God wants to bring a division in some of the relationships that you’re having with people when those relationships are causing dishonor to come upon the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, Jesus said, do not think I’ve come to bring peace, for I have not come to bring peace, but to bring a sword. And Jesus said, sometimes relationship with me will separate a father from a son, mother from daughter. But we have to be more concerned with standing with Jesus than we do with getting along with flesh and blood. Sometimes, beloved, if you’re gonna inherit everything that Jesus has for you, and if God’s gonna be able to do for you as much as he wants to do, you’re gonna have to make a decision to stand with him, even if it alienates certain ones that you’re in relationship with right now. I believe God wants the fire to fall in some of your relationships. I believe that he wants to bring a separation into some of your lives, into those relationships where you are unequally yoked with someone that’s ungodly and they are making fun of your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I bind your mouth right now and I command you to shut up. I render you powerless under the feet of the people of God right now. The Lord said, test me in this and prove me in this. I want you to get on your knees. In fact, I’m gonna get on my knees right now and I’m gonna ask that the glory of God would fall in your life just as it fell in Elijah’s life when that fire fell on Mount Carmel and where the prophets of Baal were consumed. Father God, I ask you to prove yourself on earth in the sphere of influence of your people. Father God, I think about Jesus. He always was in control. Even when he went to the cross, he was in control. Father, how he was able to silence the Sadducees and silence the Pharisees. And Father God, how you backed up his word with miracles. and signs and wonders. Father, I think about in the early church when Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit and they were struck down. Father, I think about how you proved yourself. And Father, I ask you to prove yourself now in the lives of your children that, Father, they would live as lights in this world and that even their enemies would be forced to admit that the glory of God is on the lives of your people. If we don’t have a history of stability with people, if we haven’t been walking in wisdom, then we’re gonna have a difficult time, beloved, getting people to listen to us. So I wanna ask you, let’s just repent before the Father right now. God is a good God. He loves you. He’s faithful and just. Forgive us and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. All things pass away. All things become new. You become a new creation in Christ Jesus. So let’s just pray, beloved one, right now. If your foolishness has been in the way, of the glory of God being manifest in your relationship so that he could be proved into your sphere of influences, let’s just pray right now for forgiveness. Father, we want to thank you that through the blood of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, Father, that we’re cleansed of all unrighteousness. And we want to thank you, Father, that by the renewing work of your Holy Spirit in our life, Father God, that we are transformed into the very image of your Son from grace to grace, from strength to strength, and from glory to glory. So Father, right now I speak blessing and increase over your children. I declare, Father, that they’re gonna walk in wisdom. Father, that they’re gonna be walking in a way from this point forward, that it’s gonna be remarkable that, Father God, they’re gonna walk in such a way that the people around them will have to take notice of the supernatural wisdom that’s on their life. Father God, I declare that your people will be able to live as lights in this world, because you said, Jesus, that your purpose is that we’d be lights on a hill, that people would see and they’d be able to look up and give glory to God in heaven because of the remarkable glory that they see on our lives. So, Father God, we want to thank you today. that, Father, the God of Elijah’s glory rests on our life. We want to thank you, Lord, that the Holy Spirit is our portion and that we can live in victory in this world, displaying your glory and your supremacy to all those around us, even to those that don’t like us and reject us. that they won’t be able to deny your glory on our lives, even as the prophets of Baal could not deny when your glory fell. I declare right now, Father, your glory on your church, that your name will be exalted and lifted up through our lives. father i even decree separation in relationships where your people are bound in a relationship and the yoke of the relationship that’s binding them is not from you and it’s bringing you dishonor and bringing defeat into the life of your child Beloved, I hope and trust that you received something and were blessed by today’s broadcast. Now I want to give you the opportunity to do something even greater than receiving, and that’s giving. Many of us know that Jesus said it’s more blessed to give than to receive. In fact, when we give, we’re participating in our Christlikeness because God is by nature a giver. He so loved you and me that He gave His only begotten Son. If you believe in me and believe that this broadcast is helping people, I want to ask you, just open up your heart to the Holy Spirit. Just give as he leads you to give. I can promise you this. In so doing, you’ll be conformed to the image of Christ, who is a giver, and you’ll be blessed, beloved, for your obedience to God. I love you, and I want to thank you for your love and financial gifts today. It makes this program possible.
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Amen. And to give a financial gift of any amount today, go to discoveringthejewishjesus.com or you can also give us a call. Our number is 800-777-7835. That’s 800-777-7835. And if you’d like, you could also send your donation in the mail. Our address is Discovering the Jewish Jesus, P.O. Box 777, Blissfield, Michigan 4980. 228. And listen, when you give, as a token of our gratitude, we want to make sure that you get our latest newsletter. Now, this is a special piece that’s packed with exciting ministry updates and lots of information like all of our station airings where you can listen to us. It also includes exclusive additional content from Rabbi. And I believe that when you take advantage of this resource, it’ll help you grow in your spiritual walk in a special way. You’ll also get Rabbi’s Message of the Month, and it’s new how we’re doing it now. It’s this specially designed teaching. It’s a pamphlet. The latest one was Dwell with God, and I loved it. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes to read it, and you can really dive into a deep devotion with the Lord. So I want to encourage you, make sure to look for those when you give. And then Speaking of other ways you can transform your walk, I also want to let you know today that you can check out Rabbi’s authentic and uncompromising messages by streaming our shows on Roku television. That’s right. From the comfort of your own home, you can watch Rabbi on demand. So just open up your Roku app today, search for Discovering the Jewish Jesus, and we hope that you enjoy listening to our messages there.
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The Aaronic blessing in the book of Numbers chapter 6 is not a blessing that comes from an impersonal being out there somewhere in the heavens. This special blessing comes from a person, Yahweh God Almighty, our Creator and Maker. So receive God’s blessing into your life right now.
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with His countenance. And the Lord give you, beloved one, His peace. God bless you and shalom.
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This program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus. Join us next time when Rabbi Schneider shows us how we can let go of the fear that’s holding us back. That’s Wednesday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.
