He prayed… and again he prayed
As it was in days long ago when our sons were young, so today with our grandchildren, one shout of “Are you up yet?” from the hallway is never enough! It might take several calls and, perhaps, the sound of us heading their way to eventually draw them out from under the covers! Maybe even as adults, the snooze button on the alarm clock is a very useful delaying tactic against the thought of swinging our legs out of bed? We are human beings after all, folk who like our comforts. We enjoy a settled existence, routine is never as difficult as upset or sudden change can be, we like things to remain steady - and yet they often don’t. We have been reminded this week of the need to pray in every circumstance of life and, in verse 16 of this section in James 5, we read the encouraging decree that “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective”. In support of this remarkable promise, James uses the example of Elijah to underline its truth. Elijah? Now there was a man who knew plenty about life being disturbed and comfort challenged!
James 5v17-18 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
Elijah, a prophet of God, suddenly appears in 1st Kings 17 where he challenges the evil king, Ahab, and prophesies a drought over the whole kingdom as God’s response to the king’s actions. Having to flee as a result, Elijah is looked after by God and becomes His instrument in overthrowing the prophets of Baal, following which, rain again fell on the land. Fleeing for his life, Elijah became discouraged until God spoke to him through a still, small voice which followed after a great wind, earthquake and fire on Mount Horeb.
James reminds us in these verses that “Elijah was a man just like us” and too often in life our eyes can drift away from the Lord and it takes several attempts to rouse us from the comfort we have created and get us back on course for Him. We are reminded in these verses that God dealt with Elijah according to his need, the same Lord who knows our circumstances. Thus, like Elijah, we need to pray and pray again - to pray continually. If something is worth praying for, then we should take every opportunity to pray because persistence in prayer reveals our sincerity. It might seem fine to pray for someone or something once and think that is enough, but Jesus prayed persistently and prayed to His Father “Thy will be done”.
We can see in God’s responses to Elijah that He can work in mighty ways His purpose to perform. Yet, He is also a God who relates to us with intimacy as a person. He knows us, our needs, our thoughts, our behaviour but He wants us to ask Him, so that He can tell us how to go and assure us that He goes with us. He is always speaking to us, calling us as a parent calls a child, continually seeking after us and even with our human frailty, like Elijah, He can use us for His purpose. That might mean us getting uncomfortable at times, but the Lord knows what we are, what we are capable of and, wonderfully, He can use us for His glory. Let’s pray, therefore, and pray again - and again.
Heavenly Father, how often do we hear without listening? How frequently do we ignore You speaking? Let us not be guilty of contentment in comfort today but help us to be bold in prayer and in responding to Your leading and guiding. Help us to be confident in approaching You, even in the weakness of our humanity, with the understanding that all things are possible for us in the purpose of God. May we do so continually so that we can be content in the will of the Lord. In His name, amen.
Rev John Noble