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PRAYING FOR RAIN

In this next to last day of this study we turn to the importance of miracles. Angus defines a miracle as “an extraordinary and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws ... attributed to a divine agency.” Praying for rain is daring to ask God for the impossible. Angus tells us that if we want to see miracles, we have to get to know the Miracle Worker, to have faith in the living God. Let’s join Angus and expect the impossible in our own lives. 

A lesson from Angus 

I believe in miracles. Do you know that if you look in the Word of God, the main reason why people believed that Jesus was the Son of God was because of the miracles He performed. 

When John the Baptist sent his disciples to ask Him, “Are You the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” (Matthew 11:3), Jesus replied that the blind, lame and deaf had been healed, those with leprosy were made well, and the dead had been raised back to life (see Matthew 11:5-6). 

We have a man-made forest that borders our farm and many years ago I thought we were going to lose it.
It was just after I became a Christian and I was burning fire breaks with my foreman, Simeon. Suddenly a spark jumped from where we were working to a stack of dry brushwood. Within minutes there was an inferno. The wind picked up and started blowing toward the boundary where this forest was located. Now the plantation, owned by a large international company, goes on and on for miles and miles. 

I was a young man and had just arrived from Zambia. I had very little firefighting equipment – all I had was a 44-gallon drum on the back of my pick-up, attached to a garden hose. Jill called the neighbors and they all came to help. You know what farmers are like – we stand together to help one another in times of crisis. We encircled the inferno and tried to contain the fire, but we couldn’t put it out. The fire was not even dying down; in fact it was getting worse. 

I said to one of my tractor drivers, “I’m going to pray that Jesus Christ will send us a miracle. He will send us rain.” But the man replied, “No, sir. You won’t get rain today. The rainy season is over and the north wind is blowing, without any clouds in the sky.” Now I had only given my life to Jesus a few weeks before, but I remember the Lord saying, “Call to Me and I will answer you” (Jeremiah 33:3). That is God’s phone number. I phoned God, got down on my knees in front of everybody and prayed

I prayed, “Lord, please send rain to put the fire out. Lord, I have given my life to You and I am not ashamed of the gospel. I am in front of all these men. Please help us. Amen.”
And do you know what? Within a couple of minutes, out of the clear blue sky came lightning and then a clap of thunder. The north wind dropped and a south wind came up, and gentle clouds started forming. Before long it started to rain and it put that fire out.

The tractor driver I had spoken to turned pale and his legs started to shake. The other farmers came to me and said, “Angus, you are very lucky. We are going home now,” and off they went. I got into my pick-up and drove around the inferno, watching the gentle rain douse the flames and put it out. 

I thanked God for dying on the cross for a sinner like me. I thanked Jesus for being resurrected on the third day and I thanked Him for being the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. 

Reflection Question: Acts 27:20 | Standing in the storm 

How do you plan to handle a long storm in life? Is it a greater miracle to erase the storm or to give you what you need to survive it? Why? 

Memory Verse - Hebrews 13:8

Heavenly Father, thank You that You do not change. Your love is unfailing, Your power is unending and Your strength never falters. Open my eyes to see You as never before. May my heart be alive to the power of Your Word and the leading of Your Spirit. My choice today is to put my trust in You. Help my unbelief. Teach us to encourage one another as we walk Jesus’ path together. In Jesus’ name. Amen