I read the true story of a couple of men from Alberta, Canada who were driving home late one night. The weather was freezing - well below zero. Somehow, they ran off the road and got stuck in a ditch. And – as far as they could see – there was no one around for miles. They knew they were in danger of freezing to death so, to keep warm they pulled the seats out of their Honda and lit them on fire. As the blaze began to die down they tossed all of their belongings they weren’t wearing on as well, but they only burned for a short time. Finally, they lit the entire car on fire. As daybreak approached, the men saw they were within walking distance of nearby house, so they went there to get warm and that’s where police found them.
Now, what is odd about this story is that the men didn’t have to burn their car. Can you guess why they didn’t have to burn the car? (I pulled my cellphone out of my pocket). They had cell phones… and they had service. All they had to do was “call” and help would have come. But because they failed to THINK about their phones they destroyed everything they had. (Uncle John’s Canoramic Bathroom Reader, p. 398-399)
You Might Ask: Jeff, why didn’t these men use their cell phones? (I waited till someone in the audience asked that question) I’m glad you asked. I have no idea why they didn’t use their phones. They had communication devices they didn’t use but it’s a mystery as to why. But now the question for us today is, why don’t Christians use a much more advanced communication device they’ve been given more often than we do? It’s a communication device given to us by God. It’s called prayer.
ILLUS: A man named Larry Davies once told of the time he asked his class: "Does God answer prayers?" And the class erupted with answers like "Of course." "Yes." And "Always." He paused a moment and then said: "Well if that’s true - why don’t we pray more often?" There was an uncomfortable silence in the room. Then they began to open up. And amongst their replies were these two: "I don’t know how to pray." And "I don’t know what to say."
(PAUSE) Now I’m sure that is what they think the problem is… but I’m not convinced.
ILLUS: According to the research by a couple of polling organizations (Pew Forum Dec. 2017 and Barna Research Aug. 2017) 65% of Americans pray to God. And even 28% of those who said they had NO FAITH had prayed in the last 3 months.
That’s pretty impressive… until you consider another fact about prayer. According to Dr. Jerry Paul (a man who gives seminars on prayer for our brotherhood), there is one study of prayer habits and churches revealed that 85% of people who pray regularly DO NOT EXPECT to have their prayers answered. (from an article at Bible.org in the 1990's)
Wait a minute! If 65% of Americans say they pray to God, why on earth would they pray if they don’t expect those prayers to be answered in the 1st place? It doesn’t make any sense!!! Unless, they don’t believe they are worthy enough; OR they don’t think they’re important enough; OR they don’t think their prayers are valuable enough for God to bother with.
They read this passage in James 5:16 where it says: “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” and they think to themselves - “That pretty much leaves me out! I’m not all that righteous. Why would God even bother with my prayers?”
And of course, there’s an even more potent reason why folks might doubt God would answer their prayers: the fear that their request is just TOO big or TOO unreasonable for God to consider.
Now God understands that fear, and so he introduced us to a man of prayer. A man who’s supposed to be a model of what can happen when we pray. A man named Elijah. (PAUSE) Elijah? This is the guy who was fed by Ravens down by the riverside; who raised a young boy from the dead; who stood on Mt. Carmel and defeated the prophets of Baal and Asherah; who rode on a fiery chariot up into the heavens. And this is the guy I’m supposed to compare myself with? Elijah is so far out my league I can’t even compete!!!
And yet God tells us – Elijah wasn’t that much different than you. “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours” (James 5:17). God says Elijah was just like you. He was just like me.
But Elijah was one of the greatest men of the Old Testament - the greatest of the prophets of that age - how could God believe He’s just like us? Well consider this:
When God introduces him to us He introduces him as “Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead...” 1 Kings 17:1
Where in the world is Tishbe? Well, it’s in Gilead… but nobody seems to know where in Gilead - they’ve never found it. Most scholars seem to agree that Tishbe must have been a small insignificant town in the middle of no place. It was a backwater community that nobody’s ever heard of.
So if Elijah didn’t come from an important city, maybe he came from a powerful family, or an impressive tribe? Well… we don’t know. The Bible doesn’t tell us. The only description of Elijah can be summed up in 7 words: “Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead...” (1 Kings 17:1). That’s what God calls him 6 TIMES in the Old Testament. He’s an obscure man from an insignificant community.
(PAUSE) So why would God use a man like that?
One of my favorite passages in the Old Testament is II Chronicles 16:9 NKJV “the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” God is looking for somebody. But He isn’t looking for mighty warriors, or religious scholars, or people of great wealth, power, or importance. He’s just looking for someone who’s willing to stand up and stand for God.
