Category Archives: Elijah Prayed

Elijah Prayed Earnestly – Bible Prayers

Bible Prayers are prayers where the prayer words are in the Bible.  There are many prayers where the words of the prayer are right in the Bible.

Canon Beach Haystack Rock

Canon Beach Haystack Rock – Elijah Prayed

Sometime we don’t know what the words are, like when Jesus prayed all night.  We don’t know what He prayed, we just know the outcome the next day where He choose the twelve apostles.  There is a few Bible verses that are teachings on prayer, like the Lord’s Prayer.

I just love this Bible verse on prayer:  Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. — James 5:17

Psalm 22:19 But thou, Jehovah, be not far from me; O my strength, haste thee to help me.

Consider the verse in John 15:7 where the Lord Jesus says “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask what ever you wish and it shall be done.”  A big part of prayer is our mind being filled with the Words of the Bible.  The more our mind is renewed with God’s Word the more prayers get answered.  His word in our thinking causes us to pray closer to His will.

Prayer that Works – Elijah Prayed

In the Bible, James talks about Elijah, who had learned how to pray “prayer that works“. God answered his prayers. But Elijah had to learn to pray. See the blog on prayer that works.

So never give up on prayer. God answers prayer. Sometimes we give up because we do not see any results, so we quit. God answers prayer in His time and in His way. Consider Abraham who waited 20 years for an answer to the prayer for a son.

Bible Prayers

 Bible Prayers - Sunrise over Sea of Galilee

Bible Prayers – Sunrise over Sea of Galilee

The Bible is full of sample prayers. Let’s call these Bible Prayers. Consider the prayers of Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus Christ, Peter, Paul and John.  These top seven people in the Bible all prayed in the Bible.  Their prayers, their talking to God are all recorded in the Bible. Also consider the prayers of Samuel and Elijah.

Consider the prayer of  Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:20 And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the Lord.”

The Bible is full of sample prayers like the last prayer in the Bible in Revelation 22:20 “Come, Lord Jesus”.

Consider the prayer in the Psalms 4:1 Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness; Thou hast set me at large when I was in distress: Have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.

Elijah just Prayed what God Wanted to Pray

Elijah Prayed God’s Prayer

Elijah just prayed what God wanted to pray. Here did not pray his prayer, or what he thought or what he felt. Elijah just prays God’s prayer.  That’s what the phrase prayed with prayer  means in this passage in James 5:17-18  where it says Elijah was a man of like passions to us, and he prayed with prayer that it should not rain; and it did not rain upon the earth three years and six months; 18 and again he prayed, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth caused its fruit to spring forth.

God Needs Man to Pray

When God created the earth and heaven, He did not need any help. But when God created man, He intended man to be a prayer partner. In a sense, God waits for man to pray before He acts.  In creation God acted alone, in the Bible age, God works with man. So in the example prayer of Elijah, God waited for Elijah to pray.  Elijah prayed what God wanted to pray, then prayed to God and God answered from heaven with rain. Without the prayer of Eljah, no rain was coming.

So in every situation God is waiting for us to pray before He acts. The phrase below “prayed with prayer” indicates that Elijah prayed the prayer that God gave him to pray. What a cooperation between God and man to fulfill His purpose on the earth..

James 5:17-18 Elijah was a man of like passions to us, and he prayed with prayer that it should not rain; and it did not rain upon the earth three years and six months; 18 and again he prayed, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth caused its fruit to spring forth.

Then in the Lord’s prayer, Jesus also teaches us to pray “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. So God wants us to pray for His will to happen on the earth. His will does not happen automatically, it needs prayer to bring it to earth

Praying With God

We are praying and asking the prayer of God. If you are one with the Lord, you are obeying the Lord, you are abiding in the Lord, and His Word is dwelling in you, then you are one with the Lord, and what the Lord wants to pray, you want to pray, what the Lord wants to ask the Father through your prayer, you want to ask the Father.  So who is really praying here?  Is it us praying or is it God praying?  It is kind of hard to understand.

The Example of Elijah in James

In fact, James 5 talks about a similar principle. The last part of verse 16 says, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Then James goes on to talk about Elijah.  Verse 17, “Elijah was a man subject to like passions…” He was a man, just like we are. He had feelings just like you and I have. Then it says, “And he prayed earnestly” or the literal Greek is, “He prayed in prayer” or, “He prayed in his prayer”.  It is kind of a strange construction in the English. “He was a man of like passions as we are, and he prayed in prayer that it might not rain”. In other words, Elijah had an experience, here, of not praying his own prayer, but praying the prayer of God. You could say he prayed the prayer that God put on his heart, or prayed the prayer that God burdened him with.  Here Elijah was praying the prayer of God.

The Example of Young Samuel

We have another example of Samuel in the Old Testament.  This is the story of Samuel as a young boy.  He was learning how to serve God and how to do the things of God. He was just beginning, or barely beginning to hear the voice of God.  At one point, he thought Eli, the priest, was calling him, but he eventually learned that it was the Lord who was speaking to him. The phrase that Samuel repeated back to the Lord at this point was, “Speak Lord, for your servant hears.” In other words, Samuel had the attitude that whatever God would speak, he would hear, and whatever God asked him to do, he would do.

This blog was taken from a video on Drew’s YouTube channel.

Challenge your Mountain in the Lord

Elijah used this prayer when he stopped the rain from heaven and started it again after three and one half years.

The Lord Jesus teaches us to speak to the mountain.  Look at these passages:

Matthew 17:20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

Matthew 21:21 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.

Mark 11:23 “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.

So when the Lord gives us a mountain He wants us to speak to it. Let me say it another way. When we encounter some difficult thing in life, the Lord wants us to speak to the thing. How do you pray or speak then it seems impossible and one can only see in faith that God can do something.

Where is the God of Elijah?

In Hebrews it says: Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever.  Our God is everlasting, He does not change.  But people ask “Where is the God of Elijah?”.    He is still here, just waiting for His people to obey, believe and pray.  That’s all that Elijah did in 1 Kings 18, he just obeyed God, then he believed God, then he just prayed.  His prayer was based on what God said, that caused him to believe and have faith in God.

Hebrews 13:8 tells us, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Psalms 24:7 Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.
Psalms 24:9 Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.
Psalms 41:13 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen.
Psalms 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
Psalms 93:2 Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.