Rains of Blessing

Elpidio Pezzella
2 days ago
4 min read

“I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing.”

Ezekiel 34:26 KJV

The week behind us has been full of rain, from north to south. Rain that unfortunately causes more and more damage, compounded by the abuse of the land. Yet all the water that falls on the earth will eventually return to the top: from the earth to the sky and back to the earth. This water cycle allows me to talk to you about the “cycle of prayer.” Beyond sensationalist commercials or apocalyptic proclamations, we are in the midst of a global moral and spiritual famine, which is spreading with each passing day, narrowing the space for spirituality and genuine faith. As a result, hearts are becoming increasingly dry, indifferent, almost apathetic, without the will to live and the power to generate life. As a believer, I cannot help but raise my eyes to heaven and take refuge in prayer, trusting in the words of the prophet Ezekiel. When it starts to rain, we run for shelter, fearing even greater damage due to the disrupted global climate. Yet rain plays a very important role in the life cycle by irrigating the earth, producing fruit, and feeding the springs that give us water to drink. And for this we should praise and not curse. “Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; Sing praises on the harp to our God, Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who prepares rain for the earth, Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.” (Psalm 147:7-8).

In nature, the water of the seas and rivers is heated by the sun and transformed into vapor. Once in the sky, the water vapor cools and undergoes a new transformation that leads to the formation of clouds. Water droplets aggregate to form heavy clouds and begin to fall to the ground in the form of water or snow. When it returns to earth, water is deposited in rivers, lakes, seas, and oceans, but it also waters the earth. The writer to the Hebrews wrote: “For the earth which drinks the rain that often falls on it and produces herbs useful to those who cultivate it, receives blessing from God” (6:7). Just as water evaporates from the earth to the sky under the heat of the sun's rays, so our prayer should flow from our being under the heat of God's presence and the light of His Word. When He manifests Himself, we cannot help but praise, exalt, and glorify Him. At the same time, our gaze turns upward, and our needy hearts lift up supplications and intercessions to receive divine intervention. Impelled by the Spirit, our prayers reach Heaven, where they are gathered (Revelation 5:8). The vapor turns into water through condensation, that is, at a certain height it cools and returns to a liquid state, forming clouds. Thus, the risk of rain can be equated with the approach of divine response, which arrives just as water from the sky returns to the earth. Sooner or later, the clouds, whose weight has increased considerably, will drop water droplets in the form of rain, hail, or snow.

What if it is delayed? Wait! At the right moment, the answer will come, just as in Elijah's time the clouds rose over the land bringing rain (1 Kings 18:44-45) that revitalized the soil and drove away famine. The arrival of rain is like a resurgence of life, a “manna” from heaven. The drought had caused famine in the land, gripping the people of Israel in the specter of death. Only Elijah's prayer and faithfulness opened the heavens. This is why we often speak of showers of blessings. When water returns to the earth, it not only fills natural basins, but is absorbed to great depths, depending on the permeability of the soil or rock. In the same way, divine intervention descends into our most intimate and hidden parts, bringing relief, healing, and liberation. “The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand.” (Deuteronomy 28:12). It may not be actual drops of water, but words like these you are reading that water your heart, because "For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:10-11).