Let It Rain!

Let it rain!

Thesis: We need to cry out to God and ask Him to open the flood gates of Heaven and send his rain to us.

Scripture Texts:

James 5:16b-18

“…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 half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.”

I Kings 17, 18, 19 ( See NIV Bible)

Opening Illustration: Play Michael W. Smith’s clip off of Worship where he sings let it rain. Ask the question to New Life Community Church why is he asking God to send the rain? Because he is crying out and he wants us to cry out for revival in our communities and in our own personal lives.

LET IT RAIN by Michael Farron

Let it rain, Let it rain

Open the floodgates of Heaven

Psalm 97: 1-6 (NIV): “The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice. Clouds and thick darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. Fire goes before Him and consumes His foes on every side. His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim His righteousness and all the peoples see His glory.”

© 2001 This Is Your Time Music LLC / ASCAP. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Introduction:

The phrase “Let It rain!” is a plea for God to send a spiritual rain onto this world in which we live.

We have all heard the phrase “April showers bring May flowers.” Have you heard this little quote:

April Shower

Mix a little sunshine

With an April shower

Drop it in a garden bed

And up pops a flower.

April rains pave the way for a refreshing Spring full of beauty and new life!

Lets take a moment and look at what the natural rains provide for all of us this time of year.

The rain brings the satisfaction of the quenching of thirst for plants and creatures.

When the rains come to a desert it gives the life in that desert the opportunity to quench their thirst for refreshing water.

The rains come in and clean up the areas in which we live.

* This was very important when I was in India because they have the rainy seasons and the dry season. When the rainy season starts it cleans up the town and literally flushes out the sewer systems and the ditches around the villages. The result is its more sanitary and refreshing.

The rain softens the soil so you can plow it and seed it.

In places like India it’s imperative that the farmers get some rain to soften up the soil. Drought causes the ground to become very hard and almost like rock. The rains help soften the soil for planting.

The rain also helps provide nourishment so the plants produce new life.

Just go look at all the trees around here right now they are starting to bud. New life is ready to break forth. The rain is good at producing New Life!

We see the importance of the natural rain but it also applies spiritually to God’s spiritual rain:

The rains of Heaven promise to quench our thirst if we drink of them.

When we drink in the rain of heaven we quench our thirst for that missing spiritual water.

The rains of Heaven come into a life and purify and cleanse our lives.

Have you ever been so hot and sweaty that when you jumped in the shower and the water washed over you? Did you feel refreshed?

Did you feel better.

They have talked about this on Survivor how the showers have felt so good. It was refreshing because it cleansed away all the filth of the world.

The rain of Heaven when its being poured out softens the soil of individuals hearts so they are moldable and have the ability to plant the seeds of eternal life in their lives.

The rain helps to prepare the soil but it also is very instrumental in getting the seeds to bud and break open with new life.

The moisture and the sun help this process to blossom. It births new life and starts the process of growth.

I spent some time on the internet this week searching for information on “Let It rain’ here are few interesting discoveries I made this week: Listen to this poem from one person:

Let It rain!

Rainbow visions, reflected, refracted...

As I gaze out my window.

Bright skies, only a pane away.

Inside, only pain.

I wish it would rain,