17 Now it came about after these things that the son of the woman , the mistress of the house , became sick ; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 So she said to Elijah , " What do I have to do with you, O man of God ? You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance and to put my son to death !" 19 He said to her, "Give me your son ." Then he took him from her bosom and carried him up to the upper room where e he was living , and laid him on his own bed . 20 He called to the Lord and said , "O Lord my God , have You also brought calamity to the widow with whom I am staying , by causing her son to die ?" 21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times , and called to the Lord and said , "O Lord my God , I pray You, let this child's life return to him." 22 The Lord heard the voice of Elijah , and the life of the child returned to him and he revived . 23 Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house and gave him to his mother ; and Elijah said , "See , your son is alive ." 24 Then the woman said to Elijah , " Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Kings 17:17-24
Commentary on 1 Kings 17:17-24
(Read 1 Kings 17:17-24)
Neither faith nor obedience shut out afflictions and death. The child being dead, the mother spake to the prophet, rather to give vent to her sorrow, than in hope of relief. When God removes our comforts from us, he remembers our sins against us, perhaps the sins of our youth, though long since past. When God remembers our sins against us, he designs to teach us to remember them against ourselves, and to repent of them. Elijah's prayer was doubtless directed by the Holy Spirit. The child revived. See the power of prayer, and the power of Him who hears prayer.