“The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.” (James 5:16-18, NASB)
Recently I noticed what set Elijah apart was “and he prayed”. This simple act of prayer is what gave him the distinction noted by those around him.
Elijah prayed for the son of a widow to be brought back to life, and he lived (1 Kings 17:19-23).
Elijah prayed for rain and a heavy shower came (1 Kings 18:41-46).
Elijah prayed for fire from heaven in a showdown with the idols and it fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, the dust, and licked up the water which had drenched the altar (1 Kings 18:38).
“Prayer with Elijah was force, supernatural power, miraculous in its working … He did not argue about prayer. He prayed. Praying solves problems of prayer.”
(from The Path of Prayer, Samuel Chadwick, page 56)
Elijah had passion about his prayer, believing God would hear him and respond to him. He did not waver nor doubt.
I hope you will join me at Woman to Woman Ministries HERE where we will look at prayer from the prayer life of Elijah.
Photo by Janine Robinson on Unsplash
Today I am joining … Inspire Me Monday and Remember Me Monday .
yes, I love this reminder of Elijah and his intimate conversations with the Lord. He is a beautiful example for us to “just pray”.
I wonder if at times in using those words, “just pray”, I have minimized the power of prayer. I am so grateful for the reminder from Elijah’s prayer life.
“He did not waver or doubt.” I doubt and waver far too often! I am learning still and each messenger, whether in the Bible or from books or from friends on the blogging world or at church, I am still able to learn. Thank you for placing Elijah’s prayers together to see just how strong and consistent he was in his prayer life. I desire that in mine.
Caring through Christ, ~ linda
Sometimes I need to see these examples in the lives of others for my desire to pray to grow. Consistency. Strength, Faithfulness. Diligence. Constancy. I desire that in mine as well.
So powerful. I often find myself asking someone in a hard situation, “what can I do besides pray?” Most often, prayer is the work.
Amen, Lauren. May we do the work!