“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit” (James 5:13–18, ESV).

As we come to the end of this series about Elijah, the brother of Jesus reminds us of an important fact: “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours.” We can look at that another way: We have a nature like Elijah’s.

Sometimes, we are tempted to think the heroes of the Bible are somehow so different from us that we can never dream of accomplishing what they did. That argument may be true when speaking of Jesus, since He was God in human flesh: We Christians are human flesh with the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, but there is an understandable difference there. However, the other heroes of the faith were ordinary men and women. None of them were like comic-book superheroes: They did not come from a distant planet with superhuman powers, or develop such powers by being bitten by a radioactive spider, exposure to gamma radiation, etc. They were ordinary men and women who had encountered God. God worked through them. The same God lives today to work through us.

Thus, Elijah’s prayers could alter the weather pattern over Israel for three-and-a-half years. The same God who heard Elijah’s prayers is alive today. If He could bring drought or downpour in response to the prophet’s petitions, He can and will answer your prayers for healing, deliverance, restoration, forgiveness, provision, etc. A modern-day Elijah will expect God to act in response to our prayers, or to accomplish whatever He said He would do. The faith of an Elijah recognizes God as a living, active, all-powerful Sovereign over all creation, not as an abstract concept confined within the covers of a book.

Elijah’s life and ministry can be summed up in four activities: He prayed; he listened; he proclaimed; and he obeyed. Almost everything he did in the Bible can be summarized by those four activities. His prayers were not a monologue, reciting a personal wish list to a galactic Santa Claus. Instead, they were a dialogue: He told God what was on his mind (especially during the Mount Horeb meeting, when he complained about his woes), but he also heard what God wanted to tell him. Upon hearing from God, he would proclaim His message to those who needed to hear it (especially those who did not want to hear it), and he would do what God told him to do. Sometimes God told him to hide; sometimes He told him to step out and confront the powerbrokers in society; on another occasion He called Elijah to a meeting on a distant mountain, or to bring other people into the ministry. Whatever Elijah did, though, was connected to his relationship with God. He prayed to God; he listened to God’s instruction; he proclaimed God’s message to the people; and he obeyed God’s instructions for his life.

These are the marks of a man or woman who is eager to impact the world for the glory of God. Our society needs modern-day Elijahs, just like Israel needed a man of his stature 3000 years ago. Twenty-first century America is a post-Christian society where values and morals are guided by pagan beliefs, commercialism, materialism, and unbridled hormones. The Christian, guided by the Word of God, the teachings of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit is a counter-cultural outsider in modern society. Many believers pray for revival in America, but then seek to obtain it through political activism, commercialized church programs, or other means. Only by pursuing revival God’s way—the way He worked through Elijah—will we see a continuing move of God in our world.

Take heart, though. Jesus said that the gates of hell (or Washington, DC; or CNN; or Hollywood; or ISIS; etc.) will not stand against His church (Matthew 16:18). The same God who worked through Elijah to keep His name and worship alive in ancient Israel will continue to manifest His name in America and throughout the world. As He preserved 7000 faithful persons who did not kneel to Ba’al, He will preserve a remnant who will continue to follow Him faithfully today. The questions we must each ask ourselves are, “Will I be part of that radical remnant doing God’s will? Will God speak and work through me? Will I be a modern-day Elijah, or will I stand on the fringes of God’s kingdom, as a spectator watching His glory manifested and people come to Christ while having no direct impact?” The opportunity to say “Yes” is available to all who are born of the Spirit through faith in Christ.

Copyright © 2017 Michael E. Lynch. All rights reserved.