That was Elijah. He was willing to be God’s man and stand in the gap.
ILLUS: Someone once said: “God does not ask our ability or our inability. He asks only our availability." Mary Kay Ashe
I believe God picked Elijah because He wanted us to see what could happen when He took a nobody and turned him into a somebody. Because Elijah --- was a man just like us.
So, what can we learn from Elijah’s prayer? Well, before we get to that, we should consider a little bit of background here. Elijah lived in the day when Israel had split into two nations – Judah to the South, and the 10 tribes of Israel to the North. At that time the King of the northern tribes of Israel was a man named Ahab, and he was married to a Philistine woman named - Jezebel. Partly because of Jezebel’s evil influence, Ahab and the nation of Israel had fallen into a kind of "hybrid paganism." They apparently still prayed to Yahweh, BUT they also worshipped some wicked pagan gods: Baal and Asherah. So - because of Ahab and Israel’s disobedience - God sent Elijah to tell King Ahab that he and the nation of Israel would be punished with a drought. There would be no rain and no dew (for 3 ½ years). Then, at the end of that 3 ½ years, Elijah was sent back to King Ahab where he told the King he was to gather all of Israel and all the false prophets of Baal and Asherah to Mt. Carmel.
Now we’re going to skip the cool part of the story where Elijah challenges the people of Israel “If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And then he challenges the false prophets to a duel… their gods against his. They lose, God wins… and all the prophets of Baal and Asherah are put to death.
That’s the cool part of the story … where we see what Elijah can do. But now, we’re going to look at the cooler part – where we get to see God do what God can do.
We’re told “Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.” So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again,” seven times. And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.”’ And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.” I Kings 18:41-45
That’s the story of the prayer Elijah prayed that is an example of how we can pray. And the issue for us this morning, is figuring out how can we pray like Elijah did. How can we shake the heavens and bring down the rain of God’s blessings? I saw four things we can benefit from in this story.
1st – Did you notice HOW Elijah prayed? He prayed with his head between his knees. I’ve tried that… it’s really uncomfortable, and this seems to be the only time in Scripture where someone does prayer that way. So, why would Elijah pray like that? (PAUSE) Well Elijah did it that way… because it was uncomfortable.
ILLUS: Have you ever been in prayer, even a deeply serious prayer, and suddenly have found that your mind has… drifted? You’re praying along and suddenly your mind has drifted off to something you have to do today, or you remember a conversation you had yesterday, or you find yourself worrying about an upcoming bill? You didn’t mean to, but you got distracted.
Elijah didn’t want to get distracted. Prayer was the tool God had given him to fulfill his mission. Without this prayer… rain wasn’t coming down. And so Elijah chose the most uncomfortable posture to pray so that he would not get distracted.
2nd – he prayed REPEATEDLY. How many times did he pray? SEVEN TIMES! Why? Because the power in making it rain depended upon the prayer of Elijah. Granted, God could have done it all by Himself, but He gave that power to Elijah - just like He gave that power to us. But a serious prayer often takes more than one time on our knees. Notice, Elijah prayed the first time, sends his servant to check the sky… and nothing happens. He did that again, and again, and again – 7 times. And on the 7th time this small cloud comes rising out of the sea, and Elijah knows that prayer has been effective.
ILLUS: I often compare prayer to a man who has a boulder in his backyard. He lives in town so blowing the rock up isn’t an option (it tends to annoy the neighbors) and he doesn’t have the money to have it hauled away. So what does he do? He gets himself a sledge hammer and he begins to hammer away at the rock. He strikes it once, twice, 10 times, 20 times, and eventually – on the 100th blow – the rock cracks. Now, a question: which blow cracked the rock? They all did, didn’t they.
It’s the same with prayer. Too often Christians give up when they don’t get an answer after the first few tries. Think about this – if Elijah had quit praying after 6th prayer… would it have rained? Probably not. That’s why the Bible says we “… ought always to pray and not lose heart.” Luke 18:1
3rdly – Elijah prayed specifically. I have a quiz for you: what did Elijah pray for? That’s right - rain!!!
ILLUS: This past week, I was thinking about this part of the sermon while praying for a certain person’s needs. And I caught myself saying – “God Bless so and so.” And it suddenly occurred to me – what did I mean by that? How am I asking God to bless this individual? So tried shifting gears and prayed “God HELP so and so…” Again, I was convicted that this meant nothing. What was I asking God to help this individual with?
Think about this: Did Elijah pray “God BLESS Israel?” or “God HELP Israel?” NO! He prayed for rain. He prayed a specific prayer.
We should be clear on what is it we want God to do. If we don’t pray for a specific thing/purpose… how will we know if God has answered our prayer?
