A man like us

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. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. (James 5:17- 18)

At a time of great crisis in ancient Israel, God worked mightily through a man named Elijah. He became the dominant spiritual force in Israel during the dark days of King Ahab of Israel.

The name Elijah means, "Yahweh is my God." In the days when Ahab's government officially supported the worship of Baal and other Canaanite gods, even the name of this prophet told the truth.

It was a crucial time in the history of Israel. It looked as if the worship of the true God might be completely eliminated in the northern kingdom. Yet God had a man, this one name Elijah. He was a great man of prayer, and one day he came to King Ahab and said, "There shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word" (1 Kings 17:1). This was a dramatic demonstration against the pagan god Baal, who was thought to be the sky god, the god of the weather. Elijah showed that through his prayers to the God of Israel, Yahweh was mightier than Baal.

James tells us that Elijah was not merely the prophet of this drought; by his prayers, he was the cause of the drought. He prayed and it happened. As James writes, "he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months." When it says that Elijah "prayed earnestly," the literal ideas is that he "prayed with prayer." He just prayed real prayers; and to truly pray, by definition, is to pray earnestly.

Yet James is also careful to tell us "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours." How then did he find such power in prayer? One hint is found back in 1 Kings 17:1, where we are told that when Elijah made this announcement to King Ahab, he first said this: "As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand." This statement of Elijah shows the source of his strength. It is specifically said that "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours" (James 5:17). Yet he showed a strength greater than most of us in our life with God, and he had this strength for at least two reasons.

First, he prayed with faith in the living God, saying in 1 Kings 17:1: "As the LORD God of Israel lives." Everyone else felt that the LORD was dead, but for Elijah the LORD lived. The living God was the supreme reality of Elijah's life.

Second, he lived in the presence of God, saying also in 1 Kings 17:1: "before whom I stand." He stood in the presence of King Ahab, but he was conscious of the presence of someone greater than any earthly king. The Angel Gabriel himself could not choose a higher title (Luke 1:19).

Elijah is a model of earnest prayer that was answered by God. His effectiveness in prayer extended even to the weather! His words before Ahab show that Elijah was effective in prayer because his heart was in tune with God's. He prayed for the rain to stop and start only because he sensed it was in the heart of God in His dealings with Israel. He knew that it was God's will to stop the rain and then to stop it because he knew God was alive, and Elijah lived in His presence.

Elijah shared our weaknesses. God helping us, we can share his effectiveness in prayer.

( by David Guzik)

A miracle!

God worked miracles for me today!

Today we celebrated Christmas in our college. I was supposed to play a song on my saxophone. I would be playing on my saxophone, and one of my friends would accompany me on the piano.

Since my exams were going on at this time, I couldn't find much time to practice. Last week when we were practicing, I could hardly play a single line because I couldn't draw in breath rapidly. So I came home and practiced hard.

Yesterday, we had a practice. My saxophone's reed became soiled and it wouldn't get in tune with the piano. So I would have to play alone.

I came home and practiced. The reed broke. I was very disappointed because using a new reed the next day will make it more difficult for me to play (like in the last week).

I tried tuning my saxophone( new reed) with my keyboard, and my keyboard stopped working! My new keyboard, bought about a month back, had stopped working for the second time! My keyboard (Rs. 37,000) had come home after its first repair only a week back, and there it was, refusing to work again.

Tears flowed out of my eyes and refused to stop flowing. I couldn't understand why things were happening this way. I couldn't even learn for my exam. I would pick up my book and start crying again. 37,000 is big money for me and I couldn't believe that my new keyboard had got repaired. With Christmas coming up next week, we had less time to practice for the midnight mass, and my keyboard got repaired again. I did not know whether I should cry for my keyboard or for my saxophone.

I was determined to cry all night, when suddenly at about 11, God reminded me that I had to praise Him at all times, even when trouble came my way. It wasn't easy, but I obeyed. I kept praising Him for quite sometime, and when I went to sleep, I knew God would fight the battle for me. I had cast my burdens unto Him for He cares for me.

In the morning, I tried playing on the saxophone with my new reed. It was tough! I couldn't play fluently. I asked God to remember His promise to me "My people shall never be ashamed". I believed that somehow God would bless my sax and help me play well.

I badly wanted a piano for accompaniment. But without tuning it, we couldn't play together. I just had to find out the right frequency on my keyboard. I simply switched on my keyboard and it did work. I quickly found out the frequency, and then my keyboard stopped working again. But I knew the frequency! I just packed my sax and left for college.

There, I convinced my friend that we try tuning the instruments one last time. I hardly played one line on my sax, and we both realized that it sounded different! Different from what it was the previous day, it sounded 'really good' and I had absolutely no difficulty playing it. I couldn't believe that my new reed had got seasoned in one day!

We tuned the instrument, the frequency I found out was the right one. We practiced and it was awesome!

Yes, we did perform on stage and the song went on well.

I came home and received a call saying my keyboard would be replaced with a new one the very next day!

I was glad. Just one day before, everything had tumbled down and my hope had vanished. But today, the problems disappeared and God gave us victory.

I did not expect such a great miracle in so short a time span, but our God is A SPECIALIST IN IMPOSSIBILITIES and He did it this time too!

ALL PRAISE AND GLORY BE TO HIS HOLY NAME!!!