Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Effective prayer”
Our Bible verse for today: “So Elijah went up to the summit of Carmel. He bowed down on the ground and put his face between his knees. Then he said to his servant, ‘Go up and look toward the sea.’ So he went up, looked, and said, ‘There’s nothing.’ Seven times Elijah said, ‘Go back.’ On the seventh time, he reported, “There’s a cloud as small as a man’s hand coming from the sea.” 1 Kings 18:42-43 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Effective prayer is hard work.”
During the reign of King Ahab (860 BC) the people of God were unfaithful to Him and they worshipped foreign gods. So God punished them by bringing a severe drought upon the land. It lasted for more than three years and it was devastating. Finally God decided to relent and let the rains come. He used the prayers of His faithful servant Elijah as the conduit through which His power would flow to open the skies.
Following God’s instructions, Elijah went to the top of Mount Carmel, bowed down, and began to pray for rain. After some time of prayer he looked up to see if there were any signs of rain coming. He didn’t see any and so he sent his servant to the coast to see if there were any clouds forming over the sea. There weren’t.
Undeterred, Elijah continued praying. Still nothing. So he took his coat off, rolled up his sleeves, hunkered down even lower, and prayed harder. Still nothing. So he prays more, he prays harder, he doesn’t give up, he sweats, he groans, he keeps praying. Finally after seven times of praying and looking, a small cloud forms on the horizon. That’s all Elijah needed to see. It was a small sign but Elijah knew it was what he had been waiting for. His prayers were answered and the rain was coming.
As John Eldredge writes, “Elijah doesn’t just take a quick whack at it; no little “cut flower” prayers here, as Eugene Peterson calls them. No little “Jesus, be with us today” prayers. Elijah is determined to see results.”
Do you have an “Aunt Susie” figure in your life? Aunt Susie is a sweet and kind person who prays simple but often superficial prayers like “Jesus, bless everyone, everywhere, always. Amen.” That’s sweet, and I’m sure she is sincere, but seriously, if you’re in great need who would you rather have praying for you, Aunt Susie or Elijah?
Yeah, me too. “Brother Elijah, would you please pray for me?”
The point is that effective prayer is hard work. Maybe there can be a time when fluffy little prayers are ok, and also spontaneous prayers that just pop out unexpectedly and without much thought, we will discuss those in the days to come; but effective prayer about difficult issues is hard work. It is take off your coat, roll up your sleeves, get down on your knees, pray hard and pray long, hard work. Its Elijah’s kind of praying.
I encourage you to become an Elijah kind of pray-er. Work at it. Work hard. Put real effort into it. And don’t stop until the results come.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 