03.49. Miracles Of Power
Miracles of Power The praying of Elijah is a demonstration of the supernatural power of prayer. His prayers were miracles of power. That is what the New Testament says of them. There has always been difficulty with the translation of James 5:16. The Authorized version reads, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." The Revised Version -- "The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working." Dr. Rendel Harris translates it, "The energized prayer of a righteous man is of great force."
Prayer with Elijah was force, supernatural power, miraculous in its working. He never discussed natural law, and he never doubted supernatural law, and he never doubted supernatural power. He prayed, and there was no rain, and when he prayed for rain, it came in floods. He prayed for life to come again to the dead child of the widow with whom he lodged, and the soul of the child returned. He prayed for fire from heaven, and it fell as he prayed. He did not argue about prayer. He prayed. Praying solves problems of prayer. There always have been problems about prayer. In the wilderness they questioned God’s power to transcend known laws of His world. Can God? The answer of faith turns the question into an affirmation and believes God can. These are hardly the days in which it is safe to say that anything is impossible. We stand on the threshold of unexplored worlds; and if so much that was incredible has become possible to man, who shall say that anything is impossible to God? If the thought of man can be spoken and heard thousands of miles away, who dare put limits to the thoughts and purpose of God? He who made the heavens and earth must be bigger than His worlds, and it is impossible He should be imprisoned within His own laws. The prayer of faith links man’s petition to the power of God. All men believe in the power of prayer to influence mind, develop character, and sanctify motive and will; but that is not all. Prayer is force. Prayer changes things. The Lord God of Elijah had’ sovereign and omnipotent power, and these were at the command of the prayer of faith. Every praying man knows of answers to prayer to which there is no explanation but in God. I am reluctant to quote examples, but in my own life they abound, and the language of Psalms 116:1-19 is often on my lips:
"I love the Lord, because he hath heard My voice and my supplications.
Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, Therefore will I call upon him as long as I live." (Psalms 116:1-2)
There is one remarkable instance that I cherish because of the way the story came to me. There are two buildings in the city of Bristol which are monuments of answered prayer. One is Muller’s Orphanage, and of the other I am not at present at liberty to speak.
Dr. A. T. Pierson was my friend, and he was the friend and biographer of Muller. It was from him I got the first half of the story. He told me of an occasion when he was the guest of Muller at the Orphanage. One night when all the house hold had retired he asked Pierson to join him in prayer. He told him that there was absolutely nothing in the house for next morning’s breakfast. My friend tried to remonstrate with him and to remind him that all the stores were closed. Muller knew all that. He had prayed as he always prayed, and he never told anyone of his needs but God. They prayed. At least Muller did, and Pierson tried to. They went to bed and slept, and breakfast for two thousand children was there in abundance at the usual breakfast hour. Neither Muller nor Pierson ever knew how the answer came. The story was told next morning to Simon Short of Bristol, under pledge of secrecy till the benefactor died. The details of it are thrilling, but all that need to be told here is that the Lord called him out of bed in the middle of the night to send breakfast to Muller’s Orphanage, and knowing nothing of the need, or of the two men at prayer, he sent provisions that would feed them for a month. That is like the Lord God of Elijah, and still more like the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.