When we think of the Old Testament prophets and the great miracles God did through them, Elijah is probably one of the first to come to mind. The way God used the prophets may cause us to think of these men as more than human, but they weren’t. The prophets were sinners, just like we are sinners today. Focusing on Elijah for a moment, we must remember that it wasn’t Elijah doing the miracles, but it was God who answered Elijah’s “earnest” prayers. God is the one who empowers.
The Bible says in James 5:17, “Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.” Do we pray earnestly? We must first understand what earnestly means. When Elijah prayed earnestly, it means he prayed with a real desire to see the prayer answered. It flowed from a seriousness and zealousness that Elijah had toward God. It wasn’t a flippant no-thought prayer. Elijah went before God in seriousness, with the conviction that the answer to his prayer was needed.
Think about what Elijah says in I Kings 17:1 and how he says it. “And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.” He spoke with complete confidence. James gives us the insight that Elijah prayed before making that statement. Elijah was speaking to the evilest king in the history of Israel, Ahab, and addressing many serious sins including Baal worship. This was a sad time for those who loved the only true God and wanted to see Israel be blessed. Elijah had a reason to pray earnestly.
Elijah was “subject to like passions as we are” and was not free from sinful passions, as impatience, fear, and unbelief are seen in his life, but he prayed earnestly and the Lord answered. We serve the same unchanging and all-powerful God. God has commanded us to pray, and He will move mountains for the earnest prayer, offered in faith and with the right motives. Think about the great miracles God could do today. Don’t we have a reason to pray earnestly now?
