settle It With The Lord First
…The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man
availeth much (James 5:16).
A dear brother learnt about exercising spiritual
authority and decided to act his faith. It had
been cloudy and a downpour was imminent. Stepping
out of his home, he commanded the rain to hold its
peace. But soon enough, the rain started pouring
down. He commanded the rain to cease, but the more
he issued those commands, the heavier the downpour,
and the more he got drenched.
He had read that Elijah stopped the rains from
falling for three and half years (1 Kings 17), and so he
thought, “If Elijah could do that, why couldn’t I?” But
there’s something the young man didn’t understand.
If you only studied 1 Kings 17, you might run off
with the view that Elijah merely proclaimed that there
would be no rain, stormed out of Ahab’s palace, and
the clouds were shut. James 5:17 shows us there was
something more: “…he prayed earnestly that it might
not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of
three years and six months.” Before Elijah declared that
there’d be no rain, he had already settled the matter
with God. He had prevailed with God in prayer in his
closet; it was an argumentative prayer, because it isn’t
man’s jurisdiction to stop or cause rain to fall.
Jesus made it clear in Matthew 5:45 that sending
down rain is solely God’s domain: “That ye may be
the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he
maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good,
and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” What
Elijah did was to bring his strong reasons before the
Lord in prayer, and the Lord granted his request.
This is what you do when dealing with cases,
situations or issues outside your personal territory
or jurisdiction. You must first prevail in prayer. There
must first be moments of intense, heartfelt, earnest
prayer, supplication, intercession, and giving of thanks.
Such prayer, the Bible says, makes tremendous power
available, dynamic in its working (James 5:16 AMP).
Confession
Blessed heavenly Father, it gladdens my heart to know
I can set forth and plead my case with you, in earnest,
heartfelt, continued prayer, and prevail against unfavourable
circumstances. Thank you, Lord, for this awesome privilege, and
the right to be heard each time I make decrees and entreaties in
the Name of Jesus. Glory to your Name forever!
Further study:
Isaiah 1:18; Isaiah 43:26; Isaiah 38:1-2
1-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN
1 Peter 1:22-2:1-25
ezekiel 29-30
2-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN
Jude 1:1-11
daniel 11-12