We started a few weeks ago talking about some of the things that it takes to serve God. We have found out so far that it takes courage to serve God. We have found out that it definitely takes trust to serve God. Today we take another step and find out that we actually serve God through prayer. And speaking of prayer, let's pray.
I want to start off today with a true story. In 1984, 18-year-old Thomas Haynsworth was on an errand to buy sweet potatoes and bread for his mother. While running this errand, a victim of a recent sexual assault saw him and mistakenly identified him as her attacker. Thomas Haynesworth was wrongly convicted and spent the next 27 years of his life behind bars. Then, lawyers at the Innocence Project intervened, and used newly discovered DNA testing to get his conviction overturned. On December 6th 2011, he was fully exonerated of all charges.
Haynsworth is just one of many that have been wrongly convicted that are now freed due to the work of the Innocence Project. This organization was founded in 1992. They believed if DNA technology could prove that people were guilty of crimes, it could also exonerate the innocent as well. The organizations desire to intercede for those who can't help themselves has now freed hundreds of innocent men and women.
But you don't have to be an attorney to plead someone's case. Today we're going to talk about intercessory prayer. Elijah's intervention on behalf of the widow at Zarephath proves we can change others’ lives simply by praying.
Today's passage picks up where we left off last time in 1 Kings 17.
How many of you are familiar with Murphy's law that says anything that can go wrong will go wrong? That's kind of the theme of my life. We've all been there at some point. So, in times like that, we can relate to the widow at Zarephath. You might remember our story from the last time where God sent Elijah to meet up with this widow.
First, this lady had lost her husband. Widows at that time had little means of income. So, after the initial blow of losing her husband, this drought came, and resources started to dwindle for her and her son. She had become poorer and poorer until she had only enough flour and oil for one final meal. She had pretty much given up and resigned herself to death by starvation.
The unexpected appearance of Elijah on her doorstep brought some relief in the form of renewed food resources. You might remember that God supplied the widow, her son, and Elijah enough flour and oil to sustain them for three and a half years until the drought ended. But just when it seemed things were returning to normal, life came crashing down again.
1 Kings 17:17 – 18 – “After this, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. His illness got worse until he stopped breathing. 18 She said to Elijah, “Man of God, what do you have against me? Have you come to call attention to my iniquity so that my son is put to death?”
The widow's son became sick, extremely sick. And then she experienced that horrific moment when her son stopped breathing, and life left his body. Many of you have experienced being with a loved one as they took their last breath. It's a devastating experience. Especially when it's your own child.
We stand by and we watch, helpless, as doctors and nurses work on the lifeless body of our loved one. They assess their vitals and search for brain activity. At times like these the questions start coming: Why? Why me? Why my child? Why now?
In her shock, the widow turned on Elijah. She started taking it out on him. She asked similar questions. In verse 18 she asked, “Man of God, what do you have against me? Have you come to call attention to my inequity so that my son is put to death?”
The widow was wondering if her son's death was the result of her own sin, and Elijah had been sent to bring her punishment. People in ancient times viewed sickness as God's punishment for sin. Yet Elijah had already spared her son from death once by miraculously extending their food resources. I think the more pertinent question would have been: why did God bring my son through the last crisis only to let him die of another?
Not even the wisest believers have an easy answer for much of the suffering that we go through. It's not always ours to know why. Even Elijah questioned God at this turn of events. We'll see that in verse 20. The why of suffering is not always clear.
Some of you have read the writings of C.S. Lewis. He was the atheist who became Christian and has brought many to Christ through his writings. He once wrote this. “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains. It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world. We may not know the reasons why, but in our suffering, it shouts for us to look to God.”
In much the same way, God had something to say to the widow at Zaraphath. He wanted to show her something about Himself. She was soon going to experience God as her Deliverer. You see, her deepest suffering was an opportunity to trust God and witness His power.
And it is the same way with us. When it seems that all is lost, we are perfectly positioned at that time to turn to God and discover that He is the answer to the questions that have no other answer. I am sure that many of you have had experiences that have taught you about God's ability to answer your prayers.
1 Kings 17: 19 – 20 – “But Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.” So he took him from her arms, brought him up to the upstairs room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. 20 Then he cried out to the Lord and said, “Lord my God, have you also brought tragedy on the widow I am staying with by killing her son?”
Don't you just love Elijah's honesty and humility in this moment? Although the widow had just accused him of bringing this trouble, he didn't try to defend himself. He didn't pretend to know the answer to her questions. Elijah simply took the widow's problem and he made it his own. He carried the lifeless boy to his room and laid him on his own bed. He got involved in the messiness of the widow's troubled life. And then Elijah did the only thing he knew to do under the circumstances. He prayed.
This is the perfect definition of intercessory prayer. When we are involved in intercessory prayer, we have the privilege of seeking God for someone else's needs.
