Just Like Me | Lessons from James

Welcome to Real Life.  Elijah was one of the most powerful prophets of the Old Testament.  Was he really just like me?  

The prayer of a person living right with God
Is something powerful to be reckoned with.
Elijah, for instance, human just like us,
Prayed hard that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't—
Not a drop for three and a half years.
Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did.
The showers came and everything started growing again.[1]

Elijah, just like me?  I don’t think so.  Elijah prophesied.  He raised the dead.  He called down fire from heaven.  Elijah was superman. 

Then again … Elijah was afraid.  He ran from Jezebel.  Elijah felt alone.  He thought he was the only one living for God.  Elijah got depressed.  He asked God to take his life.  Okay, maybe he was like me.
   
Israel was God’s nation.  But their king had led them to worship Baal, rather than Jehovah.[2]  It broke God’s heart.  It broke Elijah’s heart.  So, Elijah prayed for a drought.  No rain meant no crops.  No crops meant an economic crisis for Israel.  (Economic crises tend to get a nation’s attention.)
   
After 3-1/2 years of drought and famine, Elijah hosted a contest between Jehovah and Baal.  The deity who answered his prophets’ prayers by igniting their sacrifice would prove he was the one true God.  Jehovah won, of course.  Baal is a counterfeit god.[3]  After the contest, Elijah prayed for rain.  God sent a rainstorm to end the drought. 

The prayer of a person living right with God
is something powerful to be reckoned with.

Elijah wasn’t perfect.  He was an ordinary human being trying to live for God.   Yet, his prayers rocked a nation.  I’m an ordinary woman trying to live for God.  Could my prayers rock my world?

Dear Lord, teach me the power of prayer.

Something to think about...

  • Read more of Elijah’s story in 1 Kings 16:29 through 2 Kings 2:12 (Bible Gateway).
  • Listen to “Days of Elijah” by Twila Paris. There is no god like Jehovah!
[1] James 5:16-18 The Message
[2] Jehovah is the Israelites’ name for God.
[3] There is only one God.  Other "gods" hold spiritual power, but it is the counterfeit power of demons who disguise themselves as a god. (2 Corinthians 11:14; Deuteronomy 32:17.) 
Image of rain from: https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR5R-Jojt9lFnab2lLBU0rCbQ4o_9sNwWK1Fwv2sG4p5nBS3bcj

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