Feeling Weak? Your Prayer Can Open Heaven

Introduction

In 1835, a child was born in Missouri who would become one of the most influential men of God in the history of Christianity: Edward McKendree Bounds. As a young man he did not believe in God and left with his brother for the gold rush. The Lord caught up with him. Imprisoned during the war that split the United States in two, he gave his meager ration and his jacket to the women and children in the camps. Having become a chaplain, he asked to enter besieged cities: "These people must hear about the love of Jesus."

Near the end of his life, his friends urged him to write. Of all the possible subjects, he chose only one: prayer. Christian Robichaud says he discovered Bounds' books 33 years ago, on his honeymoon with his wife, at a time when their prayer life was "really not great." One passage shook them: Elijah is described there as the greatest of the prophets, and Bounds concludes: "Right now, we badly need to pray like Elijah and get the same results he did."

This Sunday, at the Église Évangélique Paris Métropole, the pastor starts from this extraordinary prophet and arrives at James 5. His thought is strikingly simple: "Your prayer is far more powerful than you think. Whoever you are."

Outline of the message

1. A prophet from nowhere

Elijah wrote no book of the Bible. He appears out of nowhere: we do not know his ancestors, only that he is a Tishbite, from a lost corner of the land, probably on the other side of the Jordan.
He presents himself before Ahab, king of Israel, who married Jezebel, "the witch of all witches." God's people had turned to a vile idolatry, and this woman's influence would last for several generations.
For the pastor, the Old Testament does not present Elijah as a man of prayer: it is James who reveals it. Before speaking to the king, he had stood alone before God, in secret places, to intercede for his nation.
"Like me, you have probably grumbled this week while watching the news." Elijah lived in far worse times. Maybe he grumbled too, but he interceded.

2. "The LORD before whom I stand"

Elijah announces to the king that there will be no more rain except at his word (1 Kings 17:1). God is going to dry up the land of Israel.
Jesus compares the human heart to soil. For those who mock God or think they do not need him, God sometimes allows a drought of the heart, so that they will come back to him.
The pastor connects this statement with that of another figure who says "I stand before God": the angel Gabriel facing Zechariah (Luke 1:19). "That's the top, that's the general."
Elijah's message to the king: you act as if the God of Israel did not exist, but he is alive and I stand before him.
"A man who gets up tomorrow morning and prays is a man who stands before him. A mother who prays for her children is a mother who stands before him." When you pray on the metro, you stand before him like the angel Gabriel.

3. A superhero of the Bible?

The ravens bring him bread and meat morning and evening (1 Kings 17:6), at a time when many people never ate meat. "God takes such good care of men and women of prayer."
According to the pastor, he is the first in the Bible to believe that God can raise the dead, as he stretches himself out over the widow's child (1 Kings 17:21-22).
He has a reputation for being carried away by the Spirit: Obadiah fears that the Spirit of the LORD will carry him off somewhere else (1 Kings 18:12). Philip will experience the same thing in the New Testament.
On Mount Carmel, facing the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, he calls down fire from heaven. Later, he calls it down twice on the fifty soldiers sent by Ahab's son (2 Kings 1).
He is encouraged by the angel of the LORD, whom the pastor identifies as an appearance of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament: "Don't be afraid, go, I am with you."
He is taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire and a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11). His return is announced (Malachi 4:5), John the Baptist comes "in the spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 1:17), and he appears with Moses at the transfiguration.
Provisional conclusion: Elijah is almost a superhuman. "Until you read James."

4. All together: confessing and praying for one another

James 5:16 begins like this: "So confess your faults to one another." The context changes: Elijah stood alone against everyone, but here the Church prays all together.
The pastor makes clear that this does not mean laying out your life to just anyone. Ask God for a mature, confidential, trustworthy sister or brother, then pray for one another so that you may be healed.
"The fervent prayer of the righteous has great effectiveness." James is speaking here of supplication: "that heart desperate to see God act like Elijah." And the word translated "fervent" leans toward continuity: continual supplication.
If you are praying for a loved one, a neighbor, a colleague, keep going, do not stop. If France is on your heart, you pray for the president of the Republic, for peace, for God to bring souls back. Maybe you are discouraged: the Bible speaks of continual supplication.
The righteous one is you: by the power of the blood of Jesus, you are righteous. And because you are righteous, your continual supplication can accomplish much.

