I’ve just finished up an on-line Bible study on Elijah from Priscilla Shirer. I think this must be about the fifth study of hers I’ve completed, and she has become hands-down one of my favorite Bible teachers. She’s brilliant and yet so relatable. I always come away encouraged and filled with new insights about God.
But that’s not the main gist of this post. As I was going through this study with a friend, I was reminded of something I learned years ago regarding prayer. And Priscilla made the same point in this study.
I’m sure many of you are familiar with the story of Elijah at Mt. Carmel, but let me share the cliff notes version here to make sure we’re all on the same page. I apologize for all the details I’ll need to leave out in order to keep this necessarily short-ish! (You can read the full story here, if you’d like.)
This is the story of the prophet Elijah who was called by God to challenge King Ahab and his evil wife, Jezebel and all those who had become worshipers of the false idol, Baal. That included, unfortunately, many of the people of Israel, God’s chosen nation.
There’s a big showdown being set up where each side – Elijah, representing God (Yahweh), and all the hundreds of Baal prophets – is seeking to “prove” whose God is more powerful. Each group will sacrifice a bull on the altar and whichever God rains down fire from above is the true God.
Elijah graciously allows the Baal prophets to go first. So, literally from morning to evening, they dance around in a frenzy, even resorting to cutting themselves as they call upon the “mighty” Baal. Remember, HUNDREDS of people pleading with Baal for HOURS to show his power by sending fire to the sacrifice.
What do you suppose happens? Zip. Nada. Zilch. Nothing. Elijah even accuses Baal of sleeping or going to the bathroom!
Now it’s Elijah’s turn. He places his sacrifice on the altar and pours GALLONS of water all over the altar THREE times so that the sacrifice is drenched and the water fills up the trench around the sacrifice.
Here’s the best part. Elijah, seemingly all by himself, offers up this one-time, short prayer to God:
“O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” (I Kings 18:36-37)
What do you suppose happened this time? Kaboom! “Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.”
Could there be a greater contrast between the two displays of power? What was the difference?
In a word…God. That’s right, the difference was in the one prayed to.
So, here’s the message I want to pass along to you, whether you’re the one being prayed FOR, or if someone has asked you to pray for them:
There is power in ONE person praying because of who they’re praying to.
That does NOT mean you shouldn’t ask multiple people to pray for you. There are definite benefits for those of us joined together by the prayer requests of our fellow believers. There’s a powerful connection when we intercede for our loved ones in prayer and bring their needs before a holy God. When prayers are answered, we see God’s mercy and can rejoice with our friends.
And God clearly works through the prayers of his people. So this is NOT to discourage prayer groups or prayer chains.
This is to remind you that God is not MORE likely to answer your prayers just because you get more people to pray for you. One of the most incredible displays of God’s power was the result of one man and a few short words.
So I want you to rest in the knowledge that you don’t need to stress over how many people are praying for you or your circumstances. Sure, ask as many as you’d like, but know that they aren’t the ones bringing the ultimate power to this transaction. Once again, it’s God.
And if you are feeling inadequate in your prayers for a friend because you may be the ONLY one praying for them, don’t panic. Remember Elijah. And more importantly, remember where the true power lies. Not in your prayers, but in Almighty God.
I pray that this frees you up to focus less on what you bring to the prayer closet and rightly understand that all the power you need is in the One to whom you pray.
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Romans 12:12
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