Wednesday; March 25

When we think of great people of prayer, Elijah should come to mind.  In fact, when James wrote about prayer in the First Century church he noted, “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. 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 earth for three years and six months.  Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.” (James 5:16-18).   I don’t know that I ever really gave it that much thought, but did you realize Elijah’s prayer life flourished in a time of crisis?  This man of prayer made a difference during a world-wide drought and famine.  In fact, it was so bad back then that many of the common people were literally living day-to-day.  It was set against this backdrop that Elijah flourished as a godly man of prayer.
I don’t know what all Elijah prayed about, but as we look around at our world today, there are some things we should be praying for.  The most obvious is praying for the sick – in particular those who are impacted by the modern virus.  It can be overwhelming to read about the thousands of cases worldwide, but one simple prayer can cover them all.  We should also be praying that God’s glory will be displayed.  The amazing thing about God is that He has the ability to use anything – even the death of His perfect Son – for the good.  What good can come from today’s crisis?  I don’t know – but He does.  When we pray for insight into His direction as His people we can be more aware of what He is doing and what He expects us to be doing.  Finally, we should be praying to not grow weary.  There are a lot of people who are afraid, but there are a lot of us who are just emotionally drained.  Let’s pray for the peace and rejuvenation – not just for ourselves, but for all of God’s people and specifically for Christian leaders.
           Think About It!

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