Last Sunday, we looked at James's instructions on prayer in chapter 5. One note that especially struck me is in 5:17, where he describes Elijah's prayers as "he prayed in prayer," an unusual

Greek construction. I think it's worth looking at that as a way to grow in the way we pray -- prayer being one major way we relate to God, and God to us.

The phrase “he prayed in prayer” notes intensity. If we look at the original story in 1 Kings 18, we see that Elijah prayed “with his face between his knees,” and kept praying for a long time. He sent his servant seven times to look, and finally on the seventh time, a small cloud had formed, and the rains came. In contrast to the priests of Baal, who shouted and cut themselves, he just prayed. But he prayed hard!

Elijah must have been limber to get his face down low but the emphasis was on his focus, not on his gymnastic ability. Lying flat, or kneeling this deeply, is a form of being humbled before God physically, involving your body as well as your mind in prayer. This was no casual prayer while he got distracted by other matters. The only thing going on, was his prayer. His earlier phrase to Obadiah, “the LORD, in whose presence I stand” reveals Elijah’s knowledge of his contact with God. His mode of prayer here shows Elijah’s focus on that presence.

There’s a place in our lives for praying about "everything" (see Phil. 4:6), and there’s a place for intense focus such as Elijah showed. Praying for someone in a health crisis, or to seek God’s direction on a particular matter or to understand a trial we are going through, indicates a time for a lot more intensity. That would be a time to set aside a substantial amount of time, shutting ourselves away from distractions, focusing our thoughts on the issue at hand, and taking a physical posture of prostration, or kneeling, or whatever helps us stay focused. When distractions arise, we would let them go by unanswered and get back to the business of praying intently about the issue, seeking the Lord’s will on it and not giving up until we have an answer, as Elijah did. That particular dedication to prayer will yield results (James 5:16).

And remember of course, that we're not left on our own to pray "well enough" or long enough -- the Holy Spirit prompts us to pray (Rom 8:26) and Jesus himself, our representative at the right hand of the Father, collects our prayers and, in giving them to the Father, makes them perfect for us. So we can rest in the fact that our Father has already provided perfectly for our imperfect response to him, even in our heartfelt prayers. So, let’s pray!