Serving God Through Our Prayers

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.