Are you a person who knows how to pray with expectant faith? In James 5:16–18, Elijah was not superhuman, but was an ordinary person like us. The scripture goes on to say that he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and for three and a half years it did not rain, not even one drop. Then, in verse 18 it says, “He prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.”

Looking at this story a little bit closer in I Kings 18:41–45 we see, Elijah told Ahab to go back to his kingdom to eat and drink, because in the Spirit there was “the sound of coming rain. Elijah knew what the will of the Lord was for that season, even though it had been a drought for three and a half years. He had been sent by the Lord to declare there was the sound of abundance of rain coming in the land. Now

We must pray with expectancy and confidence as we see with the eyes of faith, and hear with the ears of the Spirit.       (tweet)

, Elijah had just witnessed the power of God in magnificent force on top of Mount Carmel where God had accepted Elijah’s sacrifice before all Israel.

Now, Elijah is back on top of the mount after he had declared the coming of rain to the king. It says that he knelt down in a praying position and I believe, like it says in James, that he prayed with expectancy. Telling his servant to go and look for the coming rain clouds seven times. Six times the servant came back saying, “There is nothing in the sky.” But on the seventh time, the servant reports, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” That little cloud became darker and bigger until it brought a heavy, down-pouring rain!

Elijah knew what the will of the Lord was, but he still had to pray. The land had been without rain until it was dusty and dry. Yet, he was persistent in prayer. Even when there was nothing in the natural realm that confirmed what he knew in the spiritual realm, he prayed. Elijah also prayed with expectancy and confidence as he saw with the eyes of faith, and heard with the ears of the Spirit. He wasn’t begging

We don’t beg God, but we agree with His will. We must not quit praying until we see the manifestation in the natural.  (tweet)

God, but was agreeing with God and his will. He didn’t quit pressing in until he saw it manifest in the natural.

God was glorified in this outpouring! In John 14:13 it says, “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” Jesus came to give us life and life to its fullest. He came to set us free and to fill us when we hunger and thirst for his righteousness. Will God not revive us, with Christ’s fullness and blessings, when we ask him? Yes, for the Father will always be glorified when his people are revived. In I John 5:14–15, it tells us why we can pray with expectancy. “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”

Just as Elijah, who was an ordinary person like we are, prayed with faith and expectancy, let us press into prayer, believing we will see changes to the circumstances around us when we pray.