The Power of Prayer -or- No Rain in the Forecast

My young adult Bible study group just finished up the book of James, and it was a great study. I wish we would have gone a little more in depth, but sadly, very few people offered up their interpretations. Will, Jeb, and I did most of the talking, but that's ok. Anyway, something that James said absolutely floored me. Here's what he says:

"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. 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 5:16-18 NIV)

In these verses, James is referring to 1 Kings 17:1. Ahab has just inherited the kingdom of Israel from his father, Omri. It says that Ahab "did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him (1 Kings 16:30). Ahab worshipped and built a temple to Baal, deity over thunder, rain, and dew. Elijah, a man who was introduced in the Bible with no fanfare, challenged him, declaring ""As the Lord, God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word. (1 Kings 17:1)" From that moment it did not rain for three and a half years, when the Lord told him to present himself again to Ahab.

Does this punch anyone else in the gut? Does it make you wonder what your prayers could do? Sit back and let that sink in a little bit. Elijah was a man just like us. I think quite often many of us fail to recognize that the people in the Old Testament, and maybe even the New, were just that; they were real people who experienced many of the same emotions and daily trials that we go through. Perhaps his clothes were different and he didn't have a Blackberry to check every five minutes, but Elijah was human. He needed food and water to sustain him. He probably suffered from the occasional cold, and he needed somewhere to relieve himself. Even further, he felt the same emotions that we feel. 3,000 years later, we are the same humans underneath our exteriors. What is amazing about Elijah is that he recognized the true power of the Lord. He knew that God would grant the desires of his earnest prayers. Elijah even raised the dead through his prayers. He prayed earnestly for the life of the son of the Widow of Zarephath, and God brought the boy back to life.

How often do we doubt the power of prayer? Do we believe if we pray for no rain that it will actually cease? Are our prayers any less effective than those of Elijah? Simply, no. All it takes is faith. Faith that God hears our prayers and answers them. Faith that nothing is too large to ask of Him because He is capable of anything. Seek Him in earnest, with no doubt in your hearts, and He will hear your cries.

So, what are your prayers tonight?