Prayer 2021 - August 15 - What James Had to Say About Prayer pt 10

Scripture For Today:

Psalm 4:1

“Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer.”

What James Had to Say About Prayer pt 10

We have been studying what the Apostle James had to say about prayer. We have been studying the verses from James 5:13-18:

“Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any Merry? Let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it did not rain on the earth by the space of three years and six months! And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit.”

We’ve been studying about verse 15 and 16 these last few days. Mainly about the importance of someone confessing their sins to God and placing themselves, the Bible says, “cleansing ourselves,” in right-standing with God so we can be in position to receive our prayers as answered.

James concludes verse 16 by saying, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

Then, in verse 17, James gives us an example of a righteous man. At first, when I read those scriptures, I did not understand what point James was trying to make! After pondering it for a bit, I realized EXACTLY what he was trying to get across to us!

James was saying the Elijah was a human man, just as we are. In other words, Elijah did not receive the answers to his prayers because he was some kind of super prophet. We may THINK he is – but the point James is trying to get us to understand is – he WASN’T!  In James 5:17, he clearly says, “Elisha (speaking of Elijah) WAS A MAN…”

That gives hope for you and me! Praise God!

Let’s read the entire verse:  “Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it did not rain on the earth by the space of three years and six months! And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit.”

You may say, “Yeah, BUT… Elijah WAS a prophet. And that was the Prophet Elijah praying!  I’m not a prophet – I’m just lil’ ol’ me!”

Yes, Elijah was a prophet. He was a great man of God. And he certainly was righteous!  But James said he was a man, what? “subject to like passions as we are!”  

He faced the same challenges we face each and every day! He was just like us! Amen!

James did not say, “Elijah was a prophet who knew how to pray!”  He did not say, “Elijah was a prophet who had special favor with God!”  James did not say anything like that about Elijah, did he? 

NO!  He said, “Elijah was a man just like us!”  Praise God!

I’m going to stop there for today. I want you to think about that. Amen!

Let’s Pray!

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