God’s Plan Activated Through Prayer

13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. James 5:13-18


As the leader of the Jerusalem Church, James, the brother of Jesus, knew that it was essential for the members of his church to be praying regularly – asking God for each of their needs. In this passage he gives them some specific examples of ways in which they might bless one another through prayer and then refers them to the example of Elijah.

We see in 1 Kings 17 & 18 that God had a plan for Israel. He wanted them to turn from their worship of Baal and acknowledge the sovereignty the one true God who had chosen them as His people. He needed to convince both the people and the King of this truth and He chose to do that through Elijah. God spoke to Elijah and Elijah spoke to the King to announce the coming of a long draught. During the draught there was the famous showdown between Elijah and the Priests of Baal. Following this Elijah announced that he could hear the “sound of a heavy rain” and the draught broke as promised. A great story of God’s power but why did James then use it to teach the Jerusalem Church about prayer?

Dutch Sheets, in his excellent book, Intercessory Prayer, How God Can Use Your Prayers To Move Heaven And Earth, explains:
“Why, if it was God’s will, idea and timing, did it take a human’s prayers to ‘birth’ the rain? (Elijah was in the posture of a woman in that culture giving birth, symbolizing the concept of travailing prayer.)
“Why did Elijah have to ask seven times? Seven is the biblical number of completion, and I’m sure God was teaching us that we must pray until the task is accomplished. But why would this or any other prayer endeavour require perseverance, when it was God’s will, idea and timing?
“The only logical answer to the question of why Elijah needed to pray is simply that God has chosen to work through people. Even when it is the Lord Himself initiating something, earnestly desiring to do it, He still needs us to ask.”

James wants his people to understand that the way in which God works on this earth is through human beings. While He is capable of sovereign activity, for some reason He prefers to engage with us in the accomplishment of His plans. As I understand it, the process works something like this: He chooses a person, touches their heart, develops relationship with them, instills His character in them and shares with them the desires of His heart – His plans and purposes. He then expects the person to turn those plans back to Him in prayer. In answer to the prayer God will act and sometimes involve the original person praying, who then, in prayer needs to ask God for guidance and empowering. The process is: prayer, relationship, prayer, understanding of God’s plans, prayer, guidance, prayer, empowering, prayer, perseverance, prayer, accomplishment, prayer, thanksgiving & worship – more prayer….

Andrew Murray, the South African Missionary, wrote at the end of the nineteenth century: “By intercession we boldly tell God what we desire for others. We seek to bring down blessings from God. We seek the power of eternal life with all its blessings upon one soul or perhaps upon hundreds and thousands. Intercession! Do you believe that this can be the holiest practice of your boldness as God’s child? Do you practice intercession as the highest privilege and enjoyment connected with your conversation with God? Do you know the joy and power of being used by God as an instrument for His great work of making people His habitation, of showing forth His glory? The Church should count intercession as one of the chief means of grace. She ought to seek above everything to cultivate in God’s children the power of an unceasing prayerfulness on behalf of the perishing world!”

Perhaps today while meditating on this passage from James, or even the story of Elijah in 1 Kings, you might ask God to show you more about intercessory prayer and the way in which He can partner together with you in achieving His purposes. You might begin by asking for things on others’ behalf which you believe might be part of God’s plan and then looking to see the results.

Mike Clarkson