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James 5:17-18
17 Elias [Helias] was [en] a man [anthropos] subject to like passions as [homoiopathes] we are [hemin], and [kai] he prayed [proseuchomai] earnestly [proseuche] that it might [brecho] not [me] rain [brecho]: and [kai] it rained [brecho] not [ou] on [epi] the earth [ge] by the space of three [treis] years [eniautos] and [kai] six [hex] months [men].
18 And [kai] he prayed [proseuchomai] again [palin], and [kai] the heaven [ouranos] gave [didomi] rain [huetos], and [kai] the earth [ge] brought forth [blastano] her [autos] fruit [karpos]. KJV-Interlinear
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the sky poured rain, and the earth produced its fruit. NASB
If God will work seemingly miraculous events in history, then how much more will He answer prayers for the little needs of our everyday life.
James uses Elijah in his example of a common man obtaining great answers to prayer.
Elijah was a man subject to the same passions, weaknesses, flaws as we all are subject to. This is Gods statement, through the words of James. Remember that the scriptures are all Gods word, not mans.
‘All scripture is God breathed, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God might be mature, rightly dividing (discerning) the word for truth.’
So, Elijah was a common man. He was no different than anyone of us. He had no special talents or abilities. The only thing that set him apart from anyone else, was the doctrine in his soul, which he learned through a systematic and daily study of the scriptures as they were available to him in his day. Without doctrine, Elijah would have been just another no name person lost to history, just as many billions and billions of people through history have been lost, with the only record of their existence being recorded in the volumes in heaven.
So, you and Elijah are really quite similar in many respects.
The example here is not on the extraordinary man named Elijah, but on the extraordinary power of prayer, submitted by a common person.
Within these two chapters, 1 Kg. 17:1 through 1 Kg. 18:45, many events took place. At the beginning of chapter 17, Elijah was commanded to tell the king that the rain would stop. At the end of chapter 18, Elijah received many commands and the rains returned. There were many events occurring during this three year time period.
The famine was brought because of the great apostasy in the land, not because Elijah had some wish to punish or get even. The famine was Gods will, and therefore was granted. Many events, both great and small occurred during the famine. Life, daily life, continued on for everyone. Some were exposed to hardships and some were not.
Prayer has tremendous power. Prayer may not have any immediate or observable results, but in faith and over time, you will be able to observe the results of your prayers, if you are faithful in your Bible studies and in your prayer life.
Everyday in life, you will have the opportunity to observe people, from time to time, people who are missing a marble or two in their heads. You may wonder just how they make it in life. But then, perhaps there is someone praying for them, or for something, that affects their life. That is, for example, a prayer for our country will affect many types of people.
So your prayers may have many indirect results, that you cannot even begin to imagine. A prayer for your children, which may be the only thing that they have going for them, may result in many events in their life, which will affect their life, as well as many other folks.
Prayers can have a far reaching impact in life. But regardless of the nature of your prayers, all prayers must be compatible with Gods plan and therefore with His will.
From the very small prayers, to the very big ones, prayer is one of the most powerful driving forces for all of human history. No government, no military, no social club, no culture, no beliefs of any kind can match the power and results of prayer, when it is applied properly from within the fellowship sphere of the spiritual life.
Your prayer life is only as good as your spiritual growth. Your spiritual growth is only as good as your daily commitment to you Bible study. Your daily Bible study is only as good as your consistency of residence in fellowship.
As a believer in Christ, your spiritual life begins with your self-monitoring of your sin status, and the consistency and regularity of your confession to God the Father. Within the fellowship sphere, you are potentially just as powerful as Elijah, and perhaps, in our current day, even more so, even though no one (except God) will ever know about your input to human history.
Apart from your fellowship status, if you are consistently out of fellowship, then you are nothing more than historical filler. Just another human being, that was born, lived and died, with no meaningful impact whatsoever, in history.
Since the time of Adam and Eve, for some six thousands of years plus, of human history, perhaps a couple of trillion or more people have been born, lived and died. How many historical names can you remember? Maybe a thousand, but more likely far fewer? Where are all of those hundreds of billions of folks? Who were they?
In life, most people want to be remembered, or known, or they want to have some significant impact in this world. They want their life to have a meaning and purpose.
Well, here is your greatest chance for having maximum meaning, and purpose, and even impact in human history.
And it is all possible by means of the grace of God, through a very simple daily Bible study.
‘If any two of you ask, in His name, then your request will be granted.’
Mature believers all over the world offer daily prayers of many kinds. They are the true warrior soldiers of history. You can join their ranks and become one among the most unheralded minorities that has ever existed, and be a part of the greatest impact on human history as well as your own personal and family life.
Or, you can ignore all of this Bible stuff and do nothing spiritually, and therefore, be nothing.
