Pray Again

It's amazing to me: there is not even one mention of Elijah in Hebrews chapter 11. He is neither numbered nor listed among those heroes in the hall of faith. Gideon gets named. Samson gets named. But Elijah, with all those spectacular demonstrations, doesn't get even a passing reference in that hall of faith. It is in another book entirely in the New Testament instead that he is lauded; it is another author entirely who points to something notable in his ministry — and even then, it is not for any of the great accomplishments I listed just moments ago.

Sir, whoever's on the computer, could you give me James 5:18 real quick? Could you give me James 5 and 18 real quick? It is another attribute; it is another action of his; it is something else that he did that God chose to chronicle when speaking about him centuries later in the New Testament. After recording that for three and a half years the drought continued at his word, the writer of James then pens these words in James 5 and 18: "And he prayed again." What incredible words. I realize it could be read to reference the fact that after three and a half years he revisited the drought situation, but I really think it goes way beyond that. I think it logs the fact that when rain didn't fall the first time he prayed, he didn't get mad at God and quit. When rain didn't fall the first time he prayed, he didn't get discouraged and lay out of church for three weeks. When rain didn't fall the first time, he didn't decide that God must have failed; he just got back down on his knees and he prayed again.

I read it to you at the start of my time in the pulpit tonight: he had just slain the prophets of Baal and the prophets of the groves, and he tells Ahab, "You better get you a snack, because you're going to have trouble outrunning the rainstorm that's about to hit, Ahab. It's fixing to rain. I mean, it's going to come down in bucketfuls. It's going to be a toad-strangler. It is going to rain." And he goes to the top of Mount Carmel and he puts his face down to the ground and he prays. He prays for rain. He prays for the miraculous. He prayed for an answer, and he sent his servant out to look.

You want to believe — but I've got the microphone. Elijah is not accustomed to having to pray twice. His pattern all through his life: I pray, God does it. I pray — word from God in his pocket — he prays. And I think he expected his servant to come back from looking out over the sea going, "Oh man, black clouds are boiling up over the horizon, the sea is tossing and turning, there's wind blowing, lightning is going off like flashbulbs at a press conference — you've never seen anything like it. I mean, there is a storm on its way!" And instead, his servant said, "There is nothing."

The same man: I just prayed a prayer that was only 63 words long in English, and fire that burns up water fell. But this time he prays: there is nothing. Anybody ever been there? Anybody — not going to nod no matter what I ask you. You prayed your best prayer, and there's nothing. Your pastor preached and you came dancing out of the pews, and the next day there is nothing. You read every book on prayer that E. M. Bounds ever wrote, and there is nothing. You went to every conference and every camp and every meeting and everything, and there is nothing. You got up and came to church at six o'clock in the blessed morning to try to seek God, and you prayed, and there is nothing. Is it just me? I'm sorry — you all know what I'm talking about.

Well then, I find it fascinating: Elijah, what are you going to do now? You made your boasts to Ahab. You stood up and testified in church that everything was going to be okay, and you really thought it would change by now, but nothing has happened. What are you going to do, Elijah? "I'm going to pray again." Well, Elijah, how about if we just try praying again? Well, Elijah, you know what, could I just pray again? Well, Elijah, how about if we just pray again?

I'm preaching to somebody right now: you can't get discouraged because you haven't seen it yet — just pray again. I know that kid hasn't come back home yet, but pray again. I know you haven't baptized anybody since the pandemic, but pray again. I know you still have folks that haven't come back to church, but pray again. I know you've still got that sickness in your body, but pray again. I need somebody to lift up a sound of victory in this place and say, "I'm not defeated. It's not over. I will pray again."

I'm sorry if you were waiting for profound — there's no profound tonight. It's just a simple word of encouragement: just because you haven't seen it yet doesn't mean God's not moving, and just because you haven't tasted it yet doesn't mean God's not at work. Don't you get discouraged and quit. Don't you get weary in well-doing. Pray again. When you don't see anything, pray again. When you don't feel anything, pray again. When everybody's making fun of you, just pray again.

Elijah — sorry, man — I know you've never faced this before: there's nothing. Your prayer didn't do anything: there's nothing. So he prayed again. He did it the second time: pray again, look again — nothing. Third time: people are starting to talk about you, Elijah. Pray again, look again — nothing. Fourth time: they're starting to mock Elijah. Pray again, look again — nothing. Fifth time: I really believed it would have already happened, but pray again, look again — nothing. Sixth time: I'm getting weary; it'd be easier to just quit, but pray again, look again — nothing. Seventh time: discouragement, pain, confusion, questions. Pray again, look again. "It may not be significant, Elijah, but something just changed. There's a little cloud coming up out of the sea." And it may not be everything you were after, but it's more than you had a moment ago. It may not be everything you were looking for, but something's happening in Elijah. It didn't happen the first time, and it didn't happen the third time, and it didn't happen the sixth time — but he is: pray again.

