SPIRITUAL DIARY
Date: 10-20-03
My Worship Time Focus: Prayer for the Nation
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: James 5:17-18
1.
Message of the verse: “17 Elijah
was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not
rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the sky poured
rain, and the earth produced its fruit.”
(NASB) “17 Elijah was as human as
we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for
the next three and a half years!
18 Then he
prayed for rain, and down it poured. The grass turned green, and the crops
began to grow again.” (NLT)
If we agree with Dr. Wiersbe on
these preceding verses or for that matter if we don’t there is still an
application that seems to flow from verse seventeen and that is this: If we think of a person who is out of
fellowship with the Lord like the man Paul spoke of in 1Corthians, and by God’s
grace he is brought back into fellowship he is like the ground in verse
seventeen who has just received rain, rain that had not been there for a long
time, and now he can again, just like the ground produce fruit.
We all know the story of Elijah from
1Kings 17 & 18, but I will ask someone to refresh our memories of it.
Now verse 17 in the NLT reads as
follows, “Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that
no rain would fall, none fell for the next three and a half years!” It says that he was a man like us, and this
should encourage us to read that, for God can use us to do things for Him just
as He used Elijah.
Dr. Wiersbe give a good quote on page 171
that I think is worth reading.
“Elijah prayed in faith, for God told him He would send the rain (1
Kings 18:1). “Prayer,” said Robert Law, “is not getting man’s will done in
heaven. It’s getting God’s will done on earth.” You cannot separate the Word of
God and prayer, for in His Word He gives us the promises that we claim when we
pray.”
We
can also learn from these verses that Elijah prayed earnestly, so it was not a
prayer he prayed in just a few minutes, but he must have been throughly
convinced that God was going to answer his prayer, in other words he was
praying in the will of God. Let us now
look at the account of Elijah’s prayer in 1Kings 18:41-45. (Have somebody find and read it). Again let us look at the application of this
from our book at the bottom of page 171 and top of 172. “Too many times we fail to get what
God promises because we stop praying. It is true that we are not heard “for our
much praying” (Matt. 6:7); but there is a difference between vain repetitions
and true believing persistence in prayer. Our Lord prayed three times in the
Garden, and Paul prayed three times that his thorn in the flesh might be taken
from him.
Elijah was determined and concerned
in his praying. “He prayed earnestly” (James 5:17, niv). The literal Greek reads “and he prayed in prayer.”
Many people do not pray in their prayers. They just lazily say religious words,
and their hearts are not in their prayers.”
Le
us discuss the power of prayer and why it is that God would have us to pray,
for some ask why pray, for God will do what He wants to anyway without are
prayers.
2. Spiritual meaning for my life today: I believe that God want me to be involved in
what He is doing on earth, and I can do this by praying in the will of God,
that He would accomplish His will in my life and the lives of other that I am
praying for. Jesus prayed “Thy kingdom
come Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” God’s will is always being done in heaven and
to accomplish His will on earth I must aligen my will with His and pray His
will be done here on earth.
The Word
of God was challenging to my heart as I read it this morning, and it also convicted
me concerning my prayer life at times.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: I believe that the Lord would have Bruce Baker and I
have this discussion with Pastor Jacobs at lunch time today, and I would pray
that the Spirit of God would be manifested there as we talk about things that
concern all of us at GBC. I go there in
faith and pray that the words that I speak will be glorifying to the Lord and
be said in the will of God.
Memory
verse for the week: Philippians 3:12b
But I
press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold
of me. (NKJV)
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