The Rain Main [Part 1]

Allen Wright, pastor, Bible teacher and author of his latest book, the power to bless be in an environment of the gospel where there is an apprehension of the grace of God, so that is safe enough emotionally to be able to share is that your troubles by whatever failures, whatever errors you might have.

Confess your sins one and pray for one another. This is of God's healing plan in the New Testament church pastor Alan Wright welcome to another message of good music that will help you see your life. Old I'm Daniel excited for you to hear the teaching today. In the series miracle me has presented at renewal. The church in North Carolina are not able to stay with us throughout the entire program I'd like to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. They can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries as you listen to today's message go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact Pastor Alan.org that's Pastor Alan.org or call 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860. More on this later in the program but now let's get started with today's teaching years Alan Wright and ready for some good news. God still makes it rain and he uses your prayers to do so. Elijah was just as human as you are and God change the whole atmosphere through his prayers. We have begun a study in the life of Elijah we call the Sears miracle mammoth semi miracles will work through his ministry, but ultimately it points to the miracle man Christ Jesus and have been taken by the words in James and is been the substance of a New Year's blessing, a positive vision that were speaking over one another in this new year that is full of expectancy of God's miraculous intervention in our lives and in our land, and attorney today. Just the two verses in James chapter 5, but doing a go back and look at the actual story of Elijah in first Kings 17, 18 delicious start with this in James chapter 5 at verse 16 therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed and what he saying is be in an environment of the gospel where there is an apprehension of the grace of God so that it's safe enough emotionally to be able to share whatever it is that your troubles by whatever failures, whatever fears you might have. Confess your sins one and pray for one another.

This is the model of God's healing plan in the New Testament church and the prayer the second of that verse. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working and what we've seen is that the righteous person is not a reference to the one who is more morally upright. Personally intrinsically righteous, because who among us has not sent.

Who among us actually lives a righteous life all incentive for the glory of God. But when you're in Christ miracle takes place, and he who knew no sin. Christ becomes your sin and through simple Favor you are imputed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. So the righteous person that James is talking about must be used if your Christian the prayer of a righteous person has great power at this working and then he alludes to Elijah, who was perhaps the most famous miracle worker in Old Testament times that lived in the psyche that mentality and history of Israel when they thought of the person that was used so greatly thought of Moses and they found Elijah and he references Elijah in verse 17 says Elijah was a man with a nature like ours and he prayed fervently that it might not rain for three years and six months. He did not rain on the earth.

They prayed again in heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

I have to confess I knew make a confession. I am I'm sorry to confess it.

I am in many areas of my life. I feel like I'm a mighty man of faith, but I'm a weather worrier. I'm sorry I'm sorry to admit I'm I'm that guy and I have been trying to overcome my wife has faith for whether, but I just have very little whether faith I'm that guy in anthracene's earlier marriage like you big vacations coming up and I start looking at the weather you know 10 days in advance. Attend gate forgot all the right to know that and wise like it's not you always say that. What is your viewfinder noticed this topic I I'm I shouldn't be a weather worrier. My dad was a weatherman out. He he spent his entire career as a TV news man, but he began as a weatherman. Now you understand weatherman in those days he was really a pioneer in the in the news TV when it was just for starting a mean literally like this. Back in the day they did lab commercials and one time he was doing a commercial for milk laugh and you just pour the milk reading the Teleprompter. No and they did not.

The milk was just flowing over to slow and overblown. Everett yeah it was different different type. I never saw him do the weather because I was little kid and he did that night Tom, whether in them.

The news was only 15 minutes, 11 o'clock 1111 15 and the weather is only two minutes and it and he did.

He was the Atlantic weatherman, sponsored by the Atlantic companies are where I when he finished his last thing I said this day right good night, and so my entire growing up in Greensboro. Everywhere I went to the day right good night and I write. Don't ever say day right good night to me anyway but anyway he was.

He was funny at his and his retirement blood TV news personality leak hi entered been a colleague of dad for all of his years was, doing a little little things that will make a finding and telling stories. They said you know all of them had done the weather a little bit at some point aligns with Barbie and news person to get very nasty weather sadly said they know we didn't know anything about other they said is that some I told him to this what he went with he said you are with the weather is just look and see what was the weather in Huntsville Alabama 24 hours earlier, and that's what were going to get right here in Greensboro so that's the way they did it and I said but Dave he got enter.