I know you expected your church to grow more quickly, but pray again. You just got called out: "I believe there's a revival for my church. I believe there's a recovery for my family. I believe there's a miracle. I believe there's a miracle. I'm not going to quit. It's mine. I will pray again." Hallelujah. Go ahead, sis. Anybody that dares make fun of her — you don't know how long she's been praying. You don't know how many times the enemy said, "There's nothing," and they just prayed again. You don't know how many times the enemy said, "Give up," but she just prayed again. You better be careful ever making fun of somebody who latches hold to a word from God and says, "This is for me. This is my night." So you go right ahead, sis: just put your face down in the carpet and pray again. Just dance and shout and pray again. Just tell the enemy it's not over, and pray again. Just confuse hell, because others have quit more easily, and just pray again. Go ahead, pastor: preach revival again. Tell them you're going to have church growth again. Get that baptistry ready again.

I want one of you, for one of your brilliant theologians, to tell me something: How did Nebuchadnezzar know what the Son of God looked like? He looked into that furnace; he said, "Didn't we throw three in?" "Yeah." "Well, there's four of them in there, and the fourth one looks like the Son of God." How did some idolater, some pagan unbeliever, know what the Son of God looked like? This is just a theory, not a doctrine, but I wonder if maybe he finally saw something those other three would bow to. They wouldn't bow to his music, and they wouldn't bow to his idol, and they wouldn't bow to his threats — but maybe he saw them bowing down to somebody, and said, "That must be the Son of God." All that tells me is: I don't care how hot your trial is, you still decide who you bow to. I'm not bowing to defeat. I'm not bowing to doubt. I'm not bowing to depression. I'm not bowing to discouragement. I bow to the Son of God, who said: if you just keep asking, you'll receive; if you just keep seeking, you'll find; if you just keep knocking, it will be opened.

Elijah gets recognized in the New Testament not because he prayed the first time, but because he prayed the seventh time. Jericho's walls didn't fall down because they circled it the first day; they fell down because they encompassed it the seventh time, on the seventh day. Naaman wasn't healed when he came up dripping from the first dunk in the river; Naaman was restored when he came up from the seventh dip. Don't be weary in well-doing.

Jesus taught us this. Luke chapter 11: He tells of a man who goes to his neighbor's house at midnight, knocks on the door, and explains that he's got unexpected guests arrived and he's out of bread. He wants some bread. He knocks on the door; the guy hollers out in bed, said, "Dude, it's midnight. I ain't getting up. I'm in bed. I've got my kids in bed. I ain't getting up." And that guy just kind of said, "Well, you ain't sleeping either, now. If you like the sound of this, you can lay there all night and listen to it, but I'm not quitting knocking. So you've got two choices: sit there and be irritated, or get up and give me some bread." The Scripture says Jesus said that God — he gave him bread, and He said it was because of his importunity. That's a great word. His importunity — that's a fancy word that means he prayed again.

So then the story goes on. Jesus goes on and He says this in Luke 18:1: "And he spake a parable unto them to this end" — watch, He tells why He told us this — "that men ought always to pray, and not to faint." Saying: there was in a city a judge which feared not God, neither regarded man. And there was a widow in that city, and she came unto him, saying, "Avenge me of mine adversary." And he would not for a while, but afterwards he said within himself, "Though I fear not God, nor regard man" — this woman's driving me nuts; well, that's the Scott Graham translation, you won't find that in your Bible — "yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her," because she just won't quit.

Now understand me well; listen to me well: our Judge is not unjust, and we don't have to weary Him, and we don't coerce Him into ceding to our demands. But we do need to hear what He said next. Listen carefully to what He said next: "And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless" — watch — "when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?"

Brother Durant, I am convinced that God's definition of faith and ours is considerably different. I've been in this all my life, and if we suddenly had some new guy burst onto the scene of the United Pentecostal Church — you know, he's out preaching, holding meetings — and if everybody he prayed for got healed, I mean everybody, he would be preaching at General Conference inside of a year, right? His schedule would be so full, pastors would take him on a Monday if that's all they could get. And every place he went, he would get introduced the same way: "This is a man of great faith." But God says, here's how I know there's faith on the earth: not if there's somebody that gets what they want every time they ask, but if somebody prays 532 times and they don't see it yet, and they're still faithful, and they still come to church, and they still shout with their pastor, and they still love God, and they still put it in the offering, and they're still at prayer meeting, and they ask the 533rd time — that's My measure of faith. Will you trust Me and just pray again?

