The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. 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 5:16b-18 NIV
Have you ever wondered if your prayers make any real difference? Is God really listening, and if He is listening, will He act on your behalf? Yes, God is listening, and He does act in response to the prayers of His people! James says the prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective. So does that mean if we sin, God will no longer answer our prayers? No! Elijah was a human like us, and all humans sin. The Bible is clear about that.
Our righteousness is like filthy rags. In other words, in our own merit, none of us are righteous. But God makes us righteous when we exercise faith. Just a few chapters earlier, James tells us, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend. (James 2:23 NIV) The moment you exercised faith in what Jesus did for you on the cross, God saw you as righteous, and your prayers began to have great power and effectiveness!
Elijah lived during the reign of King Ahab, who did more to anger the Lord than all the kings before him. After no rain had fallen in the land for three and half years there was a severe famine. Ahab knew that God had stopped the rain in response to Elijah’s prayer and he was angry.
When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing. Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.” 1 Kings 18:17-24 NIV
God absolutely hates it when we waiver between two opinions! Elijah had a plan to help the people realize they were pursuing the wrong god.
Then all the people said, “What you say is good.” Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.
Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.” “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again. “Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench. 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.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!” 1 Kings 18:24-39 NIV
Notice the contrast in the prayer of the prophets of Baal and the prayer of Elijah. The prophets of Baal went to great lengths to be heard by their god. They shouted, danced, and slashed themselves with swords and spears until they were bleeding profusely. They did whatever they could to get Baal’s attention, but to no avail. Elijah spoke a simple, but heartfelt honest prayer and the Lord heard him, and the Lord answered.
You can be sure that God hears your every prayer and He has an immediate response. He doesn’t always reveal His answer as quickly as He did in this account, but He begins to act behind the scenes the very moment you pray. There’s no need to frantically carry on to get His attention because you already have it. You have the attention of God! He is always actively listening for your prayer. That’s the difference between religion and relationship. God is approachable, you just need to talk with Him. Your prayers are powerful and effective because God loves you!