Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
James 5:17-18
I’ve often wondered what the key is to having prayers answered the way that I want. Here, in the words of James, we can fish these verses out of the greater context to believe that the key to seeing miraculous things come out of talking to God is to pray really, really hard. This just isn’t the case.
I’ve wanted things really badly, and I am sure that you have too. I have prayed hard (at least, what I thought was very hard), and I did not get the results that I wanted. Elsewhere in James and via the words of Jesus we must understand that our prayers must not come from a place of selfishness, but they must align with the will God and the name of Jesus. So what is James trying to tell us if he is not telling us that praying really hard gives us whatever we want?
In the Greek, the words for “prayed fervently” could actually be interpreted as, “prayed prayers.”* The double emphasis used could imply passionate, intense prayers, or it could imply continuous prayers.* Based upon the intensity of the stakes of Elijah’s prayers (seen in 1 Kings 17:1-7 and 1 Kings 18:41-19:8) and the waiting period that James details, there may have been some of both intense and continuous prayers.
There could be many reasons why James shared the example of Elijah, but certainly the reasons why include the mind-boggling truth that you and I are no different than Elijah. When we read the account of Elijah in God’s Word, we may find ourselves discounting ourselves and our own faith. It boggles my mind to think that Elijah was no different than me: an imperfect person in need of the Savior.
Could it be that Elijah was nervous that the rain wouldn’t stop when he asked, or it wouldn’t come when asked (we see his fear in his story at various times)? Could it be that Elijah wondered if God heard his prayers? Could it be that Elijah had to trust God even if it didn’t turn out how he hoped or he thought was best? Could it be that if Elijah is like you and me there were prayers that Elijah prayed that didn’t turn out how he wanted?
This revelation should encourage us to remember that our prayers matter. Our prayers possess the power to make big changes in our world because our prayers aren’t just spiritual practices done to feel good or so that we completed religious duty. Our prayers are conversations with the God of the universe, and He listens to us. Maybe God says, “no,” “not yet,” or something similar when we pray. Other times, as we see in a normal guy like Elijah, God answers our prayers with, “okay, watch this!”
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to believe that your prayers are effective. Perhaps today the one step God wants you to take is to trust Him even when things don’t go as we think is best. Maybe today God wants you to see Him do something amazing to answer your prayers. Perhaps today God wants you to keep waiting because the miracle is coming.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.
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*Blomberg, C. L., & Kamell, M. J. (2008). James (Vol. 16, pp. 245–247). Zondervan.
Guthrie, G. H. (2006). James. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews–Revelation (Revised Edition) (Vol. 13, p. 272). Zondervan.
Stulac, G. M. (1993). James (Jas 5:15–18). IVP Academic.
Moo, D. J. (2021). The Letter of James (D. A. Carson, Ed.; Second Edition, pp. 315–316). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
Nystrom, D. P. (1997). James (p. 308). Zondervan Publishing House.
Martin, R. P. (1988). James (Vol. 48, pp. 212–213). Word, Incorporated.