He actually like the weather is trying to learn about and stuff. Anyway, we laughed about it. But now we got all these meteorologists know and people with what would happen was a TV station found out people love to talk about the weather they love to think about whether and then we have meteorologists on the news and are in the scenario the Saints come in and will look at all the stuff you have an we get a weather channel when the weather Channel came out. I like this is going to fail in 10 seconds. I mean nobody is going to sit around and watch the weather I like about my buddy Bob roach. I think he puts it on DVR. Just watch the reruns of any likes it so my we live in the weather. We like to talk about the weather why we have weather all the time why I think the reason is were all impacted by it every moment was interesting is that if you can think of anything to talk about whether there was a study in Great Britain. Evidently the Brits talk about the weather even more than we do brings all the time and so there was a study. No and they found that 94% of all Brits reported they had in the last six hours talk semi-about the weather and 38% had talk to someone about the weather. Within the last hour and so the authors of this study did some math computations figured out that any given moment in Great Britain. About one in three people just talking about the weather. Why I think maybe it's because it's something we know easy. Talk about Kant you don't know somebody hey how are you where you can't think of anything I have in common with you about that.

What about that big snow snow over in your area about 12 inches 9 inches. You know you know what we need some rain down and some rain and and in so it's something you can talk about but I wonder if there's something deeper than that. I wonder if part of the reason that we talk about the weather is it we are admitting our humanity with all of our technological advances was in the paper this week. This summer somebody's cloned monkeys week will all of our technological advances.

We can't do one single thing about the weather, except talk about his like to say we need some rain is sort of like saying and I'm a human being. I can't do one thing about it. It is also to say I hope there's a God who cares because we can control that's Alan Wright will have more teaching moment from today's important series like something is holding you back if you can important see that could change everything. Is there someone you love to sing stock to help them out what's missing blessing on base and spoken over you can learn how to embrace who practice a blessing to Pastor Ehrenreich's new book, which completely became an enzyme number one bestseller after 370s until now the hardcover book has only been available through retail sales this month right ministries once send you the I thank you for your demos this night will not only receive your best selling also receive a free session video place in which Pastor Alan teaches how to blast and covers kind of video course includes a detailed study guide perfect for personal growth or small group discussion. Make your gift today and discovered the power to blast the gospel is shared when you get to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you get today. We will send you a special offer. We are happy to send this to you as I thanks from Alan Wright Ministries, seven 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website. Pastor Alan.work. Today's teaching now continues here once again is come today to this story about Elijah in a drought and then a big rain and it's a story that is to be taken literally. But I think it also is a story that can help point you figuratively to the power of prayer in any sort of drought. I mean, the times when life feels dry in order. Drought is when you can't do anything to change. You don't have the technology skill the intelligence the resources no matter how hard you can't change it so it leaves you thirsty, and some people with their thirst turn to God. Such was a time about 900 years before Christ, when the people of God had abandoned their affections for the one true God and had become infested with idolatry. And we learn about a king named Ahab, who the Bible says was more wicked than all of his predecessors and onto this scene in first Kings 17. If you want to follow along onto this scene of spiritual barrenness in the spiritually drivetime there's going come a natural drivetime.

It is as though the drought simply mirrors the drought of true worship and adverse one of first Kings 17. It's like out of nowhere, now Elijah the Tish bite of Tish B in Gilead.

We don't know what Tish B is a scholars not found his like nowhere out of obscurity comes this profit.

Elijah said to Ahab that the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there should be neither do nor rain these years except by my word that James tells us that Elijah had prayed fervently that it wouldn't rain. We don't see that in this text we just see the announcement but somewhere there was a process of prayer somewhere. This prophetic word was born out of a communion with God out of a man who knew the Lord and he brought this word to Ahab. There is going to be a drought in a drought is something that honestly I don't personally have a way of understanding because we are where we spent so so I've been so blessed I've had running water.

