Scriptures: 1 Kings 18 v 36 - 40: "And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.
37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.
40 And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there."
One of the most wonderful ways that our God shows His power is by the way He turns the tables on Satan when His faithful people call upon His name when in distress. God always shows up and causes us to triumph when defeat seems imminent.
Think of Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal, the Babylonian god. They challenged Elijah to prove His God was more powerful than theirs. They built an altar and spent the whole day commanding fire to consume it. Nothing happened.
Elijah poured water all over his altar to make it hard to burn but Our God consumed his altar, their altar, and all 450 prophets of Baal were slain by Elijah's people as well! This got the God of Elijah reinstated as the One true God in Israel. Hallelujah!!
Daniel 3 v 23 - 25: "And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."
These three were sentenced to death by fire for worshipping God and not the king. God answered back and turned the tables on Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel was thrown into the lion's den by a jealous group of officials of King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, because Daniel, one of the Jews who were captured by the Babylonians, worshipped the God of Israel contrary to their decree. The king loved Daniel but had to order his death because he had decreed that no one could pray to any but him.
However, our God turned the tables and the lions ignored Daniel all night. Next morning he was released and the jealous officials were thrown into the pit with their whole families and immediately devoured.
By His death and resurrection, Jesus Christ turned the tables on Satan and every false religion. In 1 Corinthians 2 v 6 - 8: "Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."
Paul speaks about the mystery of the hidden wisdom ie God's plan of salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus - which Satan and his demons, who are the princes of this world, had no clue about or they would not have crucified Him. God set it fully in motion before the world was created.
So likewise for us if we are in a tricky situation let us call on Jesus our Saviour and Redeemer to rescue us no matter what the problem may be. His answers may make no immediate sense but His ways are wise and He sees the future. He will turn the tables on the most dire situation and bring victory out of it.
In the book, Rees Howells Intercessor by Norman Grubb, the testimony is shared of how God gave Welshman Rees Howells four specific things to intercede for concerning the outcome of World War II. It was Hitler's March on Russia; Hitler in Italy; Hitler's war in Africa and the Allied Invasion of Normandy.
Rees had to pray for a reversal of fortune for Hitler in these four arenas. He spent 20 hours a day on his knees and saw Hitler falter at each of those places before his final defeat. After the war these were known as Hitler's Four Blunders that cost him victory.
God used a praying man to bring Hitler to his knees. The tables were turned four times to give victory in Europe. When God directs prayer towards situations like these you can be assured of a victorious outcome.
We are facing threats from Putin in Russia to go nuclear against the United Kingdom to wipe it out completely, because they, and other nations, have supported Ukraine with weapons and aid. Putin is using Ukraine to try to hamstring the West.
Suddenly Germany is blocking Russian oil and gas, which now makes the whole EU independent of that commodity. This will cause Russia serious financial turbulence for more than twenty years. The pride of Putin demands victory, and he will settle for nothing less. As Rees Howells prayed for the defeat of Hitler, every Christian should be praying for the defeat of Putin.
Through our prayers God works and performs miracles. It is He that will turn the tables when we humble ourselves and cry out to Him. All the prayers around the world, have slowed the attack and given Ukraine the courage and boldness to stand fast against the enemy. Let us all praise and thank Jesus for all He is doing to meet every need.
Prayer: Heavenly Father it is always wonderful to rejoice in Your victories especially when things look bleak, knowing that You turn the tables in response to our faith and prayers. You cause the enemy to make blunders through greed and thereby destroy his power over us. Father keep us faithful and committed to prayer to see every victory won. In Jesus' name. Amen.