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You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
James 5:17-18
17 Elias [Helias] was [en] a man [anthropos] subject
to like passions as [homoiopathes] we are [hemin], and [kai] he prayed [proseuchomai] earnestly [proseuche] that
it might [brecho] not [me] rain [brecho]: and [kai] it rained [brecho] not [ou] on [epi] the earth [ge] by the space of three [treis] years [eniautos] and [kai] six [hex] months [men].
18 And [kai] he prayed [proseuchomai] again [palin], and [kai] the heaven [ouranos] gave [didomi] rain [huetos], and [kai] the earth [ge] brought
forth [blastano] her [autos] fruit [karpos].KJV-Interlinear
17 Elijah was a man with a nature
like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it did not rain
on the earth for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the sky poured
rain, and the earth produced its fruit. NASB
If God will work seemingly
miraculous events in history, then how much more will He answer prayers for the
little needs of our everyday life.
James uses Elijah in
his example of a common man obtaining great answers to prayer.
Elijah was a man subject
to the same passions, weaknesses, flaws as we all are subject to.This is Gods statement, through the words of
James.Remember that the scriptures are
all Gods word, not mans.
All scripture is God
breathed, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness, that the man of God might be mature, rightly
dividing (discerning) the word for truth.
So, Elijah was a
common man.He was no different than
anyone of us.He had no special talents
or abilities.The only thing that set
him apart from anyone else, was the doctrine in his soul, which he learned
through a systematic and daily study of the scriptures as they were available
to him in his day.Without doctrine,
Elijah would have been just another no name person lost to history, just as
many billions and billions of people through history have been lost, with the
only record of their existence being recorded in the volumes in heaven.
So, you and Elijah
are really quite similar in many respects.
The example here is
not on the extraordinary man named Elijah, but on the extraordinary power of
prayer, submitted by a common person.
Within these two
chapters, 1 Kg. 17:1 through 1 Kg. 18:45, many events took place.At the beginning of chapter 17, Elijah was
commanded to tell the king that the rain would stop.At the end of chapter 18, Elijah received
many commands and the rains returned.There
were many events occurring during this three year time period.
The famine was
brought because of the great apostasy in the land, not because Elijah had some
wish to punish or get even.The famine
was Gods will, and therefore was granted.Many events, both great and small occurred during the famine.Life, daily life, continued on for
everyone.Some were exposed to hardships
and some were not.
Prayer has tremendous
power.Prayer may not have any immediate
or observable results, but in faith and over time, you will be able to observe
the results of your prayers, if you are faithful in your Bible studies and in
your prayer life.
Everyday in life, you
will have the opportunity to observe people, from time to time, people who are
missing a marble or two in their heads.You may wonder just how they make it in life.But then, perhaps there is someone praying
for them, or for something, that affects their life.That is, for example, a prayer for our
country will affect many types of people.
So your prayers may
have many indirect results, that you cannot even begin to imagine.A prayer for your children, which may be the
only thing that they have going for them, may result in many events in their life,
which will affect their life, as well as many other folks.
Prayers can have a
far reaching impact in life.But regardless
of the nature of your prayers, all prayers must be compatible with Gods plan
and therefore with His will.
From the very small
prayers, to the very big ones, prayer is one of the most powerful driving
forces for all of human history.No
government, no military, no social club, no culture, no beliefs of any kind can
match the power and results of prayer, when it is applied properly from within
the fellowship sphere of the spiritual life.
Your prayer life is
only as good as your spiritual growth.Your spiritual growth is only as good as your daily commitment to you Bible
study.Your daily Bible study is only as
good as your consistency of residence in fellowship.
As a believer in
Christ, your spiritual life begins with your self-monitoring of your sin
status, and the consistency and regularity of your confession to God the
Father.Within the fellowship sphere,
you are potentially just as powerful as Elijah, and perhaps, in our current
day, even more so, even though no one (except God) will ever know about your
input to human history.
Apart from your fellowship
status, if you are consistently out of fellowship, then you are nothing more than
historical filler.Just another human
being, that was born, lived and died, with no meaningful impact whatsoever, in
history.
Since the time of
Adam and Eve, for some six thousands of years plus, of human history, perhaps a
couple of trillion or more people have been born, lived and died.How many historical names can you remember? Maybe a thousand, but more likely far fewer?Where are all of those hundreds of billions
of folks? Who were they?
In life, most people
want to be remembered, or known, or they want to have some significant impact in
this world.They want their life to have
a meaning and purpose.
Well, here is your
greatest chance for having maximum meaning, and purpose, and even impact in
human history.
And it is all
possible by means of the grace of God, through a very simple daily Bible study.
If any two of you
ask, in His name, then your request will be granted.
Mature believers all
over the world offer daily prayers of many kinds.They are the true warrior soldiers of
history.You can join their ranks and become
one among the most unheralded minorities that has ever existed, and be a part
of the greatest impact on human history as well as your own personal and family
life.
Or, you can ignore all
of this Bible stuff and do nothing spiritually, and therefore, be nothing.
Now is the time to post a prayer.
End Of Lesson
Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.
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