Text: James 5:17-18

Further Reading: 1 Kings 18:41-46

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

James 5:17-18 NKJV

MESSAGE

One of the promises Christ made when He was going to heaven is that believers will be able to do what He has done and even greater works (John 14:12). This means that God’s children have the right and privilege to do whatever Christ has done and even superceed them. It shows that our God is unlimited and interested in our progressive growth.

No matter how little a child of God is, that fellow has the potential of attaining great heights in the things of God and continue to grow until he or she grows to glory. One area in which believers can go higher is in the place of prayer.

It is no secrete that our Lord lived a life of prayer. He began His earthly ministry with forty days and nights of prayer (Matthew 4:1-11). He didn’t stop there, but when on to live an unprecedented prayer life. This kind of life is possible also for us to live in our time.

The study of the life of Elijah is a great example of how prayer can take a person from one height to another. In 1 Kings 17, Elijah was formally introduced to us as a man who stands before God. This means He was a man who continuously stay before God in the place of prayer. This gave him the authority to shut the heavens and keep the key in his pocket for three and a half years.

For those years, Elijah prayed. He prayed consistently for the next three and a half years. You wonder why he could challenge and win a contest with eight hundred false prophets in 1 Kings 18. This man kept going higher such that when a king sent a squad of soldiers to arrest him, he called fire from heaven to consume them (2 Kings 1:9-15).

The end of the life of Elijah was so beautiful that, he was taken to heaven by chariots of fire (2 Kings 2:11). That was a man who kept on going higger because of a quality prayer life. No man can go beyond his or her prayer life. The more you pray, the higher you go. Do you want to keep going higher? Increase the time you spend in prayer.

Prayer lifts a man and takes him higher.

REFLECTION

Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.

Luke 18:1 NKJV

Prayer will keep lifting you up. To stay up, you must stay up.

PRAYER

Father, please grant me a fresh anointing for prayer.