EFFECTUAL FERVENT PRAYER OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN “Elias was a man subject to like passions 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.”―James 5:17 Elijah is brought before us as an example of what may be accomplished by the earnest prayers of one righteous man, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”― James 5:16 We must mark well the descriptive adjective, for it is not every man, nor even every Christian, who obtains definite answers to his prayers. A ‘righteous man’ is one who is right with God in a practical way: one whose conduct is pleasing in His sight, one who keeps his garments unspotted from the world. Such a one has the ear of Heaven, for there is no moral barrier between his soul and a sin-hating God. “Whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.”― 1 John 3:22 ‘He prayed earnestly that it might not rain.’ What a terrible petition to present before the Majesty on high! What incalculable privation and suffering the granting of such a request would entail! Then was this prophet a cold and callous stoic, devoid of natural affection? No indeed! The Holy Spirit has taken care to tell us in this very verse that he was ‘a man subject to like passions as we are,’ and that is mentioned immediately before the record of his fearful petition. And what does that description signify in such a connection? It tells us that though Elijah was endowed with tender sensibilities and warm regard for his fellow-creatures, yet in his prayers he rose above all fleshly sentimentality. Why did Elijah pray ‘that it might not rain?’ Not because he was impervious to human suffering, not because he took a fiendish delight in witnessing the misery of his neighbors, but because he put ‘the glory of God’ before everything else, even before his own natural feelings. Recall what the spiritual conditions were at this time in Israel. Not only was there no longer any public recognition of God, He was openly insulted and defied by Baal worshippers. And Elijah was ‘very jealous for the Lord God of hosts,’ (1 Kings 19:10), and longed to see His great Name vindicated and His backslidden people restored. Thus it was the glory of God and true love for Israel which inspired his petition. We find at the end of three years and six months, “He prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.” ― James 5:18
Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 11:29:06 +0000
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