Elijah's prayer in these verses is a picture of real faith, which doesn't presume to know why God does what He does or why He allows what He allows. Real faith asks the hard questions. Real faith voices the doubts and anguish that we feel. Yet, despite the questions, doubts, and hurt, real faith keeps bringing us back to God. It is trust that whatever happens, God is all-loving and all-powerful. It trusts that God is the answer to our every need.
In crying out to God, Elijah spoke up for the widow. He raised the questions that plagued her. Elijah pleaded for the help that she needed. He demonstrated the only two things needed to be a great prayer warrior. That is compassion for someone in need and faith that God can help.
If you have never thought of prayer this way then treat prayer as an opportunity to join God in the work that He's doing in the world. It is through prayer that we show our trust and faith in God as He does the work. Can you think of anyone that you need to intercede for in prayer? Why not join God and lift that person in prayer?
1 Kings 17:21 – “Then he stretched himself out over the boy three times. He cried out to the Lord and said, “Lord my God, please let this boy’s life come into him again!” We call this intercessory prayer. An intercessor is a go-between, someone who mediates between two parties. When we intercede for others in prayer, we're going to God on behalf of others. That is what Elijah did. He interceded for the widow's son by going to God in prayer for him.
When you think about it, praying for the needs of others is a privilege. But even more than that, as Christians, we should consider it our responsibility. Elijah lived that principle. He could have rationalized that this boy was not his child and thought that praying for the boy was not his responsibility. But Elijah followed the example of Samuel who in his last public address told the Israelites in 1 Samuel 12:23, “As for me, I vow that I will not sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you.”
As a believer, we are called to a life of service, and that service includes praying for others. For a believer to know others are suffering is to bare the responsibility and privilege of praying for them.
Elijah was just as human as we are. He didn't have any miraculous powers in himself. He had no greater authority with God than we do, but he believed God could do anything. And Elijah dared to ask God for the impossible. “Lord my god, please let this boy’s life come into him again.”
I think many times we don't realize how many prayers God answers for us. That is why I keep a journal of those that I am praying for. Then I review those prayers after a time and it is amazing how many of those prayers God answered. In fact, I challenge you to start a prayer journal. Simply use a spiral notebook of some sort and write down the names of the people you are praying for and what you prayed for. Date those requests. Then review those requests from time to time and highlight those that God answered. You will be amazed over time how many requests God answers.
But now you have to keep in mind that God is not a Divine Santa Claus who grants our every wish. God is not required or indebted to do our bidding just because we ask. But God does invite us to participate with Him in helping others. He actually encourages us to intercede on their behalf. And he moves to respond to the prayers of his people. Examples:
-God responded to Abraham's pleas to spare his nephew Lot from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
-God held off from destroying the children of Israel after Moses interceded on their behalf.
-God resurrected Dorcas when Peter prayed over her corpse.
-In response to the fervent prayers of believers, God sent an angel to rescue Peter from jail on the night before he was to be tried.
And God still acts and response to the prayers of His people today. It's okay to go to God and talk to him honestly about your doubts, disappointments, or discouragements. But we need to learn to trust God to hear us and answer in the way that He knows is best. Not what we think is best. But remember what Peter wrote in 1 Peter 3:12.
"because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are open to their prayer.
But the face of the Lord is against
those who do what is evil."
1 Kings 17:22-24 – “So the Lord listened to Elijah, and the boy’s life came into him again, and he lived. 23 Then Elijah took the boy, brought him down from the upstairs room into the house, and gave him to his mother. Elijah said, “Look, your son is alive.”24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know you are a man of God and the Lord’s word from your mouth is true.”
Many times God's “yes” to our prayer is aimed at a higher purpose. Through His response to our prayer, He reveals something of His nature and our faith grows. Let me explain.
When Elijah presented the widow with her revived child and declared “look your son is alive,” her first words were “now I know.” At last she knew God is real, and Elijah was His spokesperson. It wasn't just her son who came to life. Faith also came to life in the widow through Elijah's answered prayer. And remember that the widow was living in a culture of Baal worshipers. Through this experience the widow was awakened to the truth that Yahweh alone is the one true and faithful God.
God's power is demonstrated in answered prayer. Maybe more people around us would come to faith if we were like Elijah and dared to ask God for the impossible.
In Mark Batterson's book entitled The Circle Maker: praying circles around your biggest dreams and greatest fears, he said this: “Bold prayers honor god, and God honors bold prayers. God isn't offended by your biggest dreams or your boldest prayers. He is offended by anything less. If your prayers are impossible to you, they are insulting to God.”
It comes down to this. When we pray, God responds, and when God responds, it points to Him. Remember when Jesus's disciples asked Him whether a man had been born blind due to his own sins or to those of his parents, Jesus answered, “Neither. This came about so that God's works might be displayed in him.”
I wrote a sermon years ago entitled “The Purpose of Lazarus’ Death.” In that message the end result was the reason God allowed Lazarus to die was that God's power could be proclaimed and displayed through Lazarus being raised to life.
My prayer is that others will see God as the result of our prayers. May others see God as the result of our prayers. Let's pray.
