Praying for Rain

James 5:13-18 - Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. 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 earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've had the opportunity to talk to several people that I would consider to be amazing prayer warriors. When you share a prayer request with them, you know that it isn't just going to be a passing thought, but that they'll bathe your request in prayer just as they would their own struggles. Isn't this what we're all supposed to do as Christians? Aren't we called to pray for one another?

I know I'm frequently guilty of offering a quick "I'm praying for you" comment when all it means is that I prayed for you when I heard the request and then totally forgot about it. God doesn't ask us to just pray once, He commands us to "pray without ceasing." Prayer should be the language of the heart, always on our lips and our minds.

When I was a teenager, I was very faithful to keeping a prayer journal. What happened? Did I not have enough time any more? Did I not see prayers answered? If I'm honest with myself, it's because I became complacent and apathetic, two of the biggest dangers in the Christian walk. I decided I was too busy and nothing amazing was happening, so I quit. Besides, someone else would take up the slack, right? Notice my focus was on what I thought I was doing for God, not what He was doing in and through my life. It was all about me.

God has spent the past 10 years or so teaching me to trust Him in all things. He has humbled me time and again when my pride begins to rear it's ugly head. He's carried me through many things I never saw coming and every time He has shown me that His plan is always better than mine.

God calls all of us to be prayer warriors. Time and time again, He uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things through prayer. Often it isn't in our timing, but our prayers are always answered in God's perfect timing. Are we faithful to continue to pray even we aren't seeing results? Are we willing to submit our requests to His will even when it means we don't receive the answers we were looking for?

Maybe it's time I started keeping a journal again...

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 - Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.