The Making of a Praying Person: What Elijah's Life Teaches Us About Faith

Most of us feel like we are too ordinary for God to use in any significant way. We look at figures like Elijah and assume they were made of different spiritual material than we are. But the book of James tells us something surprising, and it changes everything about how we see ourselves and how we approach prayer.

What Does James Say About Elijah?

Near the end of his letter, James reaches back hundreds of years into Israel's history and points to one of the most powerful prophets in the Old Testament. But before he says a single word about what Elijah did, he tells us who Elijah was.

"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 land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit." - James 5:17-18 New King James Version (NKJV)

James does not say, "Pray like Elijah." He says Elijah was just like us. That is the whole point.

Who Was Elijah, Really?

Elijah walked into King Ahab's palace with no introduction, no resume, and no entourage. He announced a drought, then disappeared. God hid him beside a brook where ravens brought Him food. When the brook dried up, God sent Him to a poor widow whose flour and oil miraculously never ran out. Her son died, and Elijah prayed him back to life. Then three years later, Elijah stood alone on Mount Carmel against hundreds of false prophets, prayed one simple prayer, and fire fell from heaven. Shortly after, he prayed for rain, and after seven attempts, a small cloud appeared on the horizon. Within hours, the drought was over.

That is the story James has in mind. And yet James calls this man ordinary.

Truth #1: God Uses Ordinary People

Elijah was a walking contradiction. He was fearless one day and fearful the next. He called fire down from heaven and then asked God to let Him die. He stood alone before hundreds of false prophets and later told God He was the only believer left. He was powerful and pitiful, bold and broken.

James knew every one of those stories. That is exactly why he says Elijah was just as human as we are.

Too many believers quietly disqualify themselves before God ever does. They say things like:

• I am not bold enough.
• I do not know the Scriptures well enough.
• I have failed too many times.
• I am not the praying type.

But look at who God used throughout Scripture. Abraham lied. Jacob deceived. Moses argued with God. Gideon hid. David fell into serious sin. Peter denied Jesus. Thomas doubted after the resurrection. Paul persecuted the church. Over and over, God accomplished unexpected things through ordinary people. And when He does, He gets the glory.

God is not looking for exceptional personalities. He never has been.

Truth #2: God Prepares Ordinary People to Trust Him

Nobody wakes up one morning with the kind of confidence Elijah had on Mount Carmel. Confidence in God is not manufactured. It is cultivated through walking with Him.

What Happened at the Brook Cherith?

After Elijah preached one of the boldest sermons in Israel's history, God did not send Him to preach to the nation. He said something surprising.

"Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there." - 1 Kings 17:3-4 New King James Version (NKJV)

There were no crowds at the brook. No applause. No public ministry. Just one man, one brook, and one faithful God. Every morning the ravens came. Every evening they returned. Day after day, Elijah learned the same lesson: God keeps His word.

The ravens were not Elijah's source. The brook was not his source. God was. We often make the same mistake. We trust the paycheck instead of the Provider. We believe the diagnosis instead of the Lord who heals. We depend on the savings account instead of the Father who promises to meet every need.

What Does It Mean When the Brook Dries Up?

Then the brook dried up. Our first instinct when a resource disappears is to think God has abandoned us. But that was not true for Elijah, and it is not true for us. The brook dried up, but God did not.

God then sent Elijah to a poor widow with barely enough food for one last meal. And yet every morning there was flour, and every evening there was oil. Not enough for a year. Just enough for the day. This is exactly what Jesus meant when He taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." - Matthew 6:11 New King James Version (NKJV)

How Does God Build Faith Over Time?

At the brook Cherith, God taught Elijah: I can provide for you. In Zarephath, God taught Him: I can sustain you. In the widow's home, God taught Him: nothing is beyond My power.

God was not simply performing miracles around Elijah. He was building confidence and faith inside Elijah.

Think of the Chinese bamboo tree. For years after it is planted, almost nothing appears above ground. The farmer keeps watering and caring for it. Then in the fifth year, it shoots upward dozens of feet. But it was not really growing in a few weeks. It had been developing roots underground all along, roots strong enough to support what everyone would eventually see.

Before Mount Carmel, there was the brook Cherith. Before the fire fell from heaven, the ravens showed up. All of that was below ground in Elijah's life. By the time he stood before the nation, the faith everyone admired had already been growing for years in places nobody else could see.

Truth #3: God Works Through Ordinary People Who Learn to Trust Him

By the time Elijah stood on Mount Carmel, He had spent years watching God prove Himself faithful. His prayer that day reveals everything about his heart.

"Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again." - 1 Kings 18:37 New King James Version (NKJV)

Elijah was not trying to make a name for himself. He wanted people to know the Lord. And God heard that prayer.

The Story of Mary Ann Adlard

In 1872, Dwight L. Moody traveled to England hoping for rest. A pastor invited him to preach one Sunday morning, and the service was lifeless. Moody later said he wished he had never accepted the invitation. But he was asked to return that evening.

That night, he preached the gospel and invited anyone ready to trust Christ to stand. To his amazement, nearly the whole room stood. He thought he had been unclear, so he had everyone sit and gave the invitation again. The whole room stood again. In the weeks that followed, about 400 people joined that church.

What had changed? A bedridden young woman named Mary Ann Adlard had heard about Moody and had been praying every day that God would send Him to her church. When her sister came home from the disappointing morning service, Mary Ann went to her room and spent the rest of the day praying for the evening service. God heard her, and He moved.

Mary Ann Adlard never became famous. But James, the Lord's brother, would have understood her life perfectly. She was an ordinary believer who trusted an extraordinary God.

What This Means for You

James skips the fire falling from heaven and goes straight to the rain, because his concern is not the dramatic miracle. His concern is the God who answers in normal, everyday needs. The same God who proved Himself faithful to Elijah is still faithful today.

Do not admire Elijah. Trust Elijah's God.

Maybe today you are beside a drying brook. Maybe you are wondering where tomorrow's provision will come from. Maybe you are still waiting for the rain to fall. Do not despise that season. Keep walking with the Lord. God still delights in doing extraordinary things through ordinary people who learn to trust Him.

Life Application

This week, identify one area of your life where you have been quietly disqualifying yourself from being used by God, or where you have been trusting the resource more than the Source. Commit to bringing that specific thing to God in prayer every day this week. Do not wait until you feel more qualified or more prepared. Come as you are, just like Elijah did, and trust that the same God who worked through Him is working in you.

Ask yourself these questions as you reflect:

• In what areas of my life have I told myself I am not qualified, gifted, or faithful enough for God to use me?
• Is there a "brook" in my life that has dried up, and have I been trusting the resource more than the God who provides it?
• Am I in a season of hidden preparation, and am I willing to trust that God is building something in me that others cannot yet see?
• When I pray, am I praying for my own comfort and reputation, or am I praying that people would know and turn to God?