Prayer and Restoration: Part 4 - James 5:17-18

Prayer and Restoration: Part 4 - James 5:17-18
Written by LaRosa Johnson
Wednesday, November 26, 2008

In the past few verses, we have seen James give significant instructions on prayer from the weary calling the elders of the church to the importance of sharing our struggles with other believers so that they can pray alongside. As we saw in our last study, he ended verse 16 with a statement as to the effectiveness and fervency of prayer. In our passage today, James continues with this thought, giving his readers a real life example of what this looks like in action; and, not only does he give an example, but one that his audience would be very familiar with. Therefore, let us open our Bibles to James 5:17-18 and begin our study.

Quote :

James 5:17-18 (NASB) - 17Elijah 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. 18Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

Before we start studying this passage, let's go back for a moment and remember our context. After having opened this chapter condemning the rich believers for their unrighteous ways, James began to address those believers who were suffering persecution and sufferings. In his encouragement to them to remain steadfast and firm he gave them two Old Testament examples, the prophets (v. 10) and Job (v. 11), showing how they suffered and remained faithful. Here, James is still addressing these weary and suffering believers, and he once again brings in another example as a means of illustration. The example used this time is the prophet Elijah. For most, Elijah is remembered as one of two Old Testament believers that were taken into heaven before they died (Enoch being the other), with Elijah being take up in a whirlwind. Overall, he is a very interesting character to read about, which I recommend doing in addition to this study, but we are going to focus in on what James had to say concerning this prophet.

In looking at our passage, the first thing that James states is that "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours." What does that mean? Without giving this more study than necessary, James is simply saying that Elijah was a human being just like the rest of us. Outside of his call by the Lord to be a prophet, there was nothing particularly special about him or that made him any different than you or me. It is this point that helps to drive home James' point because it shows that fervency in prayer can be accomplished by anyone, great or small; the important thing is that we pray. As he continues, James goes on to tell of Elijah's example of persistent prayer, to which we will now turn our Bibles to 1 Kings 17 in order to look at the actual events.

Quote :

1 Kings 17:1 (NASB) - Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”

It's in this passage that Elijah first bursts onto the scene in the Bible narrative, and he comes making a bold proclamation to Ahab the king. The proclamation was that there was going to be a draught in the land as a result of the wickedness of Ahab and their failure to follow after the Lord. Being a prophet who spoke the words of the Lord, this was bound to come true, which we see happening in verse 7 of the same chapter. As the narrative continues, we don't hear again of contact between Elijah and Ahab until chapter 18 when Elijah returns to the land and encounters Obadiah. By this point in time, it had been 3.5 years of no rain, which had caused a severe drought in the land of Israel. Needless to say, Ahab was furious with Elijah because of the words he had spoken. After a challenge between Elijah and the prophets of Baal, Elijah proved beyond any doubt that the Lord Almighty was the one true God. With this, he then told Ahab to go eat because it was soon going to rain, after which Elijah went to the top of Mount Carmel to pray. While praying, he sent his servant to look toward the sea and see if there was a rain cloud. This happened several times, with Elijah continuing to pray during all of this. Finally, on the seventh time, his servant spotted a rain cloud, to which Elijah told Ahab that there was going to be a downpour (1 Kings 18:42-45).

What is the point of James reminding his readers of Elijah? In sharing this narrative, James makes clear several points concerning prayer and the God we serve. The first point to be made is that God is sovereign and in control. It was the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken to Ahab concerning the drought, and it was God who caused the drought. Just as we learned in James 4:13-16, God is the One who is ultimately in charge and we should never forget that truth. Another point to note is the reason for the drought. Ahab had allowed his wife Jezebel to lead he and the nation astray as they worshipped the prophets of Baal, instead of Jehovah Elohim, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was as a result of this that the Lord had to chastise them for their turning away from him (Heb. 12:4-10). This is not a fate that we want to come upon us, much like the rich in the beginning of this chapter, so it should be our desire to constantly seek after the Lord. The third, and most important principle that we can take away from this passage is the importance of praying earnestly. When James says that Elijah "prayed earnestly," he was actually using a Hebrew idiom that literally translates as "he prayed with prayer," showing the emphasis of prayer. After receiving the word from the Lord that it would rain, Elijah wasn't satisfied with simply praying one time, hoping that it would pray. Instead, he prayed earnestly and without ceasing until he had visible proof that the Lord was doing what He said He was going to do; Elijah kept praying until there was a rain cloud in the sky. This is the same way that our prayer lives should be; we should keep praying until something happens (to use the acronym P.U.S.H.) because that is the fervency by which God wants us to pray.

Prayer is a powerful resource and its one that God really desires for us to use in our Christian walk, especially when we are facing challenging times. But, praying in the hard times isn't an easy thing to do because it's so easy to give up when you don't see immediate results. Elijah didn't see results immediately, so he kept praying. That's what we have to do; our situation or circumstance may not look like it's going to turn for the better, but we must keep praying and remain in the will of the Lord until He answers that prayer. The point is, keep praying for restoration and spiritual renewal until God answers, even if it means bringing in others to pray with you (vv. 14-16).

In closing, just remember, Elijah was just a man like we were, and he prayed until came through; let that be true of you. Next time we close out our study of James' epistle as we study the final two verses which give us yet another application of prayer and restoration in the life of a believer. Until then, keep praying and standing firm in the faith!

devotion courtesy of Trailblazin Ministries
http://www.trailblazinministries.com/devotions/james087.php