Pastors' Blog: 37 Prevailing with God in prayer

Reading: James 5:14-18 and 1 Kings chs.17-18

THE passage above from the book of James focuses on the power of prayer, specifically to bring healing to the sick: ‘the prayer of faith shall make the sick person well.’ (v.15). And to encourage us to believe this, James then makes a superlative statement in v.16 about the potential power of prayer in terms of God’s ability to radically transform situations:

‘The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.’ (AV)

The Greek verb ischuo used in this verse speaks of strength, ability, power, force and might, and it therefore signifies inherent power in action, and hence to prevail. Its use is strengthened by the adverb poly, meaning ‘very much.’ Also, the participle energoumene denotes dynamic, active working, referring to the active power of God released in answer to prayer. These meanings have given rise to different renderings of this verse, such as the following:

‘The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working.’ (v.16 RV)

‘The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.’

(v.16 NIV)

‘The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much [when put into action and made effective by God – it is dynamic and can have tremendous power.]’ (v.16 Amplified)

‘The earnest [heartfelt, continued] prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].’

(v.16 Amplified Classic Edition)

In the early church, believers were exhorted to call the elders to pray over them when they were sick, because in those days church elders were generally expected to be of such spiritual calibre that they were able to pray the prayer of faith that would bring healing.

Healing miracles did not cease when the first-generation apostles died out, nor when the canon of Scripture was completed (as cessationism wrongly teaches). The writings of the Early Fathers give abundant testimony to their continuance during the first three centuries of the church’s existence. The operation of the ministries of healing and exorcism diminished (rather than passing away) when the calibre and quality of faith which was prevalent in the church in this period, became rarer after the massive influx of nominality, worldliness and syncretism into the church after the changes which the Emperor Constantine introduced early in the fourth century AD. The active power of God in the church waned from this time onwards, until it began to re-emerge in a marked way in the time of the evangelical awakenings in the eighteenth century.

However, the standard of the early church is what God is hoping for and expecting of every generation of believers. It is this standard and calibre of faith and prayer which sees the sick healed, which sees miracles take place, and which sees the arm of God working powerfully. If we do not see these things happen, it is not because God is not willing to work in such ways today, it is simply because our walk with God, our depth of personal surrender, our prayer life and our level of faith do not match up to those of the early church. However, if we live in anything like this calibre of walk with God and of prayer and faith, then we too will see these things happen. If we abide in Christ and his words abide in us, then we can ask whatever we will, and it shall be given to us (John 15:7). Effectual fervent prayer always secures results. It sees breakthrough happen and brings answers. It is to such a calibre of walk with God with its consistent, faith-filled, persevering prayer that we are called and in which we need to engage, if we are to see God working powerfully amongst us in our own day.

To further encourage us to believe that God can indeed work powerfully in answer to our prayers, James brings the example of the prophet Elijah. Just as Abraham is held up to us by the apostle Paul as a model of what it means to be a man of faith (Rom. 4:16-21), in a similar way the prophet Elijah is held up to us by James as an example of a man who prevailed in prayer:

‘Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.’ (Jas. 5:17-18)

The point James makes here is very simple: Elijah was an ordinary person, just like us. If God could answer his prayers in such powerful ways, then he can answer ours too. So if we observe and learn from some of the core principles which operated in Elijah’s life, then we too will be able to prevail with God and pray the prayer of faith. This man’s prayers changed the course of nature, so, even if we ourselves never attain to that level of praying, yet we can at least learn how to ‘move the mountain’ that confronts us.

Inwardly compelled to seek God

Elijah seems to appear ‘right out of the blue’ when he suddenly jumps onto the pages of recorded history in 1 Kings 17:1 and stands before Ahab to declare his prophetic word. However, if we think that this sudden appearance before Ahab is therefore the beginning of his story, then we have missed one of the most important parts of it.

The declaration of a prophetic word always has a background of prayer in the life of a prophet. We are told that, before he went to king Ahab, Elijah had ‘prayed earnestly’ (Jas. 5:17). The underlying Greek words used here translate literally as ‘He prayed with prayer…,’ with the word ‘pray’ being repeated in different forms for emphasis in order to convey to us the intensity of Elijah’s praying. So it is variously rendered in the following ways: ‘He prayed earnestly…’ (NIV and AV); ‘He prayed fervently…’ (ESV), and as ‘He prayed intensely…’ (Amplified).

