Sound of Abundance Rain

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

 James mentioned about Elijah as a man with a nature like ours and then he presents the power of his earnest prayers. He prayed and it did not rain for three years and six months. He again prayed and it rained. His prayers caused the nature to be moved. A person with same nature like ours could do that through his prayers. We ought to learn from Elijah as to what earnest prayers is all about.

1 Kings 17:1, ‘And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.”’ Here, the prophet mentions about himself as a person who stood before God. It points out to the  continuous and steadfast prayerful life he had. In turn it points out to the close relation he had with God. The more we pray, the more strong relation we have with God, which in turn determines the strength of our prayers. The strength of prayers cannot be measured with the vocab or length of prayers nor the  sound of the praying person. Its completely dependent on the relation with God. Jesus had an intimate relation with the Father while on earth. He took the bread and the 2 fishes and looked up to heaven to thank God and it multiplied to feed multitudes. He did not pray a long prayer. He just thanked God for what He had in His hands. Earnest prayers are the result of intimate, steady and strong relation with God.

 1 Kings 17:2-4, ‘Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ³ “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. ⁴ And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”’ While proclaiming the famine for the next 3 and ½ years, Elijah did not give a single thought about his own sustenance. His aim was only to glorify the name of the Lord and to show the heathen people that the God of Israel is true and living God. Earnest prayers come out of a selfless heart which aim at glorification of God. And God faithfully provides for such lives even without praying for it. Elijah was fed faithfully by the Lord till the famine ended.

 1 Kings 18:41-44, ‘ Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.” ⁴² So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, ⁴³ and said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” So he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.”⁴⁴ Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” So he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ^[j]‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’ ”  Elijah heard two sounds . He heard the sound of abundance rain with his spiritual ears, while his physical ears heard ‘there is nothing’ six times from his servant. But Elijah continued to pray till he heard the news about the small cloud. The news of nothingness coming in again and again failed to  discourage him, for he heard  the sound of abundance of rain through his spiritual ears much more than what he heard with his physical ears. What we hear more will rule our mind set. Hence, we ought to incline our spiritual ears towards His Word more often to hear God’s voice more and more . Earnest prayers brings into pass what we hear with our spiritual ears from God. A small cloud is not enough for abundance of rain but eyes of faith see great things through small things.

Elijah asked his servant to go up and look towards the sea. He waited eagerly to see the cloud. He sent him again and again 7 times till he saw the cloud. Earnest prayers always look for signs of answers. They are not vain prayers, which are prayed just for the sake of praying and set aside. Instead they keep praying again and again and keep looking for results again and again till they see it.

‘Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain…’ James here points out to the fact that the natural man finds it difficult to pray in such a way and see such amazing results. But in the midst of it one person with same nature could do it. The only reason is that the Elijah adopted the divine nature through His Spirit and broke all the boundaries and limitations of the natural man. Natural man is born in sin. He or she is full of doubts, anxiousness, love for sin & deprived of faith. But when one is attracted and transformed by Christ, the Spirit of the Lord comes into the concerned person which crucifies the natural man and brings in the divine nature of God. Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God Himself. He instills His nature in us. Even though we face a fight between nature or flesh and the Spirit daily, He gives us His grace to overcome daily. For He who has begun the good work in us is faithful to complete it. Earnest prayers is the result of daily crucifixion of self through His Spirit and His Word and allowing Christ to live in and through us.

Its important that we hear from Him more, meditate the same more and get transformed into more like Him  in order to enjoy the abundance of life which Christ offers us. That is the only way to be able to pray earnestly and escape the great increasing famine of joy, peace, faith and love of this world which is literally killing innumerable souls on daily basis. May God strengthen us all and bless us all.

God bless us all

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