This week we've been looking at James chapter 5 verses 16 to 18, where God says the prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective. He then gives an illustration with Elijah the prophet: when Elijah prayed, it did not rain on the land for three and a half years; he prayed again, and the rains came.

God didn't answer Elijah's prayers because he was special or because he was a prophet. Rather, He answered because there are four things Elijah did in his prayers that you and I can do when we pray. If we will pray like Elijah prayed, then God will answer our prayers, and they will be just as powerful as his.

Today let's look at the first one: Elijah prayed according to the will of God. The Bible tells us in 1 Kings 17:1 that one day Elijah walked into the presence of King Ahab and said to him, “It's not gonna rain again until I say so.” How did Elijah know that God would answer that prayer? I believe he was reading one day in the words of Moses in Deuteronomy 11:16-17, where God says to the people of Israel,

I think Elijah looked at his day in which he lived and saw that his people had turned from serving God to serving Baal. I believe Elijah began to pray Deuteronomy chapter 11. He may have prayed something like this. “Oh God, You promised that if your people turn from You that You would shut up the heaven and that it would not rain. So I'm asking You to do what You promised You would do.” When the righteous man began to pray what God had promised He would do, God answered, and God's will was done on earth as it is in heaven.

Then in 1 Kings 18, three and a half years later, God said to Elijah, “Go present yourself to Ahab; I'm about to send rain.” So Elijah goes back—you know the story—he calls fire out of heaven, the people repent, and then Elijah prays again, and when he begins to pray, the rains came. The will of God was for it to not rain until the people repented and then to give rain after they repented. But it was when the righteous man began to pray according to the will of God that God's will was done.

I wonder what it is that God wants to do in your life, through your life, and all around you that He has not yet done because you, the righteous person, have not yet asked. Pray according to God's revealed will in His Word today, and watch Him move powerfully.

Through the prayers of righteous people, God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven.
 
Pray something like this...

“Father, show me the things in my life that you want to do, that you have not done, because I have not asked. Forgive me for my prayerlessness. I want to be a person who learns how to advance your Kingdom and your will through prayer. I know this request is your will, so I want to ask you to lead me to pray for those things you want done and I want to thank you that you are going to answer those prayers.”