THE FIRST PRAYER OF THE BIBLE

13 And Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14 Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.”  15 And the Lord said to him,  “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him. (Genesis 4:13-15)
The very first prayer in the Bible was the end result of a rebuke from God to the first murderer in history. Cain had just killed his brother Abel, when worship and sacrifice to God went awry, due to jealousy. Cain also lied to the Father insisting he did not know where Abel was, using those immortal words “Am I my brother’s keeper”. Because of his vile actions, God banished him, cursed him and sent him on his way to roam the earth as a fugitive, who will even a hard time growing his own food. This shook Cain to the core.  He obviously had not thought of the consequences of his action and in shock, sorrow, fear and sadness, Cain offered the very first prayer of the Bible from a human…..READ MORE HERE

METHODOLOGY CONCERNING: PRAYING FOR RAIN

 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 earth for three years and six months. (James 5:17)
Just two years ago, the state of California was in a long term drought with water levels dropping everywhere.  Lakes were drying up and water use was restricted and worse. What some religious leaders decided to do was join with some of unbiblical faith systems  and religions, in order to do rain dances, incantations and other such tomfoolery in order to force the rain to come out of the heavens! This act and series of similar actions elsewhere, shows complete Biblical ignorance on the part of anyone who thinks “prayers”, rain dances and incantations can cause God to send the rain!

Anyway, here is the account where Elijah prayed, both for and against rain, from 1 Kings Chapter 18: 41-45a “And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.” So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again,” seven times. And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.’” And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain.”

It was God who sent the rain because an authentic man of God prayed. But look at the verse from James 5 (above). Elijah prayed for NO RAIN – and it did not rain for 42 months (half of the upcoming Tribulation). He prayed with extra passion according to the original language, as almost bring judgment upon the land – which happened. Then at the end of the 42 months, he prayed again and it poured. So can a Christian today do the same? We could. God has given us kingdom authority in John 1:12….READ MORE HERE

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