God Uses Imperfect People in Mighty Ways (Episode 109)

If you are a Christian, your prayers, when coupled with faith, are extremely powerful. You may not feel that way when you pray. Perhaps you feel less than perfect because you are. Or you feel you don’t have it all together—because you don’t. In this episode, Frank King encourages Christians to believe more deeply in God’s ability to use imperfect people in extraordinary ways.

Reason or logic would suggest to us that God used Jesus the way He did while on earth because Jesus was perfect. And that God can’t use us in miraculous ways because we are not like Jesus was. But a goal for this episode is to dispel that notion. God has, does, and will use imperfect people in supernatural ways.

Specifically, this episode focuses on the power of the prayer of faith to minister healing in the Christian church. In his epistle, James writes, “The prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him" (James 5:15, NASB).

"Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” (verse 16).

It’s important to note that James is talking to the entire circle of believers here. Still, some Christians may feel that this verse does not apply to them because they don’t have the gift of healing. But James is not talking about the gift of healing. He is talking about the prayer of faith. And every genuine Christian can pray the prayer of faith.

Elijah's Prayer

To encourage us, James turns our attention to Elijah the prophet. He writes, “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” (verse 17). At the end of that long drought, Elijah prayed again, and the rain returned (verse 18).

Oftentimes, when we read about how God used someone in a supernatural way, we tend to think they must have been made of something special. We act as if there are two different categories of people. They are the chosen few whom God uses to work miracles and the rest of us.

But here the Bible reveals that Elijah was just like the rest of us. He was imperfect. He had issues just as we do.  But God used him in mighty ways. This guy prayed and shut up the rain from heaven for 3-1/2 years in the city. Not 3-1/2 days but 3-1/2 years. God is still using imperfect people in extraordinary ways.