039. The Power Of Effectual Fervent Prayer.

The Power Of Effectual Fervent Prayer. The Prayer as recorded.—1 Kings 17:1. The Answer.—James 5:17-18.

He who makes the following prayer is Elijah the Tishbite; his name signifies “The Lord my God is He.” He was raised up under the reign of the most wicked king of Israel, and his introduction to our notice on the Scripture page is rather abrupt. Ahab had probably been repeatedly warned by Elijah to forsake his idols and worship God, but he scorned the admonition. To show him the power of prayer, and give him an incontrovertible proof that he would be heard and answered, he asks that the Lord will send neither dew nor rain for the space of some years, and not until he again prayed for it, should it come upon the earth.

We find the answer to this prayer recorded in the New Testament. Doubtless the prophet was instructed by the Lord to offer this petition; and to some it may seem a strange request to make in prayer. The glory of God and the interests of true religion were concerned in it, however, and there is much of wise zeal as well as true benevolence in it. The benefit of the calamity on the minds of apostate Israel would far outweigh the misery attending it. Elijah was a most distinguished servant of God, and endowed with extraordinary gifts for the purpose of exciting a hardened generation.