Was Elijah normal?
I'm putting the finishing touches on a message I will preach this coming Sunday. It's part of a brief series looking at the life of Elijah from 1 Kings. He was the guy who prayed that it wouldn't rain and it didn't. Prayed that a young boy would come back to life and he did. Prayed that God would send fire and consume a drenched sacrifice and He did. Prayed that it would rain again (three years later) and it did.
This week I have put together 3 questions that I will close with. Do we really believe God answers prayer? How do we prove that? What are we praying for?
Obviously the questions are very much related and, in fact, sequential. I thought I'd take a few moments of your time to get you to think about them too. The major question that I'm working through again is this. "Is what I've described above the normal way or is it extraordinary?"
For starters, let's keep in mind that everything Elijah prayed for was for God's glory, not Elijah's personal record of success or for his personal consumption. In fact; the result of his prayers was not uncommonly a negative experience for Elijah himself. But with that in mind; let's ask those 3 questions.
And that's where the question I said I was working through earlier comes in. "Is Elijah normal or extraordinary?" For those of you who've been around the family for some time, your mind is quickly scanning the New Testament for that passage about Elijah. Let me make that easy for you. It's James 5:17, 18. "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit."
I'm quite confident that it is fear of me looking bad that keeps me from praying in faith for God to do that which is outside of the "reasonable" realm of possibility. Miracles are just that; miracles. By definition, they happen rarely and they happen contrary to the laws of nature. But what about those big things that aren't miracles but that still provide an opportunity for God's glory to be seen in a big way. How many of those kinds of things am I praying for? How big do I want God to be seen through what He does in my life and in answer to my prayer? How about you? If God was only as big as our prayers suggest, how much smaller would he get than he is seen in Scripture?
I'm not sure I want to answer that last question...
This week I have put together 3 questions that I will close with. Do we really believe God answers prayer? How do we prove that? What are we praying for?
Obviously the questions are very much related and, in fact, sequential. I thought I'd take a few moments of your time to get you to think about them too. The major question that I'm working through again is this. "Is what I've described above the normal way or is it extraordinary?" For starters, let's keep in mind that everything Elijah prayed for was for God's glory, not Elijah's personal record of success or for his personal consumption. In fact; the result of his prayers was not uncommonly a negative experience for Elijah himself. But with that in mind; let's ask those 3 questions.
- Do we really believe God answers prayer? I know the "spiritual" answer is yes. Obviously. No doubt. God always answers. Sometimes "yes," sometimes "no," sometimes "later." That's what we've always been taught, right? So let me challenge you with this question? Do you think that Elijah had the most remote conception while standing on Mount Carmel that God might respond to his prayer with a "later?" I think not.
- How do we prove that? Of course, this question assumes a positive response to question one. If we really believe that God answered prayer, wouldn't we spend more time praying? Wouldn't we spend more time getting to know him so that we could pray in accordance with his will? Wouldn't we learn to ask for things with a greater significance to them so that God's glory would be seen in a bigger way? Wouldn't we stop approaching those long-term cries to God with a "I'll-believe-it-when-I-see-it" attitude?
- What are we praying for? What are you asking God for? How do you demonstrate through your prayer life that God is a prayer-answering God? Are other people challenged through your faith as you express it in your prayer life?
And that's where the question I said I was working through earlier comes in. "Is Elijah normal or extraordinary?" For those of you who've been around the family for some time, your mind is quickly scanning the New Testament for that passage about Elijah. Let me make that easy for you. It's James 5:17, 18. "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit."
I'm quite confident that it is fear of me looking bad that keeps me from praying in faith for God to do that which is outside of the "reasonable" realm of possibility. Miracles are just that; miracles. By definition, they happen rarely and they happen contrary to the laws of nature. But what about those big things that aren't miracles but that still provide an opportunity for God's glory to be seen in a big way. How many of those kinds of things am I praying for? How big do I want God to be seen through what He does in my life and in answer to my prayer? How about you? If God was only as big as our prayers suggest, how much smaller would he get than he is seen in Scripture?
I'm not sure I want to answer that last question...
Wish I could hear the entire sermon. You bring up many points to think about. Coincidentally, talked with someone about this very topic this past week, how much does God actually answer prayers today? L.
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot more to the sermon. And as I said in the post; there is a lot more to the discussion about prayer than I have brought out here, but the bottom line is that God does indeed answer prayer. The problem for me is that I tend to slip back into the idea that prayer is primarily about asking and getting responses. Prayer is more like a conversation that gets me into the flow of what God is doing in the world around me. As I do that and grow closer to him, I find that I am able to discern more effectively how I should be praying. When I just come for my daily few minutes to get the prayer time done and move on with my day; I find my sensitivity to how I should pray dwindling. As I discern how to pray more effectvely in the will of God, I find my prayers more likely to be answered in the affirmative. Make sense? Tell me a little about your experience...
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