by Pastor Douglas Brauner

Hounding Heaven with Prayer

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“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 5:17-16 English Standard Version

It has been a little over two years since we lost our dog Ginger. She lived to the ripe old age of sixteen and was a part of our family for thirteen of those years.

We miss Ginger.

This is NOT a picture of Ginger. This is Hank, our nephew’s dog. Since we’re retired, we want to be free to travel, so we have decided not to have another pet. However, we do have substitute pets. Hank is one of them. In fact, Hank recently spent nearly two weeks in our home.

Hank and I are quite close. This ninety pound dog thinks that he is a lap dog and that in the morning I should spend more time with him than doing my devotions. We have a morning ritual where I sit in my lounger and he puts his head between my legs and looks longingly at me, expecting that I will pet him.

I oblige him, but for only a few minutes.

Fortunately, God is not like me. In fact, he is the opposite. He wants his people to hound him with prayer. Elijah knew this and he hounded heaven with his prayers. I love how James tells us that Elijah was a “man like us.” He didn’t have a superhuman nature that made him a better pray-er. Yet, like Hank, he never gave up.

I don’t know what you are going through. I don’t know your joys and struggles, but know that God loves it when you, like Elijah, hound heaven with your prayers.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado