Press the play button to watch the video above or press 'more' to read the transcript of the daily devotion below. Please read 1 Kings 18:20-46 (use your own Bible or use the link above to access the in-App Bible).

‘Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.’ 1 Kings 18:37

I don’t have enough of the stuff on my head to ever have a “bad hair day”, but I know what it is to have a “bad prayer day”. It’s those days when prayer is noisy, rushed, perfunctory, or selfish. When prayer is basically a reflection of how much I am ticked off with life rather than how much I am switched on to God. In 1 Kings 18, we are witnessing a bad prayer day for those who oppose Elijah.

At Mount Carmel, the tension was palpable and the rivalry intense. On one side there was Ahab, the King of Israel, who had actively encouraged the worship of Baal. By Ahab’s side were the prophets of Baal. Opposing them is Elijah, the prophet of the God of Israel. This was a public contest – a showdown for the ages.

First up were the prophets of Baal. They had done as agreed: prepare the sacrifice but put no fire to it, then call upon the name of your god. It was established that the one who answers by fire, he is God. So, the prophets prepared their altar and called upon the name of Baal. They shouted and screamed and wailed and moaned. They raved and ranted but no one answered.

Elijah, on the other hand, is having a good prayer day. He is stood by the altar he had built, prepared, and had drenched with water. Elijah’s prays: ‘Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.’ Then the fire of the Lord fell’.

A good prayer day comes down to purpose and motivation. Here, Elijah is seeking God’s vindication, not to “win” or be proved right, but rather that people might recognise, on a heart level, who God is and what God had done. Elijah shows how our prayers rely on God’s initiative and how they need to be in tune with God’s action. If prayer is seeking God for my own purposes, then my split ends will lead to more bad prayer days.

Let us pray: Loving God, thank you for all that you are and all that you have done. Hear my prayer this day and answer so that I may know more fully that you are turning my heart towards you, in Jesus’s name. Amen.

The Revd Matt Allen, Blackburn Centre Lead Tutor, Emmanuel Theological College.