Challenging Your Culture Is Wide Open Throttle.

Living your life Wide Open Throttle means allowing the maximum amount of fuel from God’s word to run into your engine, then burning that fuel with the maximum amount of air from prayer and the Holy Spirit. But you can’t live life Wide Open Throttle until you put that engine into gear and do something with all of that power. If your engine is just idling with the throttle wide open, then you’re just wasting fuel. Interestingly, if you’re in gear, but your throttle isn’t open, then your engine will die from lack of fuel and air, and you won’t go anywhere either.

Mike Hosey, An Elder

The prophet Elijah is a great example of how a person can throttle up and win for the Kingdom of God. He is also an example of how a person can choke the power of God by taking a hand off of the throttle and letting an engine sputter out. Consider his victory at Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:21-29). The evil King Ahab of Israel had allowed the people to worship pagan Gods. Elijah challenged the king at the top of Mount Carmel to follow a real God.  Then in a true display of God’s power, he vanquished 450 prophets of Baal when he called down fire on an altar. But only after he had dared them to call down fire from their false God. They didn’t succeed. The people saw Elijah's demonstration of power, and then at his command killed all the evil prophets. Elijah had understood the word of God. He believed it’s power, he spoke to God regularly, and he acted on that word! He was wide open throttle!

But just one chapter over (1 Kings 19:1-18), Ahab’s queen, Jezebel, hears of Elijah’s victory. In her anger over the deaths of her false prophets, she vows to kill Elijah. Elijah, the man who had just called down fire from heaven, becomes afraid of a pagan woman who worships an impotent God who could not display any power at all when called upon by 450 prophets. She was an evil woman who did not love or know God! Elijah forgot about God’s power, and his own status as a prophet. He forgot to pray for the fuel of God’s word, or a renewal of his spirit, and instead retreats into the wilderness, and prays a whiney prayer asking to die. He had cut off his throttle, and he had taken himself out of gear. His engine was sputtering instead of roaring. Thankfully, at the top of Mount Horeb, God breaks Elijah’s self focus and restores his fuel and spirit.

What areas in your life are open throttle? What areas aren’t? When was the last time you refueled? When was the last time you prayed a prayer to throttle up? When was the last time you challenged a pagan world with the fire of God?