“At noon Elijah began to taunt them.
“Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or
busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” So
they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their
custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they
continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice.
But
there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.”
I Kings 18:27-29
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The first part of todays’ title is an
oft-repeated phrase – “Prayer changes things.”
But does it really?
Is prayer powerful?
It can be.
But as todays’ verses show – it can
also be powerless.
The “power” of answered prayer lies
in the relationship we have with the Lord and not in the prayer itself.
The prophets of baal found that out
as they were being taunted by the Prophet Elijah.
For all of their loud, impassioned and
earnest prayer there was no answer.
Of course, they were not praying to
the One True God either!
To me, one of the greatest promises
in scripture is John 15:7 which declares:
“If you remain in me and my words remain in you,
ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”
But it is obvious that this is a
conditional promise.
Jesus speaks of remaining in the vine.
He clarifies this by stating that He
is the vine and we are the branches.
The power of answered prayer is
found, not in the words or the ritual, but in the relationship.
Many a man or woman has uttered a
beautiful sounding and eloquent prayer.
Some have prayed with great volume
and passion.
But the prayers go unanswered.
There is so much which can be spoken
of on this topic of prayer so lets’ take a few days and look more closely at
it.
One final thought:
If the condition of answered prayer
is that we “remain” in Him; is God playing favorites?
Do some have an unfair advantage?
Take a look at John 3:16.
You know that verse.
Who, in that verse, has opportunity
for a relationship with Him?
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