Praying in the will of God Conclusion

This is the conclusion of the first chapter of Praying Like Elijah.

3. Prayer warriors for today.

The first requirement to be a prayer warrior like Elijah is to have a hunger and thirst for righteousness which is revealed in God’s Holy Word. Would we have prayed that it would not rain for three and one half years? We are too often concerned with our own comfort rather than with glory of God. Listen to the prayers of some people and notice how they are often self-centered rather than God-centered. In many churches today prayer meetings have been eliminated or are attended only by a few faithful. Our prayer meetings have become a ministry unto death rather than a ministry unto life. We have spent our times looking at our own needs rather than God’s glory and what He wishes to do in our lives.

Praying that it would not rain brought hardship not only upon the sinners but also upon the righteous. Not only did Ahab suffer from the drought but Elijah also suffered as well as the prophets that Obadiah had hidden in the caves to protect them from Jezebel. I wonder if Elijah questioned God’s wisdom in bringing drought on the land. Why wouldn’t God remove Ahab and Jezebel instead of having the whole nation suffer? I am sure that such thoughts went through Elijah’s mind but as he studied the Word of God he knew that the whole nation needed to repent and return to God. If God just removed the leaders the people would probably continue in the same vein. It was not only the leaders that need to repent but the people also needed to come to God for forgiveness. God’s concern was with the holiness and purity of His people rather than their comfort. I ask the question again, would we have prayed that it would not rain for three and half years knowing that it would bring hardship upon everyone? In our day of comfort we have forgotten to be concerned about God’s glory in our desire for our own comfort. How many of us could pray as David prayed in Psalm 25:18 (NIV), “Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins.” David asked the Lord to look upon his affliction and then he left it with Him. He knew that the God of the universe would do the right thing. He was more concerned with his standing before God than his comfort. Today I think we turn the prayer around. We ask God to take away our affliction but to regard our sins. To be prayer warriors we need to have the agenda for our prayers laid out in heaven.

Next week I will write chapter two LW