5. Elijah was a man of like nature with us

The Christians James wrote to probably saw Elijah as a superman. James "sets the record straight": Elijah was a man of like nature with us, having the same passions as we do (James 5:17).
That does not mean he was full of sins or addictions. The word means that he felt the same things we do: perhaps anger, sadness, discouragement, bewilderment, the urge to move to another country.
"But he prayed." He prayed that it would not rain, and no rain fell for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain.
The following verses give the context: whoever turns a sinner back from his wandering saves a soul from death (James 5:19-20). To bring someone back to Christ, there are things to do and to say, "but first, prayer."
An ordinary mother, a young woman, a young man who gets on their knees and begs God to act must believe that their prayer is as powerful as Elijah's. "Not because I say so, but because the Bible says so."

6. Praying earnestly means praying with all your heart

The pastor sees many spectators in churches. On vacation in another country, he saw a congregation where no one sang or prayed: "a kind of ritual, an act of attendance."
Praying earnestly does not mean praying loudly, making noise, sweating, or striking a deal with God. Jesus said it: do not multiply empty words like the pagans, your Father knows what you need (Matthew 6:7-8).
"Jesus did not condemn repetition, he condemned the absence of heart." You can repeat "Lord, help" for your son or daughter. But if you are thinking about the file your boss expects tomorrow while you pray, "it's no use."
"What Jesus asks of you is: where are you when you pray?"
The word "fervent" is not in the Greek: the text says "he prayed in prayer," a Hebrew turn of phrase expressing intensity. Better to pray five minutes with all your heart than three hours without being there. The pastor immediately adds that he is not saying five minutes is enough: God wants your whole heart.
A youth pastor for years, he saw boys arrive on motorbikes to impress girls and become "spiritual" only when one of them caught their eye. "The Bible speaks of being whole, of all your heart."
Elijah could walk across the plains and weep for his people. You, with everything you have to do in a day, look for time to pray.
The pastor points out that Daniel, too, had to look for time to pray. Do not picture him with fourteen hours a day ahead of him: he took the little time he had. "God looks at the heart."
The pastor shares his own prayer: "Lord, come into my head." "Lord, come into my mind. There are things I must no longer think this way."

7. The enemy knows what your prayer is worth

"The devil knows better than you how powerful your prayer is." Try it: announce that you are going to pray, and a text message, a message or a call will come in.
A man of God was about to begin a fast and prayer: the exhaust pipe of his new car fell off in the middle of New York.
Two or three years ago, a sister from the church was walking through a crowded neighborhood, praying quietly for someone: "I don't have much time, but the time I have, I'm going to pray." A man shouted from a distance "Stop praying," pushed his way through to her and threatened her. He did not touch her.
"The enemy could already see the power of this woman's prayers." When you pray, God acts, God answers. The pastor also mentions in passing how beautiful the Tuesday evening prayer meeting is.
The message ends with a prayer: "Lord Jesus, bring my heart back to prayer, to supplication. Touch my faith, strengthen my faith."

Key takeaways

Elijah was a man of like nature with us: his prayer was not reserved for a superman, and yours is more powerful than you think.
The righteous one is you, made righteous by the blood of Jesus. Your continual supplication can accomplish much.
Praying earnestly means praying with all your heart. God does not condemn repetition, he looks at whether you are there.
Lack of time does not prevent a whole-hearted prayer: God looks at the heart.
To bring someone back to Christ, there are things to do and to say, but first, prayer. Keep praying for your loved ones.

Personal application

Do you see yourself as a spectator or as someone who stands before God when you pray?
For which loved one, neighbor or colleague have you stopped praying out of discouragement? What would continual supplication look like for you this week?
Where are you when you pray? What is occupying your mind at that moment?
What small moment of your day can you give to a prayer with all your heart, like Daniel?
Do you have a trustworthy sister or brother with whom to confess your faults and pray?

Verses cited

Frequently asked questions

What does "Elijah was a man of like nature with us" mean?

According to Christian Robichaud, the Greek word means that Elijah felt the same things we do: he could get angry, be sad, discouraged or bewildered. James sets the record straight: Elijah was not a superman, and his prayer was no more powerful than that of a believer who prays today.

What does it mean to pray earnestly?

It is not praying loudly, sweating, or piling up words. The text literally says "he prayed in prayer," a Hebrew turn of phrase expressing intensity: Elijah prayed with all his heart. Jesus did not condemn repetition, he condemned the absence of heart.

What does "the fervent prayer of the righteous has great effectiveness" mean?

For the pastor, James is speaking here of supplication, the cry of a heart that longs to see God act, and the word translated "fervent" leans toward continuity. The righteous one is anyone made righteous by the blood of Jesus. Their continual supplication can accomplish much.