Effective, Righteous Prayer

                                                        When The Door Slams

Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.                      The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.                                                                                                                                                                           James 5:16

        God promises all believers that if we live righteously and pray fervently,  our prayers will be effective and produce significant results. How do we treat a promise like this? We might argue, "But I do pray, and nothing happens!" Our problem is that we do not hold ourselves accountable or true to the Scripture. 

        God's Word says that prayer ought to accomplish much. If our prayer life is not accomplishing much, what should we do now? If we are praying but seeing no results, should we conclude that this promise is untrue and it is not working for you? Should we excuse this Scripture as impractical and unrealistic? Or should we examine ourselves to see if we meet its conditions? 

        James says that fervent prayer avails much. Could it be that we are not righteous in our praying as we should be? Fervent prayer means we do not quit easily. Fervent prayer means we purposefully spend sufficient time in intercession. Fervent prayer means we cry out to the Father, sometimes in tears, with our heart and soul. Fervent prayer comes as the Holy Spirit assists us in praying with groaning too deep for words (Rom. 8:26).

        According to James, our righteousness will ensure effective prayer. God's standard of righteousness is different from ours, for He looks beyond our actions, even beyond our thoughts, directly to our hearts. How then should we hold ourselves accountable if our prayer are accomplishing very little? 

        Think about this: If nothing happens when you pray, the problem is not with God. The problem is with you, for God's Word is absolutely reliable. If we are obedient to what God requires, He will lead us to pray for thing that align with His purposes, and God will answer your prayers in a mighty way.

Ask the Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin.                                  Acknowledge these to the Lord and thank Him for His forgiveness.

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