Astonishing Prayer

Today, we are going to look at an example from scripture of an astonishing prayer life. The life belongs to the prophet Elijah, who serves as an example for a dynamic, transformational, and deeply spiritual life in communion with God.

In 1 Kings, the prophet Elijah is tasked with the responsibility of reprimanding Israel’s most evil leader, King Ahab. Elijah brought a word of judgment to the king; that a drought was coming on the land that would last over three years. After this prophecy, Elijah went into hiding for the entirety of the famine.

We learn from the Book of James what took place in the context of the famine that struck the land. It was not a mountaintop moment of spiritual vitality for the prophet Elijah but rather an earnest and consistent plea to God:

Elijah was a human being, even as we are. 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.
James 5:17-18

The heavens did give rain again and Elijah’s legacy of prayer serves as a testimony to the faith that can be possessed by “the human being.” However, in the midst of this season of waiting is another example of Elijah’s boldness in prayer: Elijah and the Confrontation with the Prophets of Baal.

God called Elijah not only out of hiding but into the presence of King Ahab, who had a bounty on the prophet’s head. Elijah went boldly to Ahab and addressed the source of his godlessness — idolatry. Elijah then challenged the king to a determinative competition between Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and Baal, the god of the Canaanites, in a trial by fire (1 Kings 18:22-24):

At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”
1 Kings 17:36-37

Elijah’s confidence in God is astounding. He prayed prayers that left people with an undoubtable association, between the drought of the land and the judgment of God, the fire of heaven and Yahweh, the true God of Israel. Witnesses had no choice, after the prayers of Elijah, but to acknowledge the power of the Lord.

In the prophet Elijah, we see a hero of the faith, marked by prayers of boldness and consistency; “a human being, even as we are,” and an example worth emulating.

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Father, we want to live lives marked by boldness and longevity in prayerfulness, like Elijah. Thank you for his example and for the detail included by James, that he was a human being, just like us. We receive this encouragement today.