Elijah’s prayers were not empty words spoken out a few times from a heart which did not really care. No, this man’s heart was genuinely burdened about what he was praying for. He grieved over the spiritual condition of his country, and this burden in his heart compelled him inwardly to seek God and pray. So the times he spent in prayer would not have been short. They would have been quality times spent with God in which he poured out the deep convictions of his heart for his country and the condition of God’s people. He prayed earnestly.

God is looking for people whose lives he can take up and possess in order to work out his purposes through them. He can then share the vision and burden of his heart with such people and, through their ongoing obedience, work out particular purposes through them. Elijah was gripped deep within himself by the lamentable spiritual state of his country, so he would spend many hours pouring out his heart in prayer to God about this. And he eventually saw God working powerfully in answer to his prayers… A burdened heart is the inward dynamic of prevailing prayer. The person who prevails with God is a person whose heart is gripped by a burden and who pours this burden out to God in prayer.

Discerning the word of the Lord and breaking through in faith

As Elijah sought the face of God in prayer (no doubt with fasting as well), God evidently spoke to him at some point through the passage below from Deuteronomy 11:16-17, showing him that it was his will to bring a period of judgement into the life of the northern kingdom of Israel, because of their gross unfaithfulness and idolatry:

‘Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you.’ (Deut. 11:16-17)

This period of judgement (in the form of a prolonged drought and famine which would last for three and a half years) would then pave the way to the eventual demise of Jezebel, whose evil ways had brought Israel down into such a disastrous moral and spiritual condition. This happened later during the ministry of Elijah’s prophetic successor Elisha.

In order to go forward and prevail in God’s purposes, we need to develop the ability to discern when God is speaking to us. This is a fundamental lesson of spiritual life, particularly for those who would aspire to become effective leaders. It is those who determine that they will live close to God and walk with him in consistent obedience, who will be able to discern when the Lord is speaking to them, and what his specific word is for their situation.

According to James 5:17, after God had spoken this particular prophetic word to him, Elijah spent many times with God praying earnestly about it, until he evidently broke through in faith for its fulfilment (cf. Dan. 9:2-3). To prevail in prayer, we need to reach the place where we have broken through in faith and have the assurance deep down within ourselves that God is indeed going to fulfil his word. No promise or word from God works automatically in or through our life. His promises have to be believed into practical realisation as he works in or through us:

‘“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”’ (Mark 11:22-24)

After Elijah had reached this point of breakthrough in his praying and knew that God was going to work according to his word in Deuteronomy 11:16-17, he had the spiritual authority and freedom within himself to go and declare this word openly, fearlessly and with deep conviction of faith to king Ahab (1 Kings 17:1).

Maintaining a close and obedient walk with God through it all

Having declared this word of judgement, Elijah’s life was then very much in danger. So, in order to protect him during the time of the ensuing drought and famine, while Jezebel was killing off many of the Lord’s prophets, God specifically led Elijah into a long period of isolation and hid him in places where he would not be found. He spent the next three and a half years firstly on his own in the Kerith Ravine, and then in the home of a widow in Zarephath near Sidon.

When he was hidden safely in the ravine, Elijah found himself in a position in which only God could sustain and provide for him, and, to protect his life, this had to be done supernaturally. The challenge of seeing God provide for him supernaturally every day (and also later for the widow of Zarephath and her son when their food had run out) would undoubtedly have been new to him.

So in this next phase of his life, Elijah’s own faith was being stretched in new ways. This time of isolation had a purpose in and of itself for him. It wasn’t wasted time. He himself had to continue to grow through this period of isolation, as his situation developed.

So what did Elijah do in all this time? Well, he certainly didn’t just sit around all day relaxing and doing nothing, just waiting for the drought to come to an end. No, part of the secret of prevailing with God is to maintain a close walk with him and to abide daily in prayer for the situation or issues about which we are concerned. We have to stay on top of it. In order to prevail with God through tests and challenging situations and to see victory come, we need to keep our faith consistently strong by refreshing ourselves daily in the word of God and his presence.

