Fervent Prayer

1/12/03

 

 

Ja. 5:16 (NIV) Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.

18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

 

(NLT) The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results.

 

(The Message) The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.

 

(KJV) The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

 

Effectual fervent prayer still moves mountains!

 

Effectual fervent prayer is the channel that God uses to release His power on this earth.

 

Without confidence it is impossible to pray with fervency!

 

Heb. 4:14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.

16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

 

Understanding the gift of righteousness gives us great confidence.

 

Rom. 5:15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.

17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

 

The righteousness required for effective prayer is two fold.  There is the gift of righteousness already mentioned and there is the “act of righteousness.”

 

Ps. 66:18 If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;

 

1 Pet. 3:7 Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

 

(KJV) The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

 

Fervorless prayer has no heart in it; it is an empty thing.

 

Edward M. Bounds wrote in his book “The Necessity of Prayer”  “Prayers must be red hot. It is the fervent prayer that is effectual and that availeth. Coldness of spirit hinders praying; prayer cannot live in a wintry atmosphere. Chilly surroundings freeze out petitioning; and dry up the springs of supplication. It takes fire to make prayers go. Warmth of soul creates an atmosphere favorable to prayer, because it is favorable to fervency. By flame, prayer ascends to heaven. Yet fire is not fuss, nor heat, or noise. Heat is intensity—something that glows and burns. Heaven is a mighty poor market for ice.”

 

Many great Bible characters were notable examples of fervency of spirit when seeking God.

 

Ps. 42:1      As the deer pants for streams of water,

          so my soul pants for you, O God.

2    My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

          When can I go and meet with God?

3    My tears have been my food

          day and night,

      while men say to me all day long,

          “Where is your God?”

4    These things I remember

          as I pour out my soul:

      how I used to go with the multitude,

          leading the procession to the house of God,

      with shouts of joy and thanksgiving

          among the festive throng.

 

Heb. 5:7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.

 

Jesus prayed with such earnestness and fervor.

 

Ps. 5:1-2 (living Bible) O Lord, hear me praying; listen to my plea, O God my King, for I will never pray to anyone but you. 3Each morning I will look to you in heaven and lay my requests before you, praying earnestly.

 

Jesus warns against feeble praying.  According to Jesus, it is when prayer is persistent that it is effective.

 

Lk. 18:1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men.

3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men,

5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’”

6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.

7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?

8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

 

A forgiving attitude is essential for effective prayer.

 

Mk. 11:25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

 

We get caught up in the mechanics of prayer, when to pray, where to pray, this really doesn’t matter!  Jesus prayed and different times and at different places.

 

Make this the year of change!  Make a commitment to pray more than ever before in your life.

 

Rev. 5:6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

7 He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne.

8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

 

Rev. 8:3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne.

4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand.

5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.