James 5:17 “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.”
Pastor James, the author of the book of James, personally believed in praying. He was known as “Ole Camel Knees” because he spent so much time on his knees in prayer that his knees became like those of a camel’s knees. Throughout his letter, he called on God’s people to call on God. He told them (and us) to ask God for wisdom. He also taught that our prayers must not be selfish prayers, putting it bluntly that “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” (James 4:3)
As his letter wraps up, he once again reminds God’s people to pray. He teaches that the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. (James 5:16b NJKV) The NLT translates it “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” In other words, when a righteous person prays with tremendous focus, God responds. (Fervent BTW has the idea of a runner seeking to win a close race, totally focused on the finish line and expending all their energy)
Having said this, James once again draws from an Old Testament person to illustrate what he has taught. It appears that James must have marked in his OT the story of Elijah and how he prayed for it not to rain, and then he prayed for it to rain, and it rained. Reading such a story (found in 1 Kings 17 and 18) must have made Elijah one of James’s role models for prayer. He had to be impressed that Elijah did something that everyone said you can’t do anything about, and that is the weather. You have probably said or heard someone say you can’t do anything about the weather. Well, ELIJAH DID. Elijah told King Ahab, “As surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives—the God I serve—there will be no dew or rain during the next few years until I give the word!”
Knowing that God responds to the fervent prayer of a righteous man, James reminds us to remember Elijah and how God answered his prayer, changing the weather. And most important is that Elijah was a man just like we are.
Do you need God to do something that only God can do? Then ASK Him! Just like the man Elijah, you can ASK for God to do something only God can do.
“Nothing of eternal significance ever happens apart for prayer.” Dr. Jerry Falwell
Continue Strong in fervent prayer,
And remember to daily DATE the Word