DAY 4: Elijah's Fervent Prayers

Elijah and Ahab

In 1 Kings 18 we find the story of God needing and using a person to accomplish His will through prayer. It is the account of Elijah praying for rain after three years of drought. James 5:17, 18 also mentions this occasion, and we know from his account that not only did Elijah's prayers bring rain, but they also stopped the rain three years earlier. We know we're in trouble when the prophets are praying for drought!

In 1 Kings 18:1, after three years of this judgment, God spoke to Elijah and said, "Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the face of the earth." Then at the end of this chapter, after several other events have occurred, Elijah prays seven times and finally the rain comes.

According to the statement in 1 Kings 18:1, whose idea was it to send rain?...Whose will?...Whose initiation? Answer: God's, not Elijah's.


Then why, if it was God's will, idea and timing, did it take a human's prayers to "birth" the rain? (Elijah was in the posture of a woman in that culture giving birth, symbolizing the concept of travailing prayer.)

Why did Elijah have to ask seven times? Seven is the biblical number of completion, and I'm sure God was teaching us that we must pray until the task is accomplished. But why would this or any other prayer endeavor require perseverance, when it was God's will, idea and timing?

And finally, did Elijah's prayers really produce the rain or was it simply coincidental that he happened to be praying when God sent it?

James clarifies the answer to this last question. Yes, "the effectual fervent prayer" of this man stopped and brought the rain:
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. And he prayed again, and the sky poured rain, and the earth produced its fruit (James 5:17, 18).

The only logical answer to the question of why Elijah needed to pray is simply that God has chosen to work through people. Even when it is the Lord Himself initiating something, earnestly desiring to do it, He still needs us to ask. Andrew Murray succinctly speaks of our need to ask: "God's giving is inseparably connected with our asking....Only by intercession can that power be brought down from heaven which will enable the Church to conquer the world." 

As to Elijah's need for perseverance, I don't want to comment extensively at this time, but for now suffice it to say that I believe our prayers do more than just petition the Father. I've become convinced that in some situations they actually release cumulative amounts of God's power until enough has been released to accomplish His will.

Rev. Obadiah Swen

Pastor, Bethel World Outreach Church - Virginia