The Power Of Prayer Series

THE POWER OF PRAYER

While crossing the Atlantic on a ship many years ago. Bible teacher and pastor F.B. Meyer was asked to preach at a service for the passengers. The topic he was given to speak on was Answered Prayer. After the message an agnostic man came up to him and said that he did not believe a word of what F.B. Meyer had said. As they walked together around the deck of the ship discussing the message, they passed an elderly woman who was fast asleep in her deck chair. Her arms were outstretched and her hands were wide open. The agnostic had two oranges in his pocket left over from the breakfast in first class that he had, so as a joke he put the two oranges in her palms. The two men continued to discuss the message as they as their way around the ship. Eventually they came back around to the place where the old woman was sitting. She was now awake, enjoying her oranges.

The agnostic said, “You seem to be enjoying that orange.” “Yes, sir,” she replied, “My Father is very good to me.” Puzzled, the agnostic said “What do you mean?” She explained, “I have been seasick for days. I was asking God to somehow send me an orange. We do not get them in third class. I fell asleep while I was praying. When I awoke, I found He had sent me not only one but two oranges!” The agnostic was amazed by the women’s answer, and realized that he had been the unwilling answer to her prayers. Later, he put his trust in Christ.

Today we are starting a 4-week series on Prayer. Today I want to speak about the power of prayer.

James 5:16-18 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. 17 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 a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

God wants us to become a people of prayer, who see specific events and specific people changed in answer to specific prayers. Powerful specific praying brings powerful specific results.

1. The Power of Prayer – 16

As Christians, we often say that we believe in the power of prayer but do not really live like it. While we may say that we believe in it, we often do not fully realize what powerful praying can accomplish. James chooses to end his letter by talking about the power of prayer. If we are in trouble, we should pray. If we are sick, we should pray – and receive prayer from others. He reminds his readers in vs. 16 that, “the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” He then illustrates his point by using the example of Elijah. Elijah prayed and it did not rain in Israel for three and a half years.

1Ki 17:1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."

I lived in Kuwait for 10 years and I can tell you that it was a very dry place. It hardly ever rained, but even there we could count on having several days of rain every year. Israel, in comparison, is like a garden. Parts of Israel get over 35 inches of rain a year. In the winter, air from the warm waters of the Mediterranean hit the mountains and produce rain. For it to not rain for three and a half years is not just impossible, it is unthinkable. To not even have dew on the ground is even more incredible, yet that is what happened because of one man’s prayers. That is the power of God!

Elijah is clear here that it was not by his own power or will that this would happen. It was the power and will of God whom he served. Prayer is not simply asking God to do something that He does not want to do, it is aligning our will with God’s. It is praying God’s specific will over a specific situation.

One of the reasons that we often do not see answers to our prayers is that we pray with such apathy that our requests are not really taken seriously. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray He taught them to pray with boldness and persistence.

Luke 11:5-8 Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.' 7 Then the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.