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James 5:17-18 “Elijah was a human being, even as we are. 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.”

Think

The odds were four hundred and fifty to one. On one side stood the prophets of Baal. Four hundred and fifty of them. On the other side stood Elijah. One man. One God. One altar. This was on top of Mount Carmel, after three and a half years of drought. Elijah had prayed that it would not rain, and it had not. Not one drop for forty-two months. The entire nation was suffering. And now Elijah stands in front of the whole country and issues a challenge to these false prophets: "You call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of mine. The god who answers by fire, he is God."

The prophets of Baal went first. They danced. They shouted. They slashed themselves with swords. From morning until evening, nothing happened. Elijah taunted them. He said, "Shout louder. Surely he is a god. Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." Elijah was bold. He stood alone against four hundred and fifty and did not flinch.

Then it was Elijah's turn. He rebuilt the altar. He dug a trench around it. He laid the wood and the sacrifice on it. And then he did something nobody expected. He drenched the whole thing in water. Three times. Until the trench was full and the offering was soaked. He did not want anyone suggesting the fire was rigged. He wanted everybody to know that when God showed up, it would be unmistakably God and nobody else.

He prayed. One prayer. Short. Direct. Fire fell from heaven. It consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the soil, and the water in the trench. Everything was gone.

James says, "Elijah was a human being, even as we are." After everything I just described – drought at a word, fire from heaven, a one-man stand against four hundred and fifty – James says this man was just like you and me. Same nature. Same struggles. Same ordinary flesh and blood. That is the whole point of the verse. James is not trying to impress you with Elijah. He is trying to connect you to him.

"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." Why does James end his teaching on prayer with Elijah? Because every person reading this is tempted to think prayer does not work for people like them. That prayer is for the spiritual elite. The super-committed. The ones who seem to have it figured out. James anticipates that objection and demolishes it with five words: a human being like us.

Elijah had dramatic highs and devastating lows. After the triumph on Mount Carmel, he ran into the wilderness, sat under a tree, and told God he wanted to die. The same man. The man who called down fire from heaven is the man who wanted to quit. If you have ever had a spiritual victory followed immediately by an emotional crash, you understand Elijah. James is telling you that kind of person, the inconsistent person, the one who swings between mountaintop faith and desert exhaustion, that person's prayers are powerful and effective.

I have a friend I grew up with. Junior high, high school, we did everything together. I never sat him down and preached to him. I never walked him through a gospel presentation or handed him a tract. I just tried to live my life for Christ in front of him. He moved away after high school. Then he went off to college at Florida State. My sophomore year, I got a letter from him. He told me he had become a Christian. He said it was because of my example. Not anything I said. Just how I lived. He is married now with two kids, and he is a key leader in a church in South Carolina.

Why do I bring that up? Because my friend's story and Elijah's story share a common thread. You do not have to be extraordinary to be used by God in extraordinary ways. My friend did not need me to deliver a sermon. He needed me to show up and be consistent. Elijah did not have a special prayer gene that you and I lack. He had a relationship with God and the willingness to step out when God called.

One person plus God always equals the majority. It does not matter what the odds look like. It does not matter if it is four hundred and fifty to one. When God is with you, the math changes. Elijah understood that. James wants you to understand it too.

The only thing I have to offer God is the same thing Elijah put on that altar. My best efforts. My willingness to show up. My readiness to be drenched in water so everybody knows the fire is not from me. God provides the fire. He always has. My job is to build the altar, pour the water, and pray. The rest belongs to him.

"Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain." Again. He prayed again. He did not quit after the drought ended. He did not retire after the fire fell. He prayed again. And the rain came. Whatever you have been praying about, whatever drought you have been living through, keep praying. Again. The God who sent fire from heaven is the same God who sends rain from the sky. Both are his to give. And he gives them through the prayers of human beings just like us.

Apply

Pray again – Think of one prayer you have given up on. One request you stopped bringing to God because it felt pointless. Bring it back to him today. Elijah prayed again. So can you.

Pray

God, I am a human being just like Elijah. I have the same doubts, the same mood swings, the same tendency to run when things get hard. But you used Elijah anyway. You answered his prayers anyway. I am bringing my requests back to you today. Not because I deserve the answer, but because you are the God who sends fire and rain. In Jesus' name. Amen.