1 Kings 18:42 – So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees,

1 Kings 18:43 – And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.

1 Kings 18:44 – And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.

Hello readers, just a short blog to encourage you in prayer, and to keep praying even when “there is nothing”. Keep praying even when you can’t see anything yet on the horizon! I was thinking about Luke 11 recently when Jesus Christ was praying, and how after he had finished praying, one of his disciples said unto him “Lord teach us to pray”. I always somehow interjected “how” into that sentence subconsciously, but the how is not there. Because Jesus Christ’s disciples had a problem like us. And that problem mostly isn’t in how we pray, the problem is we don’t pray at all! For whatever reason, mostly because the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, but also because we don’t really believe God hears us or that what we pray will really change anything.

Prayer is something that you would think is easy, yet it can be very difficult. There is a real spiritual battle in prayer, and so many of us can live our Christian life really devoid of prayer. And as a result, we are missing the power of God in our lives. And not to mention the fact that often we are praying for stuff that God doesn’t want for us, we have the gall to pray for stuff contrary to God’s word and while in disobedience to God’s word. God is not your little genie.

But here, in this story of Elijah, the great man of God, we see that his prayer changed plenty. His prayer made a difference. We know from James 5:16 which references this exact story that “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” But we instantly think, well that was Elijah, he was different to us. But as if the Bible anticipates that copout, in the very next verse the Bible says “Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are”. God is telling you that it wasn’t different for Elijah, he didn’t get special treatment or special rules… and this story does relate to you, this story is for you, and you can have power in prayer.

Elijah’s prayer sure did make a difference. His prayer had held back the rain for three and a half years. So prayer can change things. Often we do not pray because we really just don’t have faith. Prayer is a function of a life lived by faith, because when you’re living by faith, you really do need prayer. In fact prayer is absolutely necessary to those living by faith. You really do need to talk to who you have faith in! You do need to confess your sins, ask for grace, thank him for saving you and bring your life before him as you walk together. Can two walk together except they be agreed? Well yeah, you’ve gotta agree with God, because he isn’t going to agree with our sin.

Did you know that prayer is effective? That’s what “effectual” means! Did you know that being fervent means you mean it? Fervent means hot, it means there’s life to it, it shouldn’t be a dead recital. But maybe we are missing out on that “righteous” part, because as the Bible says in Isaiah 59:2 “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”  Sin will ruin your prayer life. So many people have the gall to pray when they have no intention of obeying God, when they are in willful disobedience to God… and God will not be mocked by them. As Luke 11:18 says “The Pharisee prayed thus with himself”. Is your prayer just you praying with yourself? I don’t want that kind of prayer, I want to pray with Jesus Christ, not have my own little self medication session where I talk with myself.

If you are right with God and get to praying, you will come down from that mountaintop with God with a different glow about you, just as Moses did. But we don’t have the shining, because our relationship with God is cold, and unbelief has doused what should be the fervent fire of prayer. But how often “there is nothing” kills our prayer life! We may have prayed the first time, but when you look at what it did, there’s no answer of God to be seen on the horizon. That servant came back to Elijah and said “there is nothing”. I can’t see your prayer did anything! No rain Elijah! But that didn’t discourage Elijah, because he believed in the God he was praying to. God had proven himself to Elijah, and God will prove himself to you. Pray for him to save you, and guess what, he will! Pray for him to let him use you to see someone saved, he will!

Seven times Elijah’s servant went and looked out across the sea for a sign of something on the horizon. Go again! Keep going in prayer, go again in prayer! Go again in faith in God! And the seventh time, he came back to tell Elijah that he could see little cloud arising out of the sea, like a man’s hand. Not rain yet… but God moving! There’s something there now! I don’t know where you’re at, but keep praying and trusting God, because God can bring showers of blessing. I thought about that man’s hand, and I believe it is just telling us that one man’s prayer can make a big difference. There is power in prayer. Prayer is miracle ground that we can all tread. And it doesn’t matter if you are just one praying person, you can make a difference, not because you’re great, but because of the God you are praying to. It wasn’t because it was “Elijah”. And don’t let “there is nothing” ruin your prayer life and take your patience and hope and confidence in God away. Maybe there is no answer on the horizon for you at the moment, but God does hear, and he is moving and he will be right on time.

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