21 Days of Deep LivingSample

Obey Before You Pray

We can learn a lot about effective prayer through the life of the Old Testament prophet Elijah.

Elijah was a man whom, when he prayed, it was evident and unmistakable that God had answered. He prayed that it would not rain and God held the rain for over three years until he prayed again for rainfall. He prayed that God would show Himself as God to the prophets of Baal and God answered by actual fire! A real tangible fire that consumed an offering and everything around it. The TPT version puts it like this: “...for tremendous power is released through the passionate, heartfelt prayer of a godly believer! Elijah was a man with human frailties, just like all of us, but he prayed and received supernatural answers”.

So how does a man with human frailties, just like us, pray so effectively to receive supernatural answers? The simple answer is obedience; effective prayer is prayed confidently and in obedience to God. A life of obedience is what puts us in a right standing with God, despite our frailties. And from this position, we can boldly go to the Throne Room of Grace and obtain mercy.

In 1 Kings 17, out of obedience to God, Elijah went to Zarephath where he was instructed to ask a widow to supply him food. In obedience, the widow makes Elijah food despite having barely enough for herself and her son.

Her obedience resulted in God providing enough food for her household for the duration of Elijah’s stay. However, over time the woman’s son became ill and died. But because of the lives of obedience Elijah and the widow were living, Elijah was able to confidently pray this effective prayer. “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived.

Note that living a life of obedience does not negate hardship or challenges. Elijah and the widow were in a right standing with God yet still, her son died. You can see that Elijah was in constant communication with God because the first part of his prayer is him processing the tragedy in dialogue with God. He knows that God is not a spectator in our lives just watching it play it out. A life of obedience requires sacrifice and faith from us, trusting that the God we serve has our best interests at heart. When we acknowledge Him in this way we ought to be convinced, just as Elijah was, that our heartfelt prayers will not only be heard but answered.