“The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.”
James 5:16b-18
God works with extraordinary power as He works through the prayers of His people—but note: He works His power through the prayers of “a righteous person,” a person who endeavors to walk in personal holiness.
Lack of personal integrity, purity, and holiness is why many people find their prayers seemingly unanswered. This teaching is similar to Peter’s admonition to husbands in his first epistle: “Husbands…dwell with them [your wives] with understanding, giving honor to the wife…that your prayers may not be hindered (1 Peter 3:7).”
We can’t expect God to honor our prayers when we are not walking in holiness and righteousness. This does not mean we will be perfect; only Christ is perfect, but it means that we will endeavor daily to walk in righteousness. We will, for example, follow James’ teaching about confessing our faults to one another (James 5:16).
If members walk in righteousness, including making sure they are at peace with others in the congregation, and if sin is lovingly confronted and carefully corrected, they are in a better position for God to work His extraordinary power through them. If it is the prayer of a righteous person that “avails much,” imagine how much more powerful the church will be when all members walk in righteousness!
God Works through Ordinary People
It is not unusual for us to exclude ourselves from some of the principles and promises of God. We may assume that only spiritual “superstars” can expect their prayers to “avail much.” We may feel inferior, common, or “ordinary.”
If so, James’ words should encourage us. He brings up the Old Testament prophet Elijah as an example of an ordinary human being through whom God worked. He says, “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours….” Did you catch that? Elijah was not superhuman. He had “a nature like ours.” No different.
But we may protest: “What?! Elijah is nothing like us! He’s the guy who stood boldly on Mount Carmel and called down fire from heaven in a mighty demonstration of God’s miraculous wonder-working power (1 Kings 18: 20-46). He’s not at all like me!”
To be sure, it is a fantastic account of biblical history. Elijah essentially tells wicked King Ahab, “Because you have led the people of Israel into idolatry, God will withhold the rains of heaven. You and the entire land will experience three and a half years of drought. No rain for three and a half years!”
James reminds us in verse 18 that after the three and a half years of judgment, Elijah prayed, and the rain fell. It is an incredible story of God’s extraordinary power through the prayer of a righteous person. No rain falls until Elijah prays. That’s power!
So again, when James describes Elijah as “a man with a nature like ours,” or a man just like us, our initial thought may be, “No, he is not! He is one-of-a-kind!”
But he is just like us. Elijah’s vulnerability, for example, is exposed in the very next chapter (1 Kings 19), where we read of his becoming so discouraged that he is near death. King Ahab’s wicked wife, Queen Jezebel, threatened to have Elijah killed by the end of the next day. When Elijah gets word of this, his “mountaintop experience” crumbles into a “valley of despair.” Fleeing into the wilderness, he is so depressed, exhausted, and scared that he prays that he might die. He says to the Lord, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life (1 Kings 19:4).”
Elijah is truly “a man with a nature like ours.” Who hasn’t experienced the capricious turns from the mountaintop to the valley? Most of us are willing to admit to spiritual highs and lows.
Yes, Elijah is just like us. So James means to encourage us. In essence, he says: “Look; undoubtedly, God works with extraordinary power. And God delights in working that extraordinary power through ordinary people like Elijah and ordinary people like you and me.”
What About You?
- How is your prayer life? If it seems your prayers go unanswered, could it be you are not walking in righteousness?
- How do you feel about James’ describing Elijah as “a man with a nature like ours?”
**Excerpt from You’re Either Walking The Walk Or Just Running Your Mouth (Preaching Truth: 2020), pages 204-207, available in all formats here.
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