Is the Rain in Georgia a Result of Prayer?

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock these last few weeks, you are no doubt aware that the south is in pretty dire straights with respect to a lack of rain and the corresponding ever-diminishing water supplies. Tom over at Founders has a good article in which he asks for people to pray for rain and repent.

Here in Georgia (at least on the south side of Atlanta, anyway), we have received a fair amount of rain this week, and this is the question I want to ask: Is it raining in Georgia because of prayer, or would it have rained anyway had no one prayed? I think my question goes to the heart of God’s sovereignty in His absolute control over the weather, for even the wind and rain obey His every command. Additionally, what if you are praying for rain on a Saturday because your grass is drying up and you car is dirty, but I am praying against rain on a Saturday because my business depends upon dry conditions?

A second question I have is this: Is the drought a result of sin that is in need of repentance? Let me rephrase that, because I would agree that all adverse weather conditions (drought, floods, tornadoes, etc.) are all a result of sin (original, that is). Is the drought in the southeast a direct result of some specific sin of the people because of which God is withholding rain?

Let me go ahead and tell you that my answers to my own questions is that I honestly do not know. Only God knows. What I do know is that, if someone prays for rain and it rains, then their prayer for rain has been answered in the affirmative. And, since we are still in or corruptible bodies, while a drought may not be the direct result of a particular sin, we – as sinful humans – are always in need of repenting.

So, should we pray for rain in the midst of a drought, and should we pray for no rain on an important business day, and should we repent before a holy God when we pray for that rain or that dry day? I say, absolutely, with one addition…

“Yet, not our will, O Lord, but Your’s be done.”

31 Days of Praying for Your Pastor – Day 24

DAY 24:
Pray that God will give your pastor a clear, biblical vision of what your church can be and should be for His glory, and that he will communicate that vision clearly and confidently to the church.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. John 15:16

DAY 10 DAY 11
DAY 9   DAY 12
DAY 8   DAY 13
DAY 7   DAY 14
DAY 6   DAY 15
DAY 5   DAY 16
DAY 4   DAY 17
DAY 3   DAY 18  DAY 23
DAY 2   DAY 19  DAY 22
DAY 1   DAY 20  DAY 21

by Nancy Leigh DeMoss of Revive Our Hearts

Reformation Month – Salvation Outside the Church?

The Reformers – John Hus (part 2)

Part 1