“Praying with Elijah”“Praying with Elijah” By Emily Woodard, Women’s Ministries Spiritual Life Chair
he ARP Women’s Ministries annual study for 2022 is in the books of 1 and 2 Kings and is focused on the prophetic ministries of Elijah and Elisha. In chapter 17 of 1 Kings, Elijah suddenly arrives on the scene (the Northern Kingdom, circa 870 B.C.) to declare God’s word of judgment to King Ahab of Israel. The narrative that follows in chapters 17 and 18, from God’s miraculous provision of sustenance for Elijah during famine to the raising of a widow’s son, to the dramatic contest with the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel and Yahweh’s sending of rain after three years, is exciting to read and full of wonderful truths about the character of God, the power of his As with all scripture, there are endless depths to mine in these chapters, but one lesson we shouldn’t miss is high- lighted for us by the New Testament author James. James refers to Elijah near the end of his epistle in conjunction with instruction regarding prayer. Elijah is used to illustrate James’ statement that “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (5:16). James goes on to point out that Elijah “was a man with a nature like ours” through whose prayers God accomplished great things: “
...for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then [when] he prayed again… heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit” (vv. 17-18). The author of 1 Kings does not actually tell us about Elijah’s initial fervent prayer for no rain, and when he prays again for rain, the reader is left to assume that is what is happening given the way the story is told (the word prayer is not used). - clusion to draw based on other details, and of course, James’ inspired interpretation of the events. As additional evidence, in the two chapters of 1 Kings that cover the three years plus of drought and famine in Israel, we are also given glimpses into Elijah’s life of prayer.
T He prayed for what? He prayed for what? -
ful to realize the shift in the Northern Kingdom of Israel that has taken place shortly before his arrival. Religious practice in Israel has been sinfully syncretistic since the formation of the Northern Kingdom and Jeroboam’s setting up of the shrines at Bethel and Dan. None of the kings of Israel receive the evaluation of doing ‘right in the eyes of the LORD’ like some of the kings of Judah do (e.g. Asa, 1 Kings 15:11). And yet, when Ahab takes the throne in Israel, he is described as doing evil in the sight of the LORD, “more than all who were before him” (1 Kings 16:30, emphasis added). In addition to continuing the syncretistic worship of Jeroboam, Ahab and his Sidonian wife Jezebel introduce Baal worship to Israel, even building an altar and a house for Baal in Samaria. Ralph Davis graphically describes the change in circumstance, “Jeroboam’s state cult is like drinking polluted water; Ahab’s imported paganism is like sucking raw sewage” (Ralph Davis, The Wisdom and the Folly, 197). If our stomachs turn at the imagery, I think we might be starting to moment in Israel’s history, but the setting helps us understand his prayer. The spiritual situation in Israel is so dark, so evil, that Elijah asks Yahweh to bring covenant curses on the people and the land. In Deuteronomy, we read of Yahweh’s warning to his people that if they turn aside to serve other gods, the anger of the Lord will be kindled, and the heavens will be shut so that there will be no rain (11:16-17). In the same way that others later will pray for God to keep his promises of blessing (e.g. Daniel in Daniel 9), Elijah prays that God will keep his promises of judgment. “Elijah’s word [to Ahab] was simply God’s word trusted in faith and God’s promises claimed in prayer” (Sinclair Ferguson, Let’s Study James, 125).
20 The Associate Reformed Presbyterian
Prayer Emphasis
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