The Power of Prayer
Just this morning, two separate people have come up to me and asked me to pray for them. Too often though, we think of prayer as a last-ditch effort. We’ve tried everything else, and our prayers sounds something like the prayer George Bailey prayed in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” How many of you feel like you’re at the end of your rope, or you’re sliding down your rope and you’re hoping there’s a knot tied at the end. Anybody there today? What does George say? “That’s what I get for praying.” So many of us will pray a half-hearted prayer and then turn to God thinking, this is it, I’ve done everything else, I guess I’ll turn to the Big Man Upstairs. Then we pour it all out, something else happens, and we think, “That’s what I get for praying,” and turn our backs on him again. Have you ever been there?
We’re going to start in verse 17, then swing back around to verse 13. I’ll explain that later.
We’re going to start in verse 17, then swing back around to verse 13. I’ll explain that later.
James 5:17 “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain,
and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.
18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.”
and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.
18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.”
Why did Elijah just show up in the book of James? Who are some superheroes today? Superman, Spiderman, Batman, the Avengers, Captain America, Wonder Woman – how do you know these superheroes are so popular? They’re on our clothes! How many of those characters do you see at Halloween? We see them all over movies, TV, t-shirts. at Halloween they’re huge. We have their theme songs as our ring-tones. Half the reason you watch these movies is because you want to find the Easter egg throwbacks to the old comics.
Two thousand years ago, Elijah was the superhero for the Jews. If the little Jewish kids had celebrated Halloween, you’d have seen little Elijahs running around. You’d have seen people with wealth having flames painted on the sides of their chariots because they wanted to be like Elijah. They wanted to be like him, because he was so cool. He was a really, really big deal. They’d have had Elijah action figures and whole play-sets with him calling fire down from Heaven. You have a Superman play-set – not joking, that’s how big a deal he was. You’d have gone to toy stores and seen whole shelves of different scenes from his life.
But what does James say about him? Elijah was what? He was a man with a nature like ours. Sinful. A sinful nature like ours. But what did he do? He had birds feed him – God sent birds to bring him food! He called down fire from Heaven that consumed the sacrifice, the water, all of it. This is the guy who did all that. He went to Heaven on a chariot, he actually didn’t die! There are two men in the entire Bible, in all of history, that did not go through the process of death, dying, and decay – and Jesus wasn’t one of them!! Elijah was a very big deal. He stopped the rain for 3 ½ years, he raised the widow’s son from the dead, he created a never-ending buffet of oil and flour so he could keep feeding the widow and her son, and yet he had a nature like ours. How then did he do all that?
If you compare Elijah’s resume, his “Christian” resume where we all keep track of all the stuff we do for the church (and you know you do! At some point, you think you’re going to whip that thing out and show God all the stuff you’ve done), Elijah’s resume is massive. We just want to think he’s so much better than we are, he’s such a better Christian. I don’t think I’m a very good Christian, so I’m going to let him handle the big stuff. He’s the one who should be reading his Bible and studying, because not only do we keep our own Christian resumes, we keep ones for all the people around us, and every time somebody screws up we think, “Oh! There’s a mark against them, got that.” You know we do it. And when somebody does something fantastic, we track that, too.
Read 1 Kings 17-18 to see all the crazy stuff Elijah did. It’s insane! We like to think that was a different time and place, so it doesn’t apply to today’s world. Yet 900 years after Elijah did these things, Pastor James is talking to his church and saying, “Hey, Elijah was just like us! He had relationship issues! He had self-confidence issues! But look what he did – he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it DID NOT RAIN. That’s a long time!” It did not rain where? On. The. Earth. Take a look at the word “fervently,” what does that mean? He prayed intensely, passionately, enthusiastically. He prayed, and he prayed, and he prayed. Where else in the Bible do we see, “Pray without ceasing. Be always in prayer. Be constant in prayer”? Does that mean you’re always down on your knees and never do anything else? No. Not at all. It means God’s praises, your concerns to be lifted to God are always at the forefront of your mind, and you’re always ready to praise the Lord.
If you want to know someone’s theology, if you want to know what they truly believe (not what they say) about God, Jesus, and the Word – start listening to their prayer life. What are they praying for? Are they praying? Start observing what goes on around them, and what is happening around them. You’re either going to hear them talk about their regrets all the time – “I wish I was this. I wish I was better. I wish I wouldn’t sin so much. I wish I wasn’t such a screw-up. I wish this wasn’t happening. God, keep this from happening.” All you hear about is their sin and regret.
There’s another kind, who will follow all that up with repentance and not keep talking about them, because they know the Word says that their sins are forgiven. So when they screw up, they’ll ask for forgiveness and then follow that up with praise and thanks because they are forgiven, redeemed, restored, and made righteous not because of themselves but because of He who lives in them.
See the difference? One, you’re just throwing a pity party and calling it prayer, the other is recognizing how jacked up you are and not just saying you’re sorry but actually repenting, turning away from it, and celebrating God’s power in you to help you make the turn. One gives glory to God, one takes glory from God. You start hearing more and more about their new identity, God’s love for them, God’s power in them, God’s affection through them, and their confidence in God’s devotion to hear their prayer. That’s cool, because that’s a life-changer. That’s not wallowing in the nastiness you’ve already committed and feeling sorry for yourself, that’s recognizing and calling on God’s power and God’s forgiveness and moving forward.
