An excerpt from my book, Eating from the Lord's Table (order a copy here):

DAY THREE

On Mount Carmel, God showed up with holy fire like never before.

He showed Himself alive and well so that even the false prophets

had to fall on their knees and cry out, “The Lord, He is God! The

Lord, He is God!” (1 Kings 18:39) That is the kind of fire the world

needs to see again. The unbelievers and scoffers need to know that

in the midst of all these religions, there is One True God that still

answers by fire. Once people see the moving of God Almighty, you

won’t have to beg them to come to the altar for 30 minutes; You

will no longer have to convince them of the truth–it will be evident

and undeniable. Just as the resurrection of Jesus was sure and

unquestionable, for Luke started the book of Acts stating that Jesus

showed Himself alive “by many infallible proofs” (Acts 1:3). The

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines ‘infallible’ as “incapable of

error; not liable to mislead, deceive, or disappoint; certain”1. Now is

the time of infallible proofs. How can you get to that point in your

life? How can you pray and be certain God will show up in mighty

power? One prerequisite for holy fire is rebuilding the altar:

1 Kings 18:30—Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near

to me.” So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the

altar of the Lord that was broken down.

Before the fire can fall, we must rebuild and reestablish the broken down altars. We must bow our knees once again and put our faces

to the ground. We must cry out to God and lay on the altar of God’s

mercy once more. We come humbly to God’s throne where sin is

dealt with and reconciliation with the Lord occurs. This is where we

are washed of sin and wrong mindsets are forever changed.

Gimmicks and fads in the church just won’t work. You have got to

rebuild the altar.

Remember, what you experience in your private prayer closet will

show up in your public ministry.

Prayer

Lord, Abba, Comforter, Keeper, Wonderful Counselor, we love

You. We long to stay in constant communication and

companionship with You. Reveal any deception in our lives. I pray

we never be deceived by ourselves, the world, or the enemy. Open

our eyes to any sin we need to forsake. Keep us, Father, as the apple

of Your eye and hide us under the shadow of Your wings, in Jesus’

name, AMEN.