Ahab, the king of Israel, sent for Elijah, the prophet of God. "Why have we not had rain for three years?" he asked Elijah. "What did you do to cause this drought?"

'I didn't cause it," Elijah replied, "the people of Israel are to blame because they have worshipped Baal and not Jehovah. How long will you remain undecided? If Baal is god serve him, but if Jehovah is God, then serve Him. Call your prophets of Baal and meet me at Mt. Carmel. We're going to have a contest to see who is the true God."

All the people were there, the people of Israel, the prophets of Baal, all four hundred-fifty of them, and Elijah.

"Here is what we will do," Elijah commanded. "You build an altar to Baal, and I will build one to Jehovah. We will put wood and the sacrifice on each altar, but NO fire. Then we will pray, and the God who answers by sending down fire will show himself to be the true God!" This pleased the prophets of Baal, so they agreed to it. "Now, you go first," Elijah instructed them.

They were very careful to build their altar just the way they thought it should be. They cut the wood and placed it on the altar, cut up the sacrifice and put it on the wood, and started to pray. "Oh, mighty Baal. You are the great and true god. Prove how powerful you are by sending down fire. Show us that you do hear our prayers and answer them."

When they prayed, do you know what happened? Nothing, that's what. So they prayed louder. "Oh great Baal, answer our prayers and send down fire!" But still nothing happened.

Then Elijah began to make fun of them. "Maybe he can't hear you, cry louder. Maybe he's taking a walk, or maybe he's even asleep. Cry louder, wake him up, then he can answer you." But still nothing happened. They even cut themselves with stones and tore their clothes to prove how sincere they were. But the wood and sacrifice were still there; nothing had happened.

Then, late in the afternoon when the evening sacrifices were always made, Elijah said, "Now it's my turn." He built his altar to Jehovah, cut the wood, and placed it on the altar the way God had told Moses, and cut up the sacrifice and put it on the altar. He also dug a trench all the way around the altar.

Then he turned to servants standing there and told them, "Pour water on the altar and the sacrifice. Now, do it again, and then do it a third time." By this time everything on the altar was wet: the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, even the trench was filled with water.

When everything was done, Elijah prayed a very quiet prayer. "Oh Lord God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, hear my prayer, and prove that I have done this by your command. Answer my prayer and prove that you are the only true God."

Almost before he was finished praying, fire came flying down from heaven, burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and even licked up the water in the trench!

When the people saw what had happened, they began to cry, "The Lord, He is God. Jehovah is God."

The people knew that Jehovah was God because one man had stood against all the prophets of Baal. God had proved that He will answer the prayers of those who do His will.