BELIEVING PRAYER

“And Elijah,” said the apostle James, “was a man like as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.” And why does the apostle notice this? He attributes this instance of Elijah’s success in prayer as an encouragement to us to persevere in prayer, and to believe that we also shall not fail of being answered, if we only pray in faith; because, “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much,”James 5:16. And indeed, who can recount all the wondrous instances in which the truth of this declaration has been realized! Through prayer, Moses turned away the fierce wrath of the Almighty from Israel; and with outstretched arms he smote the host of Amalek. Manoah, by the voice of his cry, drew down a visible manifestation of the Divine presence in human form, Judges 13:8. Through prayer at Mizpah, the prophet Samuel smote the army of the Philistines, and caused the thunder of terror to roll over Israel’s foes, 1 Samuel 7:9–12. Through prayer, Josiah the prince died in peace, 2 Kings 22:19,20. Through prayer, fifteen years are added to Hezekiah’s life; the three men were preserved in the burning fiery furnace; and to Daniel it was said by Gabriel, “I am come because of thy words.” At the prayer of the brethren on the day of Pentecost, the heavens were opened; and, another time, after they had prayed, the place where they were assembled was shaken, and all were filled with the Holy Ghost, Acts 4:31. Prayer burst the fetters of Peter, and broke open the doors of his prison. Prayer rebuked storms, healed the sick, and brought back the dead to life. And what shall I say more of the power, the wonders, and the performance of prayer? The whole Scripture is full of them and our church also would be full of them — all christendom would be full of them, were there more prayer in our Israel, and more of this incense on our public, family, and private altars. But prayer sleeps among us; for what we call praying, morning and evening, according to custom — the sleepy, dull, and heartless repetition of devotional language — does not deserve the name of prayer. Keep these ceremonies compliments to yourselves, the Lord does not want such service. The confessions of the broken and contrite heart, the cry of the humble, the expression of real godly sorrow, the opening of our cares to our heavenly Father, the breathings of grateful love, the acknowledgment of dependence of the name of Jesus — these are the things which go to constitute true prayer.

Brethren, pray that the Spirit of grace and supplication may be poured out upon you; and then ask what you will, it shall be done for you. He that “cannot lie” has promised it. Only ask in His name, as the children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus, trusting in God’s faithfulness to his promises, and you will certainly succeed at last. If six times the answer should be, “There is nothing;” yet wait on. The seventh time, which is the proper and the Lord’s time, will give the answer you need. Too often we omit to notice God’s answer to our own prayers; otherwise how frequently should we find, to our glad astonishment, that, as in the case of Daniel, at the time of our supplication the commandment had gone forth to help us. Therefore let the call to prayer be ever regarded by us as the invitation to an unspeakable privilege. “Continue instant in prayer.” Pray in the Spirit, in the Holy Ghost, and not in your own self-sufficiency; and you will pray with faith and expectation; for in the immutable word, that word which must survive both heaven and earth, it stands recorded, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you,”John 16:23.

Excerpt from Elijah the Tishbite by F. W. Krummacher

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