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And their prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make them well. And anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. —James 5:15
Prayer is the mightiest force upon earth. It is powerful enough to help the troubled, the sick, or the sinner (James 5:13-16).
Elijah is an example of one of the most powerful “pray-ers” in the Bible. He was subject to the same human frailties that we experience when we pray: boredom, fatigue, discouragement, hunger, and thirst. However, so powerful a prayer warrior was he that when he prayed for no rain, “none fell for the next three and a half years!” (James 5:17).
Elijah was consistent for more than three years in holding back the rain through prayer. Then, during a seven-part prayer drama on Mount Carmel, he sent his servant to look for a cloud of rain over the Mediterranean. Six times the servant returned discouraged. Finally, Elijah’s prayer broke through, and the cloud of rain soaked the parched soil.
Our prayer goal? More than anything else, we must pray for those who have strayed from the truth of the Gospel and work to bring them back to right relationship with God (vv. 19-20).
Pray on, fervent Christian. The cloud of salvation is beginning to rise!
Suggested Reading:
Ezekiel 42:1-43:27 James 5:1-20 Psalm 119:1-16 Proverbs 28:6-7