Rebecca Inglis - June 21, 2020
Elijah Prays
6 years ago, my children adopted some guinea pigs. They named them Flat White, Icing Sugar and Tigger. For the first couple of months all was good, until one day a mean (or perhaps just hungry) bird attacked these little piggies, particularly injuring little Icing Sugar. He quickly got sick, and stopped eating and drinking. We took him to the vet, twice, over a period of a few days and tried to feed him and give him water through a syringe. We prayed, we asked God to heal this guinea pig, but he just got sicker and sicker until he eventually died. It was a very sad and traumatic experience, particularly for my 11 year old daughter, Emily, who loved her pet Icing Sugar. There was crying - for a long time - and that night, curled up on the lounge room floor she sobbed, “Why did God let him die? I prayed and he just got sicker! Can God really hear me? Is He listening? I don’t think prayer works!” An innocent cry from a child who had lost her pet, but a moment that so many of us have experienced. Through pain and suffering, we ask ourselves the question, “Does prayer really work?” There may be been times that we have requested something from God, and there seems to be silence. It causes us to wonder what prayer is all about. Over the Last 21 Days, our Territory has ‘prayed it forward’ and in the NSW/ACT Division we are committed to another 19 days of focused prayer. Are you praying? Is God speaking to you? Will you keep praying even if you can’t yet see where God is at work? As we continue to look at the journey of Elijah this week, we learn about his prayer life. James 5:17 tell us that, “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.” What a powerful prayer! Elijah prayed with confidence. He prayed with boldness that God would move in his situation, and he believed that God would work. And, spoiler alert, He does, even when we can’t see it or when we doubt it.
Scripture References: James 5:17, 1 Kings 18:42-44
From Series: "Elijah"
An angry king, devastating drought, epic opposition and one man who overcomes it all. Join us over the next 4 weeks as we delve into the life of Elijah and see how a 2,500 year old prophet is crazy relevant to us today.