Here’s the thing, it didn’t rain for three years and six months when Elijah prayed, and here’s why. It had absolutely nothing to do with how amazing Elijah was. How do I know? Because I know how jacked up I can be. My wife knows how jacked up I can be. You know how jacked up you can be. And this word says that Elijah was a man with a nature just like ours. It’s not because he was so cool, it’s because God is so amazing. Elijah didn’t have confidence in his own abilities. Funny thing about a rain dance – it has everything to do with timing. If I go out and the skies are blue, and there are no clouds, I can dance until my feet fall off and nothing will happen. But if I see the clouds, and I’ve been watching the Doppler radar inside, and now I go do the rain dance….Look! It’s raining! It’s not about us. It’s always about Jesus! God answered Elijah’s prayer not because Elijah was amazing but because God is amazing.
Two thousand years ago, Elijah was the superhero for the Jews. If the little Jewish kids had celebrated Halloween, you’d have seen little Elijahs running around. You’d have seen people with wealth having flames painted on the sides of their chariots because they wanted to be like Elijah. They wanted to be like him, because he was so cool. He was a really, really big deal. They’d have had Elijah action figures and whole play-sets with him calling fire down from Heaven. You have a Superman play-set – not joking, that’s how big a deal he was. You’d have gone to toy stores and seen whole shelves of different scenes from his life.
But what does James say about him? Elijah was what? He was a man with a nature like ours. Sinful. A sinful nature like ours. But what did he do? He had birds feed him – God sent birds to bring him food! He called down fire from Heaven that consumed the sacrifice, the water, all of it. This is the guy who did all that. He went to Heaven on a chariot, he actually didn’t die! There are two men in the entire Bible, in all of history, that did not go through the process of death, dying, and decay – and Jesus wasn’t one of them!! Elijah was a very big deal. He stopped the rain for 3 ½ years, he raised the widow’s son from the dead, he created a never-ending buffet of oil and flour so he could keep feeding the widow and her son, and yet he had a nature like ours. How then did he do all that?
If you compare Elijah’s resume, his “Christian” resume where we all keep track of all the stuff we do for the church (and you know you do! At some point, you think you’re going to whip that thing out and show God all the stuff you’ve done), Elijah’s resume is massive. We just want to think he’s so much better than we are, he’s such a better Christian. I don’t think I’m a very good Christian, so I’m going to let him handle the big stuff. He’s the one who should be reading his Bible and studying, because not only do we keep our own Christian resumes, we keep ones for all the people around us, and every time somebody screws up we think, “Oh! There’s a mark against them, got that.” You know we do it. And when somebody does something fantastic, we track that, too.
Read 1 Kings 17-18 to see all the crazy stuff Elijah did. It’s insane! We like to think that was a different time and place, so it doesn’t apply to today’s world. Yet 900 years after Elijah did these things, Pastor James is talking to his church and saying, “Hey, Elijah was just like us! He had relationship issues! He had self-confidence issues! But look what he did – he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it DID NOT RAIN. That’s a long time!” It did not rain where? On. The. Earth. Take a look at the word “fervently,” what does that mean? He prayed intensely, passionately, enthusiastically. He prayed, and he prayed, and he prayed. Where else in the Bible do we see, “Pray without ceasing. Be always in prayer. Be constant in prayer”? Does that mean you’re always down on your knees and never do anything else? No. Not at all. It means God’s praises, your concerns to be lifted to God are always at the forefront of your mind, and you’re always ready to praise the Lord.
If you want to know someone’s theology, if you want to know what they truly believe (not what they say) about God, Jesus, and the Word – start listening to their prayer life. What are they praying for? Are they praying? Start observing what goes on around them, and what is happening around them. You’re either going to hear them talk about their regrets all the time – “I wish I was this. I wish I was better. I wish I wouldn’t sin so much. I wish I wasn’t such a screw-up. I wish this wasn’t happening. God, keep this from happening.” All you hear about is their sin and regret.
There’s another kind, who will follow all that up with repentance and not keep talking about them, because they know the Word says that their sins are forgiven. So when they screw up, they’ll ask for forgiveness and then follow that up with praise and thanks because they are forgiven, redeemed, restored, and made righteous not because of themselves but because of He who lives in them.
See the difference? One, you’re just throwing a pity party and calling it prayer, the other is recognizing how jacked up you are and not just saying you’re sorry but actually repenting, turning away from it, and celebrating God’s power in you to help you make the turn. One gives glory to God, one takes glory from God. You start hearing more and more about their new identity, God’s love for them, God’s power in them, God’s affection through them, and their confidence in God’s devotion to hear their prayer. That’s cool, because that’s a life-changer. That’s not wallowing in the nastiness you’ve already committed and feeling sorry for yourself, that’s recognizing and calling on God’s power and God’s forgiveness and moving forward.
Here’s the thing, it didn’t rain for three years and six months when Elijah prayed, and here’s why. It had absolutely nothing to do with how amazing Elijah was. How do I know? Because I know how jacked up I can be. My wife knows how jacked up I can be. You know how jacked up you can be. And this word says that Elijah was a man with a nature just like ours. It’s not because he was so cool, it’s because God is so amazing. Elijah didn’t have confidence in his own abilities. Funny thing about a rain dance – it has everything to do with timing. If I go out and the skies are blue, and there are no clouds, I can dance until my feet fall off and nothing will happen. But if I see the clouds, and I’ve been watching the Doppler radar inside, and now I go do the rain dance….Look! It’s raining! It’s not about us. It’s always about Jesus! God answered Elijah’s prayer not because Elijah was amazing but because God is amazing.