Kehinde A. Bolutife
Elijah’s Prayer: In Accordance With The Word Of God
“…and I will send rain upon the earth…”
This was the promise of God to Elijah before he went ahead to ask for rain. There was a premise upon which the conclusion of his prayer was based- “I will send rain.” Elijah’s prayer was neither vague nor lacking in substance; he had the promise of the word of God to hold on to in prayer. Hear his prayer, “…LORD GOD of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.” In like manner God expects that we pray according to His word written in the scripture, this is praying according to the will of God. “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: and if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desire of him.”
The word of God which is the Bible is replete with precious promises of God to meet all our needs; be it physical, spiritual, marital, financial, and ministerial or every other need that may confront us; there is a promise for every need of man. The onus then lies on us to explore and discover what God has said concerning your own situation. “According as his divine power hath given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (11Peter 1:3-4).
Many cry and wail at the altar today for several hours of what we call “prayers” with little results. You may ask why? It is because “you ask amiss”. Most prayers today are contrary to the word of God!
Arbitrary prayers, ambitious prayers, ignorant prayers, will not even tingle God’s ears, talk less of attracting a heaven’s response. Great prayers of the Bible- prayers by Daniel, Nehemiah, Ezra, Hezekiah, Moses etc, are all Word-based. The men quoted God’s word copiously from their hearts. They only stood on the ground of His word to make their plea after they had studied the ‘BOOK’. Consequently, God could not deny them of their requests. What God answers in prayers is not gymnastics and noise but the substance of His Words in prayer. How crucial then is the word of God in effective prayer! “In the first year of his reign, I Daniel understood by the books the number of the years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolation of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the LORD God, to seek by prayer and supplications with fastings, and sackcloth and ashes: and I pray unto the Lord my God… (Dan 9:2-4).
But no one can pray according to the will of God who does not know what the will of God is. Often times our prayers are shallow, superficial and lacking in substance because they lack the strength of the word of God. If heaven must respond to our prayer, it must be according to the word of God. How much of the word of God do you read and commit to memory? How often do you read and expose yourself to the scriptures? “This book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shall meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein. For then thou shall make thy way prosperous, and then thou shall have good success” (Josh. 1:8). It is the word of God resident in your heart that will work for you in the time of need and in the place of prayer. It is not enough to be carrying big and fat Bibles all around when the heart is bankrupt and devoid of its content. For any prayer to be effective and attract heaven’s response and attention, such must emanate from the word of God.
Sometimes we may not know what exactly the will of God concerning a matter is. Such can be handled by praying with your spirit as the Holy Spirit gives utterance in tongues (If you are baptized with Holy Ghost). When you pray with your spirit, your mind is unfruitful (you don’t know in your mind what you are saying) but you can be sure that the Holy Ghost will pray through your spirit according to the will of God (Rom 8:26-27; 1Cor 14:2, 14-15).
Prayers made according to the will of God definitely get God’s attention.
Obedience to the totality of the word of God is also an indispensable factor if God must answer our prayer. It is by the word and prayer that our communion with God is kept up. God speaks to us by his law-the word of God, and expects we should hear him and heed him; we speak to him by prayer, to which we wait for an answer of peace. How obedient and serious should we be, whenever we are hearing from and reading the word of God. It is by the word and prayer that our communion with God is kept up. God speaks to us by his law, and expects we should hear him and heed him; we speak to him by prayer, to which we wait for an answer of peace. How reverent and serious should we be, whenever we are hearing from and speaking to the Lord of glory! “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination” (Proverbs 28:9). If God’s word be not regarded by us, our prayer shall not only be accepted of God, but they shall be an abomination to Him.
This is a serious matter. May the Lord give you deeper understanding.
The prayer of Elijah continues in the next episode
