Audacious Prayers

Yesterday at Merge we were wrapping up our James series with coincidently the last passage of his letter (pause for a chuckle). His topic revovled mainly around attaching prayer to seasons of trouble and of joy. In the middle of it he illustrates the power of prayer through an ancient story involving Elijah and a drought on the land.

What I found interesting is that James says Elijah was a man just like us. Which I believe make most of us do a double take since we have never prayed a drought to come and go. I haven't met anyone who has actually prayed for fire to come down from the heavens. If you track with the life of Elijah you will see the incredible work of prayer and the powerful things that can be accomplished. But James says Elijah was a man just like us.

This thought occurred to me early last week when I was studying for the lesson. Maybe we don't think we can be like Elijah or maybe the reason we aren't praying "fire from heaven" prayers is that our whole lives we have been praying much too small. What if we started praying audacious prayers like seeing entire neighborhoods transformed by the Gospel? What if instead of praying for small things we can remedy with a little effort, we threw our faces on the ground, and rend our hearts and we ask God to do things that only He could do?

I think those are the kind of prayers that interested Elijah. What about you???

Heart and Soul,
BAG
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