many CHRISTians feel inferior…

when should i pray?  james says you can pray whenever you've got a need – a physical need, an emotional need, a material need. no matter what it is you ought to pray. 

then who can pray? 

some people think you have to be a SPIRITual giant to pray and get those kinds of answers.  “i could never pray and see somebody healed” or “i could never pray and see a financial miracle”. many CHRISTians feel inferior.

who can pray?  anyone.

james uses elijah as an illustration.  james 5.17 (niv), elijah was a man just like us.  he prayed earnestly that it wouldn’t rain and it didn’t rain on the land for three and a half years.  he prayed again and the heavens gave rain and the earth produced its crops.

you will find the story over in 1 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. 

now in that passage – the first 10 verses – elijah demonstrated fear, resentment, guilt, anger, loneliness and worry.  now you know why it says, “elijah was a man just like us.”  we have anger, fear, resentment, worry, loneliness.

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.

just a thought from the front porch…