Sovereignty includes everything . . .

Genesis 8; Matthew 8; Ezra 8; Acts 8

I’ve occasionally prayed about the weather, but with caution. I know Who controls it and I want my prayers to fit with His plans. Today’s readings and other passages affirm that God uses weather for His purposes.

The one most people know is the 40 days and nights of rain as judgment on a world that had become thoroughly corrupt and full of violence (Genesis 6:11ff). After the rain produced a vast flood, God again showed His power over the weather:

But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, (Genesis 8:1–2, italics mine.)

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” (Genesis 8:20–22)

I tend to focus on the bad news but today the promise caught my eye. God said that even though humanity is sinful, He promised that the patterns of weather would not cease as long as the earth remains.

Further evidence of God’s hand in the weather is even more specific. He told Jonah to go warn the people of Nineveh to repent or face judgment. Jonah didn’t want to so he took off in the opposite direction. God stopped him with a storm . . . 

But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. (Jonah 1:3–4, italics mine.)

The pagan sailors were terrified, particularly when they realized why they were experiencing this disaster. Jonah told them to throw him overboard since he was the cause of it. Finally, after much persuasion, they agreed “and the sea ceased from its raging.” (Jonah 1:14)

Jesus gives another example:

And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” (Matthew 8:23–27)

Just a word and the storm ceased. I’m thinking it was likely just His word that started it in the first place; He had a lesson to teach them.

He also teaches me a lesson. James wrote about the importance of keeping short accounts regarding getting my prayers answered. This is about healing and about praying for other things — like the weather!

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. 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 5:16–18)

Personal application is obvious; keep short accounts, no matter what I’m praying about. Also, Elijah was a prophet who was obviously in close connection with God when he prayed as he did. I need to be the same. He hears those whose hearts are in tune with His heart. I also need to consider and pray for the turmoil in the lives of people who think that the world’s population controls the weather.

Fervent, persistent prayer . . .

Most of us have heard the sing-song of a child saying a memorized prayer before a meal, or heard the lofty words of a written prayer recited at the end of a church service. I have to admit that I can recite the Lord’s prayer without really thinking about the words. Today’s devotional reading suggests that we do not see great answers to prayer because of the difference between saying prayers and praying.

Think of a mindless conversation with strangers on an elevator about a recent change in the weather, or the “how are you” questions that seldom wait for answers. Compare those with the conversations between lovers or listening to someone describe the deepest desires of their heart. God wants me to talk to Him, not at Him, not into the air with my mind on tonight’s menu or next week’s plans.

Most of us tend to pray fervently when trouble comes. Consider the description of Peter being thrown into prison and guarded by four squads of soldiers. At this, “constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.” Then, “when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, ‘Arise quickly!’ And his chains fell off his hands. Then the angel said to him, ‘Gird yourself and tie on your sandals’; and so he did. And he said to him, ‘Put on your garment and follow me.’ So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. And when Peter had come to himself, he said, ‘Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod . . .’” (Acts 12:4–11)

Fervent prayer instead of just praying often means incredible results, just as James said, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.” (James 5:16–18)

Those who pray this way know two things: One, fervent prayer is exhausting. When I get up in the morning after a good night of sleep, just before I go to prayer, I often feel as if I could sleep again. I am unexplainably tired, at least until after I pray. Second, I also know that God gives special strength to those who are exhausted from even the idea of praying this way and for me when I persist even when weary . . .

He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:29–31)

Jesus told His disciples to pray with persistence. He illustrated with a short story, then said, “I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Luke 11:8–13)

Is such persistence about persuading God? I don’t think so. It seems to me that persistence is more about me discovering the desires of my own heart; is this thing that is on my prayer list important enough to me that I will keep praying? It is also about discovering the will of God; am deeply convinced that this is what He wants so I will talk to Him about it until I am exhausted?

Those are the prayers that often fall into the category of spiritual warfare, of wrestling with the enemy who does not want me to pray, nor to persist in prayer. Does he know that God will give amazing answers and be glorified? I am certain that he knows my limits and thinks that if he pushes me beyond them I will quit. But today, God promises something else . . .

Do not grow weary while doing good, for in due season you shall reap if you do not lose heart. Therefore, as you have opportunity, do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. (Galatians 6:9–10, personalized)

God says a harvest is coming . . .  but I must persist to experience it.