James 5:16-18
[16] 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. [17] Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. [18] Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
Head: How much do you know God? How can you grow in knowing God more?
Heart: How much do you trust God? How can you grow more in trusting God more?
Hands: How much do you pray to God? How will knowing and trusting God more help you to pray more?
Do you believe in the power of prayer? There is incredible power in prayer. James' example of Elijah reminds us just how much power there is in prayer. We must remember that the key to our prayer is not in the content of the prayer or the person doing the praying. The key to our prayer lies in the one to whom we are praying.
How much you trust and know God will be reflected in the content of your prayer, your perseverance in prayer, and your satisfaction in God's responses to these prayers.
In the Bible, God demonstrates His power through people's prayer, as in the case of Elijah. But verse 17 reminds us that Elijah was just a man, like all of us. His prayer itself was not powerful... the power lay in the one that he prayed to! God is powerful, He loves us and He wants us to seek Him in prayer to discover His greater power in our lives!
Elijah is called "righteous" because he was a man of incredible trust in God. This trust was grounded in his knowledge of God, and this trust led him to incredible acts of obedience and faith. This trust led him to seek the Lord in prayer and to pray big, because he knew more and more that God is faithful and powerful! Let's grow in knowing God, in trusting God, and in praying to God.
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Devotional Guide:
1) Pray for understanding in your mind, for trust in your heart, and for powerful obedience in your daily living.
2) Read the passage and mark anything that blesses you, challenges you, or raises a question.
3) Reflect on the passage. What's God saying about Himself? What's God saying about you?
4) Pray in response to what God puts on your heart through the Word.