My whole life I've tried I don't to me. A drought is when they stop watering the golf course is as much and the ground gets a little crusty and it bothers me. I mean that's that's like a drought, but real drought real drought real drought is awful. I was reading about the greatest routes in the history of the world. It bends your mind. I had finally just put it out of my mind. The great Chinese famine of 1958 to 1961 in a section of China is estimated between 15 and 43 million people died because of a drought, there was a drought around 1900 1902. Famine in India that killed an estimated 19 million people in Europe had a drought, 13, 15 to 1317. This scholars estimate killed 7.5 million. Some of you remember more recently the Ethiopian drought of 84 and 85 killed about a million people ground becomes parched vegetation becomes crusty and withered and the animals pawed up at its roots until there is no more and the livestock becomes emaciated and the people suffer. So to have someone announce a drought to the king's bold and devastating was interesting about this is that perhaps Ahab's worst sin was he perhaps for the opportunity to gain the political advantage to leverage a marriage for kingdom ideologies to support his own rain. Whatever. He married Jezebel who was a pagan who worshiped the pagan deity ball all and Jezebel financed it seems personally for 50 prophets of Baal like they were on our staff. She promoted the worship football. She was an idolater, and she wanted Israel to worship ball all rather than Jehovah God and ball all was.

Guess what, the God of rain. He was the storm God ball is the one who in their minds could make it rain did make it rain so they would practice their fertility prostitution in the cults of fertility on the high places and the people of God had begun to intermix it into their own worship of Yahweh. But all is the one who makes it rain and therefore makes the ground fertile and therefore makes the crops grow and makes the people prosper. So all is the one you need to worship. If you want to be rich with produce in God couldn't's hand a nonexistent deity that his own people are clamoring after and he sent Elijah to tell him is not will find out if ball can make it right with some 11 God loves you and he loves all people, and he in his love and his kindness. There are times that it would be a gift to you to experience the kind of drought that makes you let go of your idols because the greatest thing to ever happen in your life is let the things that are phony and impotent that you trust him for joy and peace and fulfillment to come crashing to the ground and find yourself in love with the one true King of the universe. Your creator so Elijah is unbelievably bold and he is full of faith about this and as some commentators have pointed out part of the reason he was full of faith about this was not just a prophetic connection with God, but Deuteronomy chapter 11 verse 13 makes it clear as part of the Old Testament law were not under Old Testament law or in a new covenant, but in this in this moment that is confronting Elijah is a is a prophet. He is an old covenant enforcer. He is living out of the old covenant law of God that had, Deuteronomy 1113, if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart, all your soul, he will give you rain for the land in its season early rain of the later rain that you may gather in your grain, your whining oil, but the warning also came. Take care less your heart be deceived and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, he will shut up the heavens be no rain in the land will yield no fruit.

This was Elijah knew this. Israel knew this is it.

There's a sense in which Elijah comes with this word and and is born out of this prayer for God to be faithful to his own word because if God allows the people to live and idolatry. And yet brings the rain then people would say either God was a liar, or he has no power to bring into effect his own law. If God didn't dry up the heavens, then all who knew the word of the Lord in Deuteronomy would have doubt about the power of Jehovah theirs are teaching for today with Mercury and the Rainman come back to her next edition in the series miracle man you're listening to shearing the light now on his back in a moment with additional insight on this for your life and our final word today feel like something is holding you back if you lack an important scene that could change everything. Is there someone you love hissing stack to help them out what's missing blessing on the vision spoken over you can learn how to embrace who practice a blessing to Pastor Ehrenreich's new book, which became an Amazon number one bestseller after 370s until now the hardcover book has only been available through retail sales this month right ministries once send you the I thank you for your demos this night will not only receive the best-selling but also receive a free session video place in which Pastor Alan teaches how to blast and covers kind of video course includes a detailed study guide perfect for personal growth or small group discussion.

Make your gift today and discovered the power to blast the gospel is shared when you get Allen right ministries.

This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you get today. We will send you a special offer.

We are happy to send this to you as I banks from Allen right ministries, seven 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website.

Pastor Alan.work Allen so there was a movie called the Rainman. It is for you borrow the title for this and what's today's thought yeah well this is the drought was severe and the prayer for rain is extraordinary. But what we see in some of the nuances of it is that Elijah hears rain but sees barrenness and what you do when you hear rain, but you see drought you pray and this is a powerful picture of prayer that makes I think every believer say okay God uses prayer like that, no matter what drought you're in is time to pray. Today's good news message is a listener supported production Allen right ministries