Day 104: January 12, 2026 – I Kings 16-19 and James 1-2

There is a nice concurrence between the Old and the New Testament readings that we have today. In I Kings we are introduced to the prophet Elijah who lived during the time of the worst of the worst kings who took the people of Israel away from God, Ahaz. Remember, there are two kingdoms now. The South, called Judah and who was stable and faithful under the rule of Asa during this time, and the North, called Israel who had a succession of bad kings and established their center in Samaria, where a lot of idol worship and offerings took place. Elijah is the prophet to the North, to Ahaz, and he challenges the prophets of Baal during a time of very, very severe drought. He wins the battle of the prophets and the drought is broken.

James speaks about our faith and the resulting actions that can take place if we have the faith that God actually wants us to have. We would be able to start and stop the drought just as Elijah did if we had that power. I love the Scripture in James that commands believers to go to the elders of the people if they are sick so that they can be prayed over. We need to do more of that.