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Have you ever prayed for something only to see it never happen? Most of us have. Fathers, maybe you prayed for a stronger marriage only to find things falling apart around you, or maybe you prayed for your children to grow in their faith only to see them turn away saying that they aren’t sure they believe in God anymore. Maybe you have prayed for a job that will provide for your family, or for the health of your children or parents, and you haven’t seen any positive results.
Obviously, I’m not just talking to fathers today, all of us have prayed for things that never seemed to happen, and at times we are left asking ourselves, does prayer really work? Can prayer help me overcome an addiction? Can prayer reduce my stress and anxiety? Can prayer help me overcome fear and stop worrying? Can prayer really give me peace?
It can. Prayer can do all of this and more. Prayer can be effective and powerful and not only transform our lives but touch the lives of others. Today we are going to learn 4 key elements of effective prayer by looking at a prayer from the prophet Elijah. All this month we have been learning from Elijah how to be the people of faith God wants us to be and Elijah shows us that prayer is a key to it all and that our prayers can be effective.
In case you haven’t been with us, Elijah had been called by God to point out the sin of King Ahab and the people of God. As the worst king in the history of Israel, Ahab had drawn the people away from God and encouraged them to worship false gods. One of those gods was Baal, a god the people thought brought the rain. To show that there is only one God, Elijah told the people that it would not rain until he said it would. Elijah’s prayer closed the heavens and shut off the rain. His prayer was powerful and effective and ours can be as well because we are just like Elijah. The Bible says,
Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. James 5:17
Elijah was a human being just as we are. He didn’t have any extraordinary powers, he was simply called by God, and he listened to what God asked him to do. Then Elijah prayed. Elijah’s prayer shut the heavens for three years. The drought was to get the attention of the people and draw them back to God, but it also showed them that Baal was not the god that brought the rain. Baal can’t provide anything; everything comes from God because there is only one God.
After 3 years of no rain, God said that it was now time for rain to come so he sent Elijah off to pray again.
Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. “Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked. “There is nothing there,” he said. Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’” 1 Kings 18:42b-44.
When he goes off to pray, the first thing Elijah does is kneel on the ground and put his face between his knees. Even though God had called Elijah for this task, and God had already done some powerful miracles through him, like bringing a young boy back to life and calling down fire from heaven, Elijah still knew the holiness and power of God. In the presence of God, Elijah knew he was nothing.
Elijah humbles himself before God.
Effective prayer is HUMBLE prayer.
Elijah had learned that while God used him to do some great miracles, the power always came from God. Elijah knew that if it was going to start raining, it wasn't going to be by his word or his power. Elijah didn’t stop the rain so he knew he wouldn’t be the one to start it up again. God alone had that power and Elijah acknowledges the power of God by bending his knee and bowing his head. He takes a physical posture of humility that reflects a heart that is humble before Almighty God.
In our desire to show that God is approachable and loving, we sometimes forget the sheer power and majesty of God. The Bible says we are to fear the Lord. That doesn’t mean we are to be afraid of God, but it does mean we need to always stand in awe and of who God is. It means to see the power and holiness of God, a power and holiness that at times drives us to our knees.
While Jesus said we can come to God as our father, actually He used the word “abba” which means “daddy”, and while we often talk about God as the good shepherd who loves and cares for His sheep, we can never forget that God is also The Almighty One. God is the Holy and Righteous One. God is the One who is so big and powerful that if we were to really see ourselves in His presence we would fall to the ground. Instead of being forced to the ground, can we choose to kneel? Can we humble ourselves?
James 4:10, Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. Proverbs 3:34, God shows favor to the humble.
Through difficult seasons and powerful miracles, Elijah learned humility. Nothing was going to happen because his hand was powerful, it would happen because God’s hand was powerful. If we really want to get God’s attention in prayer, we need to find a quiet place and humble ourselves. God will take notice. God will grant us favor and lift us up.
From his knees, Elijah told his servant to go and look to the west to see if the rain was coming because that was what he prayed for. Elijah prayed for rain. The second thing we learn about prayer from Elijah is this:
Effective prayer is SPECIFIC prayer.
Elijah wasn’t asking God to help them, or be with them in some generic way, he was asking God to stir up a rain cloud far off in the west to bring rain to the land of Israel. He was asking for something specific, which means that we can also ask God for the specific things we need. It’s ok to ask God for the miracle of healing we are looking for. It’s ok to ask God to mend a broken relationship or provide us with the job we need. While we always need to allow room for God’s will, it’s ok to be clear and specific with God about what we need.
When I was debating whether or not to return to college, I was pretty specific with God in prayer. I told God that I needed to get readmitted to the university and that I wanted an apartment in a specific student housing development. God knew what I needed to take that step of faith and return to school so He got me back into the university and into an apartment in Spartan Village.
We need to make sure our prayers aren’t arrogant or selfish, humility has to be the foundation of our prayers, but God honors us when we are honest and clear with Him about what we need and even what we want. It might be that we need to hear the specifics of our prayers so we can evaluate them and see if they are in line with God’s will. So, pray boldly and clearly. Tell God clearly what you need and what you are looking for. Again, the book of James says, you do not have because you do not ask. James 4:2b
Elijah was specific. God, send rain. Stir up a cloud over the sea that will bring rain to the land of Israel. Elijah sent his servant up to see if any rain was coming and he returned and said there was nothing there. Right here, Elijah could have given up. He could have cried out and asked why nothing was happening or why God had abandoned him. When things didn’t happen quickly and with his first prayer, Elijah could have given in or given up, but he didn’t. Elijah kept praying.
