How To Shake Nations In Prayer: 7 Principles From James 5:15-17
As we mature in our relationship with Jesus Christ, one of the pivotal milestones we must cross is when our concept and practice of prayer moves from primarily trying to get our will done by heaven to praying for God`s will to be done on earth. As we step into our calling as “priests who intercede”, we need guidance from the Scriptures on effectively partnering with God in prayer to bring about observable change in our families, communities and nations.
James recommends an excellent mentor and tutor of effective prayer to us. In James 5:17, he states, “Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.” I see seven things (I’m sure there are more) that we can learn from Elijah as we, too, seek to partner with God in prayers that shake nations and usher in His will.
- “Elijah was a human being, even as we are”: God did not appoint this business of transacting exchange between heaven and earth through prayer to angels. No, this sacred business He has reserved for human beings. Jesus said, “men ought always to pray and faint not” (Luke 18:1). If you allow your heart to grasp this truth, you may still stumble upon the lie that says, yes, effective prayer may be within the grasp of men and women, but, these must be people of a peculiar nature, the holiest of people, the most disciplined people. James reassures us that Elijah was human, with a human nature JUST like the rest of us, with all the weaknesses and faults that come with being human. Knowing in your heart that you qualify, with your flaws and shortcomings, to be a person of power through effective prayer is the first principle of effective prayer.
- “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful” Adrian, I thought you said that my weaknesses and faults do not matter, but James says it is” the prayer of the righteous that has power”. Believer, know this, whether you feel righteous or not, even if you sinned yesterday. The eternal reality of God concerning you is that you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. (2 Corinthians 5:21). In other words, Jesus has imputed His actual and perfect righteousness to your spirit so that you are perfect and complete before the Father. (Colossians 2:10). When you approach God to pray, it’s on the eternal, unshakable basis of Christ’s imputed righteousness that our prayers are heard and answered. Our boldness comes from Christ’s righteousness, not our own. That said, when we act out of step with our imputed righteousness, we are called to repent and make things right with God and with whoever else may be involved so our prayers won`t be hindered.
- Earnestness & Fervency: So far we have been looking at the one doing the praying. Now we turn our attention to the prayer itself. Earnest or Fervent describe the nature of the prayers we should utter. They carry the meaning ” to set on fire”, “to burn” ” to hotly pursue”, ” to chase”. So not only should our prayers be passionate by the aid of the Spirit, but pay attention to those verbs “Chase and Pursue”. These imply that you have a definite object being focused on and that prayer does not stop until the object is captured/caught/answered in prayer. David said in the Psalms 18:37, 43 “I pursued my enemies and overtook them and did not turn back until they were consumed” and again “he beat his enemies into fine dust before the wind”, this was a thorough and complete pursuit until they were no more. This is to be our attitude in praying that the will of God is done in our nations.
- Observing the current state of affairs: Our Lord couples the word “watch” with prayer (Matthew 26:41, Luke 21:36, Mark 13:33), and what the Lord joins together, let no man tear apart. Elijah observed that the state of affairs in Israel was contrary to the will of God, and this called him into prayer. Namely, he observed that Israel was falling away into idolatry and covenantal unfaithfulness to the Lord. What do you observe in your family, community or nation?
- Knowing the Written Judgements of God: Even if we are watching, we need to know exactly what to pray for. The prayer for the cessation of rain was not from Elijah’s imagination. One of the curses that God uttered was that He would shut up the heavens if Israel broke covenantal faithfulness. Elijah was, in essence, agreeing with the judgment of God in Deuteronomy 11:17 and saying amen to something God had already decreed. Like Elijah, our role is to say yes and amen in prayer to the written decrees of God in the Scriptures when we observe the conditions that warrant those decrees. The Holy Spirit tells us Psalm 149: To execute on them the judgment written; This is an honour for all His godly ones. Praise the Lord!
- The “Yes of God To His Written Judgements”: God is alive and alert and watches over His word to perform it. (Jeremiah 1:12) In fact, He exalts His Word above His very Name. ( Psalm 138:2) But He looks for His servants to bring those words to Him in prayer of agreement. So as we pray the words of the Lord, our intention is to bind on earth that which is bound in heaven as revealed in the scriptures (e.g. disobedience to the faith), and what we lose on earth is that that is already loosed in heaven, such as faith to believe the gospel. The Lord is seeking partnership in prayer. He speaks, we echo, He writes, we say amen! What are you echoing the Lord about and saying amen to for your family, community and nation?
- Continued Observation and Repeated Prayer: This is where I think many of us drop the ball. I know for sure I am guilty of it. So, after 3 and a half years, Elijah prayed again. He has been engaging with this issue and observing it for 3.5 years. When he received a word from the Lord (with whom He was partnering) saying “ I will send rain again on the earth” he didn’t say “Oh great God will do it”. He went to pray because He understood it was a partnership. God speaks, either by illumination of His written Word, prophetically, or by intuition in your spirit and it’s our responsibility to “chase down the word in prayer” until we see fulfilment. Even though Elijah heard and knew the word of the Lord, He prayed seven times until he could see the beginning of the manifestation of the word of the Lord in the form of a cloud the size of a man`s hands. Some of us stop praying too soon.
I hope that this was an encouragement to you to reengage your call to watch and pray with fresh fervour, faith, and hope as you partner with God to see His will done and history created through your prayers.
