Everybody prays. Some people pray because they know they’re supposed to. Some people pray as a way of covering their bases, just in case it might work. Some people pray because they desperately need something and they don’t know where else to turn.
Everybody prays. But not the way Elijah prayed.
Still, everybody could.
If Elijah really was just a normal, average, everyday kind
of person (and not “a strange visitor from another planet who came to earth
with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men”), then that means
normal, average, everyday kind of people like us can pray like he did.
And how exactly did he pray?
Elijah prayed biblically. One time, he prayed for God to
make it stop raining. Where in the world did he get that idea? He got that idea
from the book of Deuteronomy. Moses warned the people that if they turned away
from God and started worshiping foreign gods, it would stop raining (see 11.16-17).
Elijah was just asking God to keep His Word and discipline the people like He
said He would.
Many times we don’t pray like Elijah because we’re
biblically ignorant and don’t know how to pray according to God’s revealed
will. But we can change that. (Hopefully this blog is helping.)
Elijah prayed very specifically. He didn’t just offer vague,
generic prayers. Because he prayed for specific things to happen, there was no
doubt when God answered.
Elijah kept praying even when the answer wasn’t immediate.
In 1 Kings 18.43, we learn that Elijah prayed seven times for it to start
raining again. He didn’t just pray once and quit.
Elijah was humble when he prayed. There was no big show, and
he didn’t seem to need to ramp himself up emotionally. He just asked God for
stuff. Perhaps because he had an ongoing, conversational relationship with God,
he didn’t feel like he had to get worked up to ask Him for big things.
Oh, and speaking of the conversational nature of Elijah’s
relationship with God, there’s another lesson about praying we can learn from
him, Elijah complained.
Let’s face it. The one thing people do more than pray is
complain. Only the Judeo-Christian Scriptures provide us with an example of a
people who feel comfortable complaining to their God. That’s one of the most
unique things about Jewish literature. The relationship they had with YHWH was
strong enough to survive unfiltered dialogue, from both directions!
Elijah was just a regular guy, a lot like any of us. But he
prayed. And when he prayed, he became extraordinary. What might happen today if
you did the same?
God of power and might, I thank You for the grace-filled
gift of prayer. You welcome me into Your presence and bid me to draw near with
confidence to the throne of grace so that I may receive mercy and find grace to
help in time of need. In prayer, let me lay hold of my true possessions in
Christ and exercise the authority You have granted me as a believer in Jesus
Christ. I want to internalize and pray Your Word back to You, and I wish to
pray at all times by practicing Your presence and acknowledging my dependence
upon You in everything. Thank You that I can also be real and honest in prayer
without pretence or posing, because there are times when I need to wrestle with
Your will in the circumstances of my life. You patiently and lovingly hear my
complaints and You succour and comfort me in times of distress.
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