Faith

It's raining!  And I don't mean a little sprinkle, but a nice, steady rain.  Why is that such a big deal?  Because at the time I'm writing this we've been experiencing a drought for about a month.   The forecasters were calling for, at the most, a 20% chance of rain today...this morning that changed to 100%!  But that's not what's so exciting.  In reality, it's not enough rain to reverse the drought (or is it?  We'll see as the day goes on!).  The exciting thing is that we PRAYED for rain at our gathering on Sabbath last night and this morning it's raining!  Were we the only believers praying for rain?  No.  I know there were probably many others, and I know YHWH heard each and every prayer that was prayed in fervent faith.
A lot of people in and around the community have been TALKING about how much we need rain.  A few even mentioned Elijah from the Bible and how he prayed for rain and it rained.
Do we ask God for things like He wants us to?  Oh, now I know we ask Him for all sorts of things...things that WE really want but that may not always line up with His Word.  But when we ask Him for things do we really believe that He answers?! 

Proverbs 28:9 says, "One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination."
Wow!  Abomination?  That's pretty strong!  Abomination means something that is utterly disgusting!  So even our prayers are disgusting to the LORD if we don't listen to, and regard, His Law!  Let that sink in.
I'm sure many argue that the "law" spoken of here is Solomon's laws or some other, but did he ever answer prayer?  Not possible.  God hears and answers prayers.  It is HIS Law that Solomon was speaking of, and what we should be concerning ourselves with.  God's Law (or better translated from the Hebrew word for it: Torah - is loving instructions) is His perfect guidance for those who trust in Him for their salvation, and who then walk in it because they are saved.  If we turn away from, and despise His instructions, His commandments, then we are foolishly rejecting the Almighty Creator's very Word!
However, if we don't turn away our hearing from His Torah, but rather accept and rejoice in the fact that our Creator has given us instructions to live by, then proof that our faith is real exists!  That faith is what He is constantly trying to bring out in us.

What is faith?  It is simply believing what God has said (Romans 10:17)!  It's really simple yet profound.  Belief in what the God of the universe says is very hard for those whose affections are for this world and the things in it.  But for those who are called in Him, we know that this world is not our home and we look for a dwelling place that is yet to come.  A city whose builder and maker is God.  A country that is awaiting for us to settle in...and it's not here on earth that we can travel to it.
Faith is what Elijah had when he prayed for rain.  After 3-1/2 years it DID rain when he prayed.  But lest we forget that he prayed for it to NOT rain for those 3-1/2 years and it did NOT rain.  Elijah prayed for a drought showing God's judgment on the people and that drought lasted for 3-1/2 years!!  We read about this in 1 Kings 17-18, and James mentions it in his epistle.  He paraphrases the event in chapter 5:17-18.  However, I encourage you to read that whole chapter (or even the whole epistle!).  God is concerned, not with rain or crops, but with HIS vineyard!  His people!  Read Matthew 21:33-46/Mark 12:1-12/Luke 20:9-19.  The parable of the vineyard speaks loudly of those who are IN Messiah and those who aren't.  Paul compares believers to being God's field in 1 Corinthians 3:9.  And of course what Yeshua said in John 15 - He is the true vine and the Father is the vinedresser.  We are the branches.  We are grafted into Yeshua Messiah, who was and is our perfect example of how to walk in this life.  The Father is the vinedresser and we are His vineyard.  What a wonderful picture!

So faith in God and what He says is what produces fruit!  James said that "the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much."  Why?  Because of faith in what God has said.  We can't muster up a fervent prayer, but if we truly believe what God has said then our prayer will be fervent!  The Greek word there for fervent is energeo which means "to be active, efficient".  Our faith is active and alive when we believe God.  It's actually doing something!  In James 2 he wrote that faith without works is dead.  What are those works?  The same works Paul wrote about in Ephesians 2:10 - they are the Commandments of our God.  The ones He created for us to walk in from the beginning.  Saying you have faith is not the same thing as actually having it!  Walking in the loving instructions of our God is real faith!  Which, by the way, is His work in us, too!  Ezekiel 36:27 - He will cause us to walk in His Torah by the Holy Spirit.  Not force us to walk in them, but actually cause and help us to!  Like picking someone up when they've fallen and helping them walk.

We prayed for rain and it's raining.  We shouldn't be surprised when He answers, only constantly amazed by His goodness.
What else does He want us to pray for?  I pray we hear Him and believe!