You’ve probably heard the expression, “There are no atheists in a foxhole.” The hackneyed phrase isn't hard to decipher. Some claiming not to believe in God or a higher power would cry out in prayer for help from God, on the off-chance he does exist. Indeed, during any crisis politicians, community leaders, and the masses on social media trot out prayer or a salutatory belief in God during moments of crisis. COVID-19 is no exception. Our screens are filled with pious platitudes, "May God help us all." "Let's keep them in our prayers." "All we can do now is pray."
But just because someone’s praying doesn’t mean that they are praying in a way that’s biblical. So the question is, How does one pray in a moment like this?
James 5:13-18 says,
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17 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. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
Don’t miss verse 17. James knew his readers would excuse themselves like you might be doing right now. “I’m not like Elijah.” “I could never have the faith to pray for rain to stop.” But James reminds us, "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours." Don't miss what James wants to communicate about Elijah’s prayer of faith—it was entirely ordinary. He was a praying man with “a nature like ours”—with a nature like yours!
Elijah is a great example of what it means to pray biblically. He prayed for what God had promised to do in His Word. He did not come up with the idea to pray for a drought on his own. God had promised in Deuteronomy a series of blessings and curses for His people. If God’s people obeyed, He promised to bless them. If they rebelled against the covenant, He promised to curse them. In fact, in Deut. 28:24, God specifically promised that a drought in the land was one of the curses to come on the people for their disobedience: “The Lord will make the rain of your land powder. From heaven dust shall come down on you until you are destroyed.”
In this light, we can see how “the prayer of faith” isn’t some special prayer for the spiritual elite. The prayer of faith is for the ordinary. The prayer of faith is for you and I. As Sinclair Ferguson says well, “This, then, is the prayer of faith: to ask God to accomplish what He has promised in His Word.” It would seem that Elijah practiced what I'd encourage anyone to do looking for how to pray: Pray with an open Bible. For more on why I pray with an open Bible, see my post, "I struggled to pray but something changed."
How Do You Pray in a Crisis?
Look at Elijah's example. Elijah prayed in the midst of a national crisis. The nation of Israel was in total rebellion against God, a disaster greater than the drought that he prayed for. In the moment of not knowing how to pray, Elijah we can presume fell back on the Word of God for guidance. My encouragement to you is to do the same.
We can pray and expect great things to happen when we pray in line with what God has already promised to do in his Word.
Take Action!
Reread the questions in James 5:13-17.
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.
Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him.
Prayer is the prescribed response for suffering and sickness. But what promises do we have to claim regarding the suffering and the sick? Let's follow Elijah’s example and pray with an open Bible.
Praying by the promises of Scripture:
Let's start with was promise of Jesus in John 11:25-27, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” If you’re familiar with the context, you know that Lazarus, Jesus’s friend, has died. He’s been dead and buried for four days. Jesus said these words to Martha, Lazarus’s sister. He spoke not only of the miracle he was about to perform in raising Lazarus but the hope of resurrection for all who believe in him. Lazarus came out of the tomb that day. But his mortal body eventually passed away. His resurrection on this occasion wasn’t permanent. The future resurrection that Lazarus and all who believe in Jesus will experience will be forever. “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”
So how do I pray this promise?
The promise here is that if Christians die, it is not the end. Therefore, we can pray for Christians to believe the promise of John 11:25ff. We can pray that in a time of self-interest and self-preservation, Christians would be empowered to serve seflessly and sacrificially.
The examples are endless. Consider one more example, Matthew 28:18-28, "And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'" These are the final words of Jesus to his disciples before he ascended into heaven. The passage is known as the Great Commission. The final exhortation, "I am with you always, even to the end of the age," has comforted the heart of many Christians on the way.
So how do I pray this promise?
The promise here is that as Christians "go" and make disciples, Jesus goes with them. The promise frees us from the power of fear and worries regarding the unknown days ahead. Why? As we go, He goes with us. We can pray that in a time when everyone is withdrawing inward, Christians will still be "going" without fear because they go with the presence, peace, and power of Jesus--the one in whom there is all authority, heaven and on earth.
What about praying for the sick?
James tells us to do so. Christians ought to pray freely for the healing of the sick according to God's will and wisdom. But we must not forget, any healing or relief that comes is only a temporary foretaste of the future healing and rest that comes for those who believe when Jesus, the resurrection and the life, comes again.
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