but i'm ordinary...

james goes on from the need for confession. james 5. 16b-18 (ms), 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.

we read the stories of the great men and women of the bible and of their faith and the power of their prayers and we wonder about whether we have what it takes to pray prayers that will make a difference. they were extraordinary people not like me. i'm ordinary. but james puts a phrase right in the middle of these verses that speaks to me. elijah, for instance, human just like us.

i am so glad james put that phrase in there. yes, elijah did extraordinary things but he was a human like me.

i love this particular story of elijah. my father is now in heaven but i can still see and hear him tell this story. you will find the story over in i kings 19.

this is after the big GOD contest on mt. carmel. he runs to the other side of the desert and goes through a fit of depression and prays, "GOD, kill me. i'm so depressed." he wasn't afraid of 400 prophets of baal but he runs from a woman named jezebel. come to think of it, that is a good time to run when a woman is mad at you.

now in that passage -- the first 10 verses -- elijah demonstrated fear, resentment, guilt, anger, loneliness and worry. now you know why it says, elijah...human just like us. we have anger, fear, resentment, worry, loneliness.

but the lesson of elijah's life is you don't have to be perfect to pray. you don't have to be perfect to see answers to your prayers. it's for ordinary people.

i kings 18, elijah got alone with GOD and humbled himself praying for rain. it says he prayed seven times. he was persistent. he would not give up. one day a little cloud formed in the sky and he said, ''it's going to be a gusher!'' the rains came and flooded the place.

GOD uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things through prayer. and i am an ordinary person so I guess i qualify to do extraordinary things through prayer and so do you.

just some thoughts from bill's front porch...