Kehinde A. Bolutife
Elijah’s Prayer: A Desperate, Serious Prayer
“…and he cast himself down upon the earth…”
What a desperation and seriousness! “He cast himself down” as if to be saying, “Lord, God, I have come to the point of no return. I will not take ‘NO’ for an answer. There must be rain.” Like Jacob of old, Elijah cast himself down saying, “Except you bless me, I will not let you go.” It was a do-or-die affair. It involves the whole heart, the whole being of the man praying. It was a desperate prayer!
Have you also got to that point in your prayer? Are you desperate enough in your prayer as to attract heaven’s undeniable response? How serious are you when it comes to the issue of prayer? Even though prayer is a communion with God, yet it ought to be pursued with all seriousness and earnestness.
Satan will not want us to be serious at prayer because he knows too well that by it we disarm him, restrict his works and get the heaven opened unto us for showers of blessings. But alas! The bane of believers today is unserious prayer-less prayer! We are too casual and frivolous about it. We do everything well but prayer! Consequently, the devil has found inroad into our lives and congregations. The believer and the church can no longer keep the darkness at bay because we lack the fervency and the vigour that effective prayer requires… And oh! What peace we often forfeit; what needless pain we bear.
Elijah cast himself down upon the earth… free from every entanglement and holds of men; in humility of heart under the mighty hand of God in order to be lifted up above the shame and reproach of Baal worshipers by the consolation of the sweet hour of prayer. Until you are desperate and serious in prayer like that, you are not ready for divine response.
“And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two women servants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok. And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had. And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of Jacobs’ thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me… And he aid, thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince has thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed” (Gen. 32:22-28).
That was Jacob’s own record of a desperate and serious prayer. Before this time he had tried several methods but prayer as solutions to his long-standing problem but all to no avail! But at this point in time he was desperate for solution… so he disengaged from wives, children, servants and possession for the purpose of a serious moment of engagement with God! And just as it is always true with every desperate and serious prayer, Jacob prevailed!
There are times when you also need to disengage from men and materials in order to engaged God in a serious act of prayer especially when the problem looks like an immovable mountain. Whenever and wherever God sees such desperation and seriousness, He always responds with divine intervention.
Hannah the wife of Elkanah was another person who prayed desperately in order to get a child. Like every other person, she also had been going to Shiloh for several years. But until she became desperate with her request for a child, heaven never responded. I perceived she must have been praying casually like every other worshiper whose need was not as pressing as hers. But that very year she was so desperate as not to leave Shiloh without the assurance of an answered prayer. Desperation made her to abandon food and people in order to be alone with God. In fact, she became so desperate that the Priest in the temple mistook her for a drunkard! Here is an extract of her prayer:
“Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah…and he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children…but the LORD had shut up her womb. And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut her womb…when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat…so Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, after they had drunk…and she was in bitterness of soul, and pra
yed unto the LORD, and wept sore. And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wlit indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then will I give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her mouth. Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunk. And Eli said unto her, how long will thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from thee. And Hannah answered and said, no, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD. Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. Then Eli answered, go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him…and the Lord remembered her.”
yed unto the LORD, and wept sore. And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wlit indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then will I give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her mouth. Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunk. And Eli said unto her, how long will thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from thee. And Hannah answered and said, no, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD. Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. Then Eli answered, go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him…and the Lord remembered her.”
I deliberately copied out Hannah’s prayer in order to reveal the nature and the contents of a desperate prayer. Because Hannah was desperate to have a child she added a vow to her prayer! Remember Jephtah also? When he was desperate to have victory in battle, vowed a vow unto the Lord… Such prayers are always effectual- producing the desired result! Prophet Samuel was the response product of Hannah’s desperate prayer! Samuel was not just a biological product of sexual relation like any other child. No, he was a result of a prayer that takes ‘NO’ for an answer! “Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, because I have asked him of the Lord.” Desperate prayers are undeniable prayers!
Several people today are not serious and earnest as they ought to be in prayer. This is due to laziness- lack of personal inner drive to pursue something to a reasonable conclusion. “By much slothfulness the building decayeth, and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through” (Ecc. 10:18). “How long will thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep. So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.” Laziness will not allow a man to pursue the will of God (in this case prayer) to a reasonable conclusion; neither will it allow him to follow up what he is praying about with God. A lazy man is not an upright man. A lazy man cannot be consistent, he does not persevere, and he is easily fed up. Laziness hinders prayers.
Prayer of Elijah continues in the next episode…
