Praying Preachers

The epitaph of Elijah is recorded by James, when he pens, "the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and. the heavens gave rain and the earth produced its crops" (James 5:16-18). Elijah was like any of us. He had two eyes, two ears, two hands, two feet, and a mouth. He was subject to the same emotions as despondency, fear, elation, or joy. What made him different? Why was he courageous to stand against the wicked kingdom of Israel and the threats of its evil despot? The answer is he had been a lifelong student in the University of Silence. He had been under the tutorship of the eternal Master in the desert. God instructed Moses, John the Baptist, and Paul in the same rugged environment.

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Elijah's life was a record of prayer vigils resulting in challenges to unrighteousness. When Elijah prayed, he prayed earnestly with agony, purpose, fervor, zeal, and intensity. He did not say words or mouth meaningless religious phrases. He was unconcerned with colorful sentences to appeal to aesthetic tastes; instead he prayed knowing God and His authority. His prayers were dramatically and swiftly answered by action, like fire, drought, rain, or giving life to a dead boy. He had power because he prayed. It was prayer that made him a dynamic prophet.

Because Elijah found that "place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God," he heard God speak, not in the tornado, the earthquake, or the tire, but by a gentle whisper in the inner sanctum of his being. If we are to hear that still small voice, it will take a life of sacrifice as it was with the holy men of old. It will demand less time with temporal ephemeral things and more with the permanent and eternal.

It will take dedication to increased conversation with the Lord. Then the tinsel and trappings of this world will give way to a walk of fellowship in the royal company of the Monarch of creation.

In this close relationship, we will get a new perspective on life with a fresh awareness of Jehovah. We will feel the atmosphere of heaven in our souls, the throb of God pulsating in our hearts, and the songs of Zion will be on our lips. Our concerns will change. We will have a humble spirit. When we have an intimate knowledge of the Lord, gained in the stillness of His presence, then He "will be exalted among the nations" and He "will be exalted in the earth" (Psalm 46:10). Be a praying preacher.

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