Elijah told his servant to go and look again for a rain cloud while he prayed. Again, the servant saw nothing, so Elijah kept praying. Five more times Elijah told his servant to go see if any rain was coming and it was after the seventh time that the servant finally said, I see a cloud about as big as a man's hand on the horizon.
Effective prayer is PERSISTENT prayer.
After one prayer, Elijah didn’t give up. He didn’t quit and go home. He didn’t even doubt God’s power or ability to make it rain, he just kept praying. Again and again, Elijah humbled himself before God and asked for a rain cloud to form and come their way. Elijah didn’t let his outward circumstances determine his inner confidence. Can I say that again, Elijah didn’t let his outward circumstances determine his inner confidence.
Just because we don’t see God moving or working or providing for us right now doesn’t mean God isn’t at work in answering our prayer. When we don’t see any answers, when we aren’t sure of the outcome, we need to keep praying. Is there something that you have stopped praying for? A relationship, a job, a future with hope, the healing of someone you love, healing in your own life. Is there something you have stopped praying for because you never saw God move? Maybe God is asking you to pick it up again and keep praying. In humility, knowing that it will only be by the power of God that things will change, start praying again and keep going.
Elijah prayed seven times before a small cloud appeared way off on the horizon. As soon as he saw it, Elijah told his servant to go tell King Ahab to prepare his horses and descend the mountain before the rain would be so strong that it would stop him. There was no question in Elijah’s mind that it was going to rain. In fact, he knew there would be so much rain that travel would be dangerous.
Effective prayer is EXPECTANT prayer.
Elijah didn’t just expect the rain to come when he saw the cloud, he knew it was going to come long before he saw the cloud. Before Elijah even went up to Mt Carmel to pray, he told Ahab that he heard the sound of heavy rain. Before he prayed, Elijah expected God to provide because God said He was going to send rain.
Even knowing that God said it was going to rain, if I was in Elijah’s situation, I would have waited a while to see if this cloud amounted to anything. Was this the cloud that was going to bring rain? Maybe it was going to be another cloud, or the next storm front? Elijah didn’t wait for confirmation from accu-weather before he acted, he sent his servant at the first sign of a cloud. He trusted God so completely that he knew God was at work in that first cloud.
There is a fine line between moving forward in faith and being brash and arrogant. To make sure that we aren’t acting in arrogance and pride, we need to make sure that we are still on our knees and bowing our hearts before God. That’s where Elijah was when he told his servant to go to Ahab. We begin to see the importance of humility in our prayer life and in our relationship with God. Without humility, things can get twisted and ugly. Proverbs says, pride comes before a fall, so we have to keep our hearts humble, but if we are humble and faithful, we can pray with the expectation that God will provide.
When I was a student pastor in seminary, I spent a year working at a church in Graham, NC. There was a woman of great faith there who had been diagnosed with cancer and she wanted us to pray for her healing. One Sunday evening we had an amazing prayer service for her and others and we all prayed with boldness and the expectation that she would be healed. And she was. The tumors shrank, the cancer went into remission, and we praised God. Our expectation when we prayed was that God was going to heal her and He did.
A year after I left the church, I heard that the cancer had returned and I visited the woman again. I asked if we could pray and she said, yes, let’s pray for healing, so we did, but this time our expectation was that God was going to bring her eternal healing. And He did. A few weeks later she died, and we celebrated because we knew she got the healing we had prayed for.
Twice we prayed for healing and our expectations was that God would heal, and both times He did. It just looked different each time.
It takes boldness to pray expecting God to move. You probably have heard the story of the town that was experiencing a drought, so they set up a prayer service for rain. When the day came, all the church leaders showed up, and the congregation was all there, but there was only one girl who showed up expecting God to move because she was the only one who brought an umbrella. This is the kind of prayer God desires. A prayer so steeped in faith and trust that we know God will move. A prayer so humble and powerful that we trust God will be true to His word and provide.
Elijah was an ordinary person. He was just like us. What made him so powerful was that he knew how to pray. He was humble, specific, persistent and he expected God to provide. To grow in our faith, to become the people and servants God wants us to be, and to experience the full power of the Almighty God at work in us and through us, we need to pray like Elijah. So… let’s pray.
Next Steps
The Prayer of Elijah
What do we learn about prayer from Elijah in 1 Kings 18:41-46?
Effective prayer is:
Humble
● Explore different physical postures of humility in prayer. Examples: Kneeling. Head bowed. Palms up.
● What does it mean for your heart to be bowed before God in prayer?
Specific
● Take your general prayers of “God help me” and “God be with me” and make them specific.
● How did Jesus teach us to be specific when he gave us the Lord’s prayer? What did He tell us to pray for?
Persistent
● Why is it difficult to pray for the same thing over and over? How does this make you feel about yourself? How does this make you feel about God?
● What have you stopped praying for that God is asking you to start praying for again?
Expectant
● What prayer do you keep praying but have given up hope of God answering?
● What would a prayer of faith and expectation look like in this situation?
Read James 4 & 5. What does this teach us about prayer?
Sign up for the Rhythm Workshop on Prayer to be held Sunday, July 16 at 2:00 PM. Sign up online or in the lobby.
