Thought for October 13, 2023

•  54: Nero becomes Emperor
• 1792: "Old Farmer's Almanac" first published
• 1864: Battle of Harper's Ferry
• 1884: Greenwich established as the universal time meridian of longitude
• 1941: Nazi's kill 11,000 Jewish children and old people
• 1960: Bill Mazeroski hits homer in bottom of the 9th in game 7 of the World Series
• 2010: 33 Chilean miners rescued after 69 days
• 2019: Simone Biles wins her 25th medal at the World Championships -- and still going strong
• Born: Horace Hayden [1st American licensed as a dentist], Margaret Thatcher, Jerry Jones,  Desmond Wilson [Fred's son on Sanford and Son], Jerry Rice, Sasha Baron Cohen, 
• Died: Claudius, Milton Hershey, Bea Benadaret [Petticoat Junction], Ed Sullivan, Stephen Ambrose, 

Thought:

Thinking about James 5:16., and this sentence: "The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." And then James adds, "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it did not rain on earth for three years and six months." Do these verses cause you to think about your prayer life? It sure makes me reflect on the puny prayers I pray. You might go back this morning and read Elijah's story in 1 Kings 17-18. Elijah went to the evil king Ahab and told him it would not rain until he said so [1 Kings 17:1] But do not miss that Elijah includes that this statement is from the Lord, the living God of Israel. So what does that tell me about the effective prayer of a righteous man/woman.?

• If I want to pray effectively, I must seek righteousness first. Not a righteousness of my own, but the righteousness that comes from Jesus Christ. So I must be His first, adopted into the family. Then I must seek to conform to Him---live a life worthy of the calling in Christ. I will fail at this, but my heart must be constantly seeking to please Him, honor Him, serve Him.
• If I am in right relationship with Him, then I ask to think His thoughts and follow His ways. As His thoughts become my thoughts, my prayers become consistent with His will and His plan. 
• Then I must pray earnestly--in faith believing that He is God and a rewarder of those who seek Him. 

Now look at Elijah's prayer--

• He seeks something that only God can do. This tells me to pray boldly. We pray for the small things and the big things in life--sometimes we must be praying for things that only God can do. 
• He risks announcing what God has said to someone else. Here I have a problem. Sometimes even if I know that God has heard a prayer and promised to answer it, I don't have the faith to proclaim it because I fear I will be embarrassed. Maybe I heard wrong; maybe God did not answer; let's wait and see before I tell anyone. I think about Noah--he was not afraid to tell people God's plan and to act on that plan by building an ark in the desert where it had never rained. Maybe it's that kind of faith that opens God's miracles. 
• He announces God's answer to prayer to an enemy of God. WOW! He didn't tell his pastor, spouse or best friend--he announced to the enemy. 

Now think about how God used the answer to Elijah's prayer for His glory. I'll comment on that tomorrow. So my prayer plan for today--seek righteousness, pray for Christ to make my thoughts His thoughts, listen for His voice, expect miracles, and be bold in faith. Perhaps it will not rain, but there will be showers of blessings. 

Blessings

Larry