Power of Prayer

Maria was a single mom with a beautiful little boy named John. When she told her parents that she was pregnant at the age of 16, they kicked her out of the house and refused to have anything to do with her again.

The next 10 years were very difficult for Maria. She moved to a new city and struggled every day working two jobs just to pay for her low rent apartment in the highest crime area of the city. She did everything she could to provide for John and help him succeed in school. She even started attending a small church with her son.

By all outward appearances, Maria was doing great. Inside, she was a wreck. She had reached the end of her own inner strength. She had no close friends, she had very little time to spend with her son, and she was always exhausted.

After one particularly difficult day at work, Maria picked up John and went to their church to pray. She told her 9-year-old son to take a seat and just leave her alone for five minutes.

She cried out to God as she shared her hurts and her sorrows. She begged God to give her a friend and to just bring her some comfort. At one point she prayed, “Please God, just show me a sign. Let me know that you can hear me.” At that exact moment, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Standing right beside her was John.

The action had startled her, so she snapped at her son, “John, I asked you to just sit down. Is it too much to ask for just a few minutes to be alone?”

John looked at his mom with tears in his eyes as he said, “But Mom, Jesus told me to put my hand on your shoulder.”

Maria had asked God for a sign, but she wasn’t ready for it. Today we want to take a look at the power of prayer.

The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops. (James 5:16b-18, NLT)

James, the half-brother of Jesus, probably knew something about God’s power. I am sure he was present at the wedding when Jesus turned water into wine. He must have at least heard the stories of Jesus feeding 5000 with only a few small pieces of bread and fish. He had to know about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.

So when James chose to teach about the power of prayer, it may seem strange at first that he doesn’t use Jesus as his example. Instead he chose Elijah. Who was Elijah? If we read his story in the Old Testament, we will discover that Elijah was a prophet of God. In 1 Kings 17 Elijah arrives on the scene from some small town. In 2 Kings 2 he vanishes in a whirlwind with chariots of fire separating him from his disciple. Between these two events, Elijah becomes the greatest prophet that Israel had ever witnessed.

The Bible records the various feats of Elijah, such as raising the dead and bringing fire down from heaven. But Elijah’s story doesn’t end there. He is seen once again in the New Testament together with Moses and Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. The Prophet Malachi foretold the return of Elijah as a precursor to the coming of the Messiah. Even today Orthodox Jewish homes will leave an empty seat for Elijah during their Passover meal. They missed the return of Elijah and the fact that Jesus is the Messiah, so they continue to wait for Elijah’s return.

So here we have this amazing man that has done incredible things and James reminds us that Elijah was as human as we are. Elijah wasn’t a superhuman. Elijah wasn’t a powerful wizard. Elijah was not an alien. Elijah was a normal man. Human just like you and me.

So how did Elijah perform all of these fantastic miracles? What is the one thing that they had in common? In each of these instances we can see that before the miracle happened, Elijah prayed. James said that Elijah prayed earnestly. Other translations say he prayed fervently, which means enthusiastically or passionately. The understanding is that Elijah knew the power of prayer and that he called out to God with full belief that God would answer his prayers.

Think about what James said. Elijah was human, just like us. The power was not from Elijah, it was from God. Elijah was just the conduit for God’s miracles. Why did God use ordinary, human Elijah? Because Elijah believed in prayer and practiced what he believed.

Not only did Elijah pray with passion, but he continued to pray until God answered. Often people will pray once and when God doesn’t answer they assume that God just doesn’t care about them. Sometimes Elijah prayed for a very long time before God answered. In 1 Kings 18 we see that Elijah went to the summit of Mount Carmel and was praying for the rain to start. He sent a servant out to check for rain seven times before the servant could see a small cloud in the distance.

God has answered our prayers as well. The work that God has done through our church and through your lives may not be as flashy as the miracles we see in the days of Elijah, but they are still miracles. Let me tell you some of the things that God has done for us during the past year. Actually, it begins before that. You see, God has been at work for many years preparing for the work he was going to do here in Eastport through Elevate Church.

Five years ago I was praying and asking God for a sign about what he wanted me to do next. I had developed serious asthma and the physical act of leading 3 worship services every Sunday as well as all of the rehearsals for choir, praise team, etc. had taken a toll on my ability to continue in that ministry. God started putting specific people into my life. People that helped me to see that God was calling me to church planting.

When I told NAMB that I wanted to plant a church in Annapolis, I was told that we probably would have to live about 20 minutes from the area because the cost of living in Annapolis was too high. Our real estate agent said the same thing. But we prayed and found a few at the top of our budget. The first was the house we live in. It had a great corner lot with a large yard and was very visible in the community. The second place was the same monthly rent and it looked like a crack house. I asked the agent why these were listed at the same rent. She said she was amazed at the condition of the first house because she had never seen one that nice for that low of rent in Annapolis. We put a contract on it and in spite of several others also trying to rent it, the owners choose us.

Our family prayed for God to lead us to some unchurched people that would be interested in attending a bible study and worship and here you are. We prayed that God would lead some of those we have connected with to accept Him as Lord and Savior and sixteen (16) people have come to the Lord. We prayed for a way to baptize people and then I saw how a friend in Arkansas used a portable hot tub for baptism outside of the movie theater where they meet. Guess what we use? A portable hot tub.

As a church we asked God to provide us a place for worship and I got a text from the yacht club asking if we would be interested in renting their facility. I asked how they had heard about us and was told that they had just searched for churches in Annapolis and we were the first one they contacted.

Our church has prayed and asked God to provide partners that could help Elevate financially, with mission teams, and with prayer support, and God provided. We have prayed together for many of you to get jobs and then the jobs have come. We have prayed for God to provide finances so that we could help people in our church and community that have needs and then God has sent us the necessary funds.

We need to let others know how and when God answers prayers. Can’t people just read the Bible themselves to see what God has done? Well, yes. After all, the Bible is filled with stories of the miracles of God. But some people will try to convince you that what we call miracles can be explained with science. Others will say that the Bible is just fiction. Even believers may try to convince you that the Bible is inaccurate and that most miracles never actually happened. Or they may say that it is just lessons on morality and not actually God’s Word.

Every day God still performs miracles. God still answers prayers. James said that “the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” We tell people our story about how God has worked and answered prayers so that they can see God through us and come to know Him personally.