Somebody needs to hear me right now, because the devil's been beating you up, saying you'd have got your answer if you had more faith. That's a lie. I'll tell you what the secret is: your faith is demonstrated when you don't get your answer and you just pray again, and you pray again, and you pray again. God said, "I'm going to find faith on the earth if there's people just like that little widow that won't quit praying."

How did Elijah do it? He's never faced this before. He has prayed — answer; prayed — answer; prayed — answer. This time: pray — nothing. Pray — nothing. What? Pray — nothing. And he just prayed again. How did he do it? I will tell you how. Journey with me for a moment, if you would, to the home of Isaac in the Old Testament. His younger son Jacob is walking in to steal the blessing that was destined for Esau. Isaac's eyesight has failed him; he cannot discern by looking that this is his son Jacob and not Esau. Jacob is carrying the goat meat that his mom helped him prepare; he spiced it up to taste like the venison that Esau would prepare. He has taken the skin of that goat, put it on his hands. Right, dude, he was a hairy one, too. I'm sorry — you pet a goat and say, "That feels like Esau"? That's a hairy kid right there. I mean, really. He even goes so far to say he smells like the field — I guess he's got dead goat skin on him; smells like Esau. Hey, Esau was married, guys — there's hope for you. Dude, hairy as a goat, smells bad, and he got married. There's hope, guys. Hold on.

Here's the thing. Isaac said: I can't see you too well. You feel like Esau, smell like Esau, it tastes like what Esau fixes — but that voice: the voice is the voice of Jacob. Watch: because the last of your senses to be deceived in the spirit is what you hear. You don't pray on the basis of what you feel; you pray on the basis of what you hear. You don't pray because of what you see; you pray because of what you've heard.

You want to know why Elijah got back down and prayed again? I can tell you that it's very simple. It was not because of what he saw, because there was nothing to see. It was not because of what he felt, because there was nothing to feel. He could not taste raindrops on his lips. There was no smell of ozone from the lightning strikes in the air. The only thing that kept him praying was the words of First Kings 18 and 1: "It came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth." And so when he got up from praying and he couldn't see anything, he said, "I know what I heard," and he prayed again. When he couldn't feel anything, he said, "I know what I heard," and he prayed again.

I've got a promise echoing in my spirit, and I don't care what I see — I know what His Word said. Come on, somebody: I don't care what I feel, I know what He said. I don't care how much bitterness is in my mouth, I know what He said. "God called me here and promised me a revival — I'm going to pray again. By His stripes I am healed — I'm going to pray again. He'll supply all my needs according to His riches in glory — I'll pray again. I trained up that child in the way he should go — I'm going to pray again." Come on, now. I don't care what I see, but pray again. Don't care what I feel — I'm going to pray again. I don't care how much fragrance of failure is around me, I will pray again.

Because when that servant finally said this — that one, stereo; this one must have been mono — because of the previous hand-sized cloud: "I'm out of this chariot, because I hear the sound of abundance of rain." You need to open your ears into the spirit and hear the sound of your family praying through in the altar. You need to open your ears of the spirit and hear the sound of your church growing. You need to open your ears and hear the sound of God meeting your needs. You need to open your ears and hear the sound of the doctor saying, "I don't know what happened, but these X-rays aren't like the last ones." I'm not going by what I see; I'm basing it on what I've heard.

Anybody that's got a promise from God ought to come running out of your chair up to this altar. And I don't want you to come with defeat. I don't want you to come weeping. I want you to come up here and say, "God, I've heard Your voice. I've heard Your Word. I heard what that man preached tonight." You need to lift your voice in power and dominion and authority and shout to the heavens and say, "God, I still believe. I still trust You. I still know it's going to happen." Before they sing one note, I wish you'd throw your hands up and let your voice come roaring up out of your mouth and give God praise, and just pray again.

What have you heard? What have you heard? What kind of promise is in your spirit? What kind of word from God is down in your heart? What did the Holy Ghost promise you He was going to do? Then grab hold of that word and say, "I'll pray again. I'll pray again. I'll pray again. I'll pray again." Hell, you've got a problem on your hands. I'm going to confuse the devil right now, because I haven't seen anything, but I've still got a dance in my feet. I can still jump. I can still shout. I can still talk in tongues, on the basis of what I've heard.

I've got to pray. I've got to pray. I want to pray. One more time — open your mouth.

Elijah didn't go to the top of that mountain alone; he had somebody with him. I'd like you to join up with somebody and let your faith be contagious for a moment. Young lady, find you some young lady and say, "I need to borrow a little of your faith right now." Brother, go find your brother and say, "I don't want to pray this prayer alone tonight." Join up — husband and wife, whatever's right — and I just want you to have a little time where we show God we're not giving up. We're in this thing together, and we're going to see God do His work. Open your mouth and shout unto the Lord.