Effective Prayer
In the 5th chapter of James we are told that the fervent prayers of a righteous man availeth much. But what is fervent prayer? To pray fervently is to pray intensely in the Holy Spirit.
The topic can be anything but to pray about or for something fervently, we must be deeply intent and our heart must truly be seeking God’s intervention as a result of our prayer. When we pray fervently, we must be in the will of God.
A man once approached Charles Spurgeon and asked him what was more important—reading the Word or praying. The reply was “What is more important—breathing in or breathing out?”
To be able to pray we must first know God and know that Jesus Christ is His only begotten Son, born of a virgin, who lived a sinless life, was crucified for our transgressions, buried in a tomb, and raised on the third day, thereby providing our salvation for eternity! A so-called prayer of an unbeliever is nothing but words in the air and is not heard in heaven but is instead an avenue for deception by the adversary!
The thief on the cross was not saved until he believed! How much more so do we need to know the Word of God to be able to pray effective, fervent prayers?
Ephesians 2 tells us we are saved by Grace( the gift of Love) through Faith (belief).
Romans 10 tells us that Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God!
We do not have the advantage Adam had of walking by God’s side in the garden every evening, so God gave us His Word so that we might know Him and, through prayer, converse with Him! For the truly saved we first had to know who Jesus truly is and in that knowledge we repented and asked for our salvation through Christ, the perfect sacrifice for our sin.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life!” We had to know! No one can be saved without knowing Christ Jesus—knowing Him, not just knowing of Him!
As saved Christians, we are all called to service. The great commission tells every saved person to go “teach, baptize, and teach”.
That is the just service for all of us so that the world hears the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Some of us are called to service as teachers and preachers; those that are called to these positions will be judged more harshly. James 3:1 tells us that “we who are teachers will incur a stricter judgment.” In Luke 12 we are told that to whom much is given, much is required!
You see, just as Charles Spurgeon answered the man’s question, reading the Word is just as important as praying. We must know God through reading His Word so that we are able to pray effective prayers!
2 Chronicles 7:14, “If My people, which are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” To humble oneself means to submit or place yourself at the mercy of.
Praying is conversing, asking, praising. Seeking God’s face is knowing Him, learning of Him, understanding His will, just as turning from sin is forsaking our human desires for the purpose of pleasing God.
We must give God our time, and dedicate more than a short time on Sunday morning to Him! If it were not for the love of God we would be consumed by evil, so pray fervently and without ceasing, praising and giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray this writing somehow inspires you to spend more time in prayer and reading or at least hearing the Word of God.
Amen.
Kenneth Kellar
A Man Called by God to Teach and Disciple