In the Book of James, there’s a verse that a lot of believers quote, but it’s followed by another verse that I’d bet most of those same people don’t know. “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours…” I want to pause there and say that if you look at Elijah, he was just an ordinary man. He saw the wickedness all around him, so he stood up and spoke the truth.
We don’t know exactly what path Elijah took to becoming the prophet during one of the most wicked times in Israel, but we do know that he loved God. When he looked at the wickedness and paganism that gripped his country, he wanted to be a voice pointing people to God.
He was an ordinary man who believed God’s promises, and God used him to do incredible miracles. The verse in James goes on to say, “…and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth” (James 5:16-17, ESV). When I was a new believer, I came across this passage, and I thought to myself, “I don’t know that this Elijah guy was very smart. Why would you pray for a drought when that’s going to affect you too? You’re not going to have water just like your neighbor!”
Now that I’ve been walking with the Lord longer, I see the wisdom here. Elijah knew that people cry out to God in places of distress. Even if it meant that he would have to go through suffering, he was willing to do that because he knew that people would turn to God as they experienced hardship.
In places of distress, people often seek the Lord and see him most clearly. Even in the darkest places, don’t give up on prayer. James’ writing goes on to promise, “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:19-20). God puts great power behind the prayers of ordinary people.
John Bailey is the COO of World Challenge Inc. and the Founding Pastor of The Springs Church in Jacksonville, Florida. John has been serving the Lord in pastoral ministry for 35 years, ministering the gospel in over 50 nations, particularly as a pastor and evangelist in Cork, Ireland.