No doubt Elijah, just like us, would have had to grapple at times with unbelief, doubt, fear, spiritual attacks, sometimes simply feeling fed up of it all, his austere living conditions, inward questions about God’s provision and about the future, and so on, as well as trying to consistently maintain his level of faith for the situation of the drought and famine. The secret of getting through tests and challenges is being regularly in the presence of God behind the scenes, grappling with his promises, overcoming doubt and unbelief, in order to abide consistently in the place where we know and have the assurance deep within that God will provide and that his purpose will be fulfilled.

So, in order to survive practically and to prevail spiritually, Elijah would have to have consistently maintained his intimacy and close walk with God on a daily basis. The spiritual burden he was carrying was consuming his life and it did not go away, so his times with God would have been regular, frequent and long. It is the willingness to submit to God, and to walk obediently with him through the paths to which we are called, that develops within us the spiritual capacity to bear the responsibility and burden of seeing a purpose of God worked out and fulfilled.

Elijah carried this for three and a half years, and he had to walk through every day of it with God. He bore the full brunt within himself every single day of what it meant to walk practically through it all. There are no short cuts in God’s work. If we are to prevail and see a purpose of God worked out and fulfilled, then we have to lock our whole life into it and walk through it every inch of the way, and believe him at every stage of it, right through to the point of victory.

We can perhaps appreciate just a little of the toll this took on Elijah, by observing how, when this whole experience was finally over, he simply fled for his life into the desert when Jezebel threatened him. He had evidently had enough. When he finally stopped and hid in a cave, he was exhausted and did nothing for a couple of days except just sleep and eat (1 Kings 19:3-8).

The willingness to carry a burden of responsibility in the working out of a purpose of God (regardless of whether this is larger or smaller) represents a demarcation line in the maturing of a person’s spiritual life. Those who prevail with God are always people who are willing to bear a burden in God’s work as he lays this on their heart, and who are willing to be responsible for seeing it through to its fulfilment.

The fact that Elijah kept consistently very close to God during this time and stayed on top of everything that was going on in his situation, is shown by the fact that he was able to discern a prophetic word from God about leaving the ravine where he was hiding and going to Zarephath, and then another one about God’s continuing supernatural provision for both himself and the widow and her son as he reached the town gate of Zarephath. Furthermore, the raising of the widow’s dead son later on was a practical demonstration and proof of the depth to which Elijah’s faith was being stretched and was prevailing during the latter part of these three and a half years.

Persistence in prayer until the answer comes

After a long time, Elijah discerned in his spirit another word from the Lord, that God’s time had come for rain to fall once again and for the drought to end. So, after his encounter with the prophets of Baal, he ascended to the top of Mount Carmel to be alone with God and to pray for rain to come:

‘Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.’ (Jas. 5:18)

The interaction between Elijah and his servant highlights to us the need for persistence in prayer. It was God’s purpose to bring rain, but this purpose still had to be prayed and believed into practical realisation. Believing the promises of God is no flippant thing, as though we can somehow simply quote a few words from the Bible, click our fingers, and God’s promises are then ‘magically’ fulfilled. There was no ‘name it and claim it’ here. No. Elijah had to persevere in prayer and believing until it came to pass. Six times he sent his servant to see if rain clouds were forming, and six times there was nothing. But Elijah knew what the will and purpose of God were, so he did not allow himself to get discouraged and give up. Each time he went back to God and prayed again. He persisted in prayer, and his servant saw the first rain cloud in the sky when he went for the seventh time (1 Kings 18:42-44).

Jesus taught his disciples at least two parables about the need for such perseverance and persistence in prayer: the parable of the friend at midnight, and the parable of the persistent widow (Luke 11:5-10, 18:1-8). To prevail in prayer takes time and it takes persistence. It is those who are prepared to learn this, and to live it out in practice, who will see God working powerfully and effectively!

Copyright Notice

Scripture quotations from The Authorized (King James) Version. Rights in the Authorized Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Reproduced by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.

Scripture quotations from the Revised Version are public domain.

Pastors' Blog

Pages

37 Prevailing with God in prayer

No comments:

Post a Comment