God Is Not In The Howling Wind, The Earthquake, Or In The Fire.

"The Lord said. 'Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.' Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?'"
1 Kings 19:11-13

 Now, I know that this verse may seem a bit long, but it can reveal so much about ourselves and our prayer life that we might of not known before. You see, I think that so many times, when we ask God for something, we expect a big boom. We expect some fireworks to go off or writing in the sky. But see, that's not how God works, and if you are always so busy, thinking that God's voice is going to be loud, that, amidst you chaos, you'll be able to hear it, then you are never going to hear His actual voice, which is a gentle whisper.
 So do you see what Elijah did in this story? He was told, by God, that He was going to reveal His presence to him, and that He was going to tell Him something, so He told him to go stand on a mountain. Willing and ready to hear what God had to say, Elijah stood there, but see, while he was there, there was a wind gust so strong that it broke the mountain, there was an earthquake, and a fire, and that voice that God said that He would reveal to Elijah wasn't in any of them, like you would think that they might be. God didn't come through the fire, shout over the earthquake, or speak over the howling winds, but when He saw that Elijah was still where He had told him to bNoe, and that He was still listening for God's voice, He came to him in a gentle whisper, and that, my friend, is when Elijah heard his voice. That is when His presence was revealed to him.
 So don't you see that we don't need to look for the fire, the earthquakes, or the howling winds? God isn't going to reveal His answer to our prayers in a giant clap of thunder or a booming voice, but rather, we need to be still. We need to stay in God's presence and just listen. For when we do, we are going to hear Him, and He is going to reveal His plans to us and answer our prayers.