“Bowed low to the ground and prayed” (a lot of other translations simply say he bowed himself down to the earth and put his head between his knees.
Commentaries point out that the significance of this action is not clear. He could have been praying for rain, or he might simply be exhausted.

So let's say he was worn out after events that previously happened in Chapter 18.

Now once the rains are on their way Elijah supernaturally outruns Ahab to Jezreel. Now Jezebel was in Jezreel. The fact that Elijah went to Jezreel suggests that he probably thought his war with Baal worship was over, oh what a misjudgment. When Elijah gets to Jezreel he receives a message from Jezebel threatening his life.

In the last two weeks, we have seen the great miracles God has done for Elijah.
So, we might expect that Elijah would just shrug it off when he heard Jezebel threatened his life. She swore in the name of (gods that didn’t exist) to kill him by the next day.

Elijah and Elisha were used by God big time. We are looking at their lives and seeing how obeying God even in the hard times and in the middle of great opposition, God will prove His faithfulness every time.

But Elijah became afraid, and he ran away, he went over 100 miles south to Beersheba. Elijah fled out of fear, not because God told him to. Remember, the first time that Elijah went to hide (after he announced to Ahab that a drought was coming) God told him to go hide. At that time, hiding was God’s plan. God was allowing time for the drought to take effect. This time hiding wasn’t God’s plan.

Elijah is afraid and runs for his life. What happened to him? This Elijah who confronted a King, who took on 850 fake prophets, had them killed, we now we see him tired, and with nothing left in the tank.

He goes a day's journey into the wilderness and falls under a tree and says, “it is enough; now O’Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”

Think of the season he just came out of, while he had just had a major victory, it had taken its toll on him.

Have you ever had this happen? Have you ever felt like life just knocked the air out of you? You had a great win and then immediately after, you just get crushed, or has life just gotten to you? You may feel alone, exhausted, as if God has even left you. You become emotionally spent.

This is why, when Elijah confronted the people of Israel - He said, you cannot be of two opinions. We all have to decide what opinion we will hold, through the good, the bad, and the ugly times. We need to be of one opinion.

No matter what we face God is still the one we serve. So many want to serve themselves and their feelings instead of continually looking to God!

We are seeing an overwhelmed Elijah - He is basically saying, I can’t take it anymore. Elijah had reached his limit, he was ready to die.

Elijah concluded that his work was fruitless and consequently that life was not worth living. He had lost his confidence in the triumph of the kingdom of God and was withdrawing from the area of conflict.

Let's see how God reacted!

1.God sent an angel, who tapped him on the shoulder and said, “get up and eat.” Elijah ate, and then laid down and fell asleep again.

2.A second time the angel came down, tapped him on the shoulder, and said, “Get up and eat… for the journey is too much for you.”

3.Elijah sought solace in God’s presence. He walked to the mountain of God. In his fear and discouragement, he ran to God.

I think God’s response is profound!

God didn’t try to turn him around - He didn’t pepper him with pep talks.

God just sent him help. Without any correction, God provided Elijah with a gentle touch, some food, and allowed him to rest.

Instead of making excuses, Elijah answered God with raw honesty and shared exactly how he felt—disillusioned, discouraged and sorry for himself.

God just helped him out of his pain. God lightened his load, provided a companion and apprentice to succeed him, and pointed him toward a future hope which strengthened him to finish strong.

This quote sums up Elijah’s experience: “Success is never final and failure is never fatal. It’s the courage to go on that counts.”

Have you ever reached the end of your rope? Have you ever thought that your ability to endure didn’t match up with the amount of challenge left in front of you? I have experienced times when it felt like the difficulties, the challenges were piling on; times where it just felt overwhelming and unfair; times when I’ve said to God, “come on God…enough is enough!”

During the Second World War, the US Army was forced to retreat from the Philippines. Some of their soldiers were left behind and became prisoners of the Japanese. The men called themselves “ghosts”, souls unseen by their own nation. On the infamous Bataan Death March, they were forced to walk over 70 miles, knowing that those who were slow or weak would be killed by their captors or die from dysentery and lack of water. Those who made it through the march spent the next three years in a hellish prisoner-of-war camp. By early 1945, only 513 men were still alive at the Cabanatuan prison camp, but they were giving up hope. As the US Army began to make its way back to the Philippines, the Japanese soldiers had begun to eradicate the prisoners, to hide the evidence of their abuse. The US prisoners knew it was just a matter of time. Emotionally…spiritually… physically they gave up. Many just stayed in their bunks…not even trying to get up…just waiting to die.
Their failing hope was, however, met by one of the most magnificent rescues of wartime history. In an astonishing feat, 120 US Army soldiers and 200 Filipino guerrillas outflanked 8,000 Japanese soldiers to rescue the POWs.
Alvie Robbins was one of the rescuers. He describes how he found a prisoner muttering in a darkened corner of his barracks, tears coursing down his face.“I thought we’d been forgotten,” the prisoner said. “I thought we’d been forgotten.” “No, you’re not forgotten,” Robbins said softly. “You’re heroes. We weren’t giving up. We’ve come for you. Can you walk?” The prisoner shook his head. And so, Robbins picked up the prisoner and carried him. He carried him to medical care, to food, to water…to new life.
In life, things happen. And we can start to give up hope, to feel that God has forgotten us, abandoned us to dark and hurtful experiences. Perhaps it was when dealing with the loss of a family member, or a long illness. Maybe you feel alone and forgotten.

Whatever opposition you are facing know this…God has given us bread to give us strength for the journey. Just like he supplied Elijah with the strength so has he done for us through Jesus Christ. God has not forgotten us! HE has saved us through Jesus Christ!

Jesus calls it “the bread of life.” He says, “This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.” And then Jesus does an amazing thing. He takes it one step further. He says: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
“I am the living bread,” Jesus said.
Here’s the thing: Jesus is telling his followers that He is more than merely a rabbi, a teacher…that He is more than a prophet…that He is more than an example of how to live…and that He is not a “savior-at-a-distance.” No, Jesus says that He Himself…He is the bread of life.
So, on those occasions when you find yourself at the end of your rope…and you will…and you do not have the energy, or the strength, or the courage to go on…remember, you are not alone. Jesus pursues you. And Jesus is the bread of life. Jesus is the bread that lifts us up and cares for us. Jesus reaches down, taps us on the shoulder, and whispers in your ear… ”You may not be able to carry this burden…but I can carry you.”
“I am the Bread of Life.” Take and eat. It is given for you.