Day 5: Ask for Big Things!

Scripture
Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

James 5:17-18

Devotion
Nothing is too big for God. There is no sickness that he cannot heal. There is no anxiety that he cannot calm. There is no depression that he cannot lift. There is no financial difficulty that he cannot help. There is no relationship that he cannot heal. There is no problem that he cannot solve. There is no mountain that he cannot climb. Nothing is too big for God!

James talks about Elijah in James 5. He says that he was a person just like you and me. He wasn’t impressive. He wasn’t better than us in some way. He didn’t have some type of access to God that we don’t have. Instead, “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours” (James 5:17a). So what did he do? He did the same thing that we can do—”he prayed fervently” (17b). And he asked for something big! I mean something really big. He asked that it wouldn’t rain, and God answered that prayer. Why? He lived during a time, recorded in 1 Kings 17-18, when people worshiped other gods rather than the one, true God. Therefore, lacking rain was a way of showing them this and getting their attention. And guess what? It didn’t rain for three and half years—incredible! And then Elijah prayed that it would rain, and again God answered that prayer—”heaven gave rain” (18).

What does that mean for you and me? James is telling us that you and I have the same nature as Elijah and the same ability as Elijah. We can pray fervently for big things, and God may answer it! But here’s the takeaway: you have to pray! As A.W. Tower has said, “The key to prayer is simply praying.”

Application
Pray for big things today! Have faith that the God who created and sustains the universe is capable of answering the prayers that seem impossible to you and me. In Matthew 19:26 Jesus says, “[W]ith God all things are possible."

Prayer
Father, please energize our faith and stir it up. Help us when our faith is weak. Help us to come to you first with our problem. Help us to come to you first with our concern. Help us to ask for big things and believe that you can answer them! Amen.