LASTLY… Elijah prayed in faith. James 1:4-8 tells us to “ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
Do you remember at the start of the sermon where I mentioned a study where 85% of those who pray DO NOT expect their prayers to be answered?
ILLUS: I’m going to get kind of personal here: How many of you have ever doubted that God would answer your prayers? I have!!! And I would wager that Elijah might have, too because he was just like us. In fact, there’s a lot of folks in Scripture who suffered doubt. Abraham doubted God. So did Moses. So did the Disciples of Christ.
Even the most seasoned Christians can find it hard to avoid doubt. That’s why one of the most comforting passages in Scripture is when Jesus was approached by a father who wanted him to heal his child. And Jesus said He would IF this man believed. And the father replied: "Lord, I believe; HELP MY UNBELIEF!" Did Jesus just turn and walk away because he had doubts? Oh no. Jesus healed that man’s child. Why? Because God RESPECTS that kind of honesty, but God EXPECTS faith in our prayers.
Now, what do I mean by that? I mean that we tend to “hedge our bets” on our prayers. I wonder, at times, if when we pray, THIS is what God hears: “I know this isn’t going to happen… but I’m going to pray for it anyway because I know that’s what I should be doing.”
One of the most common ways we do this is by praying “IF it is your will… would you please do this?” It’s like we’re trying to give God an out just in case (as we feel inside) He decides not to do this. It’s like we don’t want to embarrass Him or anything. We don’t want to hurt His feelings when He doesn’t act.
Here’s the deal: Do you believe that God can do whatever He decides to do? Do you believe God would answer your prayer if it was according to His will? Do you think God doesn’t need YOUR permission to answer your prayer? No? So pray that way. We all know God doesn’t have to answer our prayers… you can’t force Him to do things. And we all know He won’t do something that is not according to His will. So don’t bring it up! You don’t have to. Pray AS IF HE WILL DO what you’ve asked. Don’t give Him “an out”; don’t try to NOT hurt His feelings. He’s a big God, He can handle it. Just tell what it is you’d like Him to do and say it like you believe He WILL do what you’ve asked.
I’ve had many prayers God didn’t answer the way I prayed. It’s OK. I’ll just keep on praying in faith anyway.
Hebrews tells us that, because of the blood of Christ, we now have the right to enter BOLDLY into the presence of God. So don’t be timid! Just tell God what is on your heart - and let HIM figure out whether to answer the prayer or not. THAT’S HIS JOB… NOT YOURS.
CLOSE: I learned this lesson at the last congregation I served. The daughter of a couple from our church had gotten pregnant and had gone to the local hospital for her delivery. Being the preacher, I did my preacherly duty and sat with the couple as we waited for the hospital staff to tell us the good news about the child’s birth.
But the news wasn’t good. The nurse came into the waiting room and said she had sad news for us - the baby’s oxygen level was below 90%. Now I hadn’t a clue what that meant, but couple I was sitting with were both nurses… and the knew this was a death sentence. The local hospital was going to ship the child to Riley Hospital in Indy, but wanted to know if we’d like to say our goodbyes to the baby before they did that.
The family went in first… and then it was my turn. I put on the blue hat, and shoe covers and gown and entered the baby ICU. It was a long narrow room with warming beds on either side… and one warming bed at the end of the room where this little girl lay, buck-naked and connected up to all kinds of intravenous tubes and monitors. The nurse was looking at the displays above the bed and was looking sad and distraught. She, like everyone else, knew this child was going to die.
I was new to this kind of thing, so I asked the nurse if I could touch the child. “Oh yes,” she replied. “It’s OK.” And then she stepped away to allow me some privacy. I put my hand on the baby’s foot and close my eyes. And I prayed… the most pathetic and worthless prayer I have ever prayed. Everyone said the child would die – and I believed them. And I thought, what kind of prayer could I possibly pray that would make any difference? I prayed that God would heal the child… but my heart wasn’t in it.
Finally, I finished the prayer, stepped away from the bed and let the nurse come to finish her work. And suddenly, the nurse became excited. Something had changed. The monitors showed the hope of life for this baby. But why? The only thing that had happened between the two times the nurse checked the vitals was my worthless prayer. And yet, it had to be that prayer. Why would God honor an empty and (yes, faithless) prayer? I’m convinced it was because God wanted to show me that He didn’t need my permission to answer this pathetic prayer of mine.
Here’s the deal. God doesn’t have to answer your prayers and He will only answer according to His Will, but God expects you to pray boldly and in faith that He WILL answer you if you ask. Don’t give God an out, don’t try to save Him embarrassment or His feelings. Pray with boldness to an awesome God who really cares for you.
INVITATION.
