Effective and Fervent Prayer

Effective and Fervent Prayer

Psalm 5:3 NKJV

My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD;
In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up. 

James 5 16b NJKJ

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

   If you desire to be effective in your Christian life, you must spend time in prayer.  And not the “Dear Santa” type prayers, but “from the heart” prayers, the consistent, daily prayers where you put some thought into them.  Much of my young Christian life I put little thought or effort into praying.  I probably hold the record in a few churches for the shortest prayers offered during prayer meetings.  I would rush through the prayer because praying was the “thing to do” in prayer meetings and I felt obligated.  But as I grew in my relationship with the Lord I felt that cheap prayers were inappropriate and would not pray if I didn’t feel like I could offer a “good” prayer.  I knew something was wrong, but not really sure what.

   We need to put effort into praying and put thought into what we pray.  We’re talking to God Almighty, Lord of Heaven and earth.  I often talked to pastors and other elders in church about prayer, and got a lot of advice – not all of it made sense.  It was a real blessing when I first undertook a study on prayer from the Bible.  I learned that the only way to pray prayers that are effective and powerful is to pray as though prayer were the most important activity in your life.

   In the verse from Psalms, David uses the Hebrew word 'arak meaning "direct."  He was saying he would direct his petitions to God daily.  'Arak is used in other parts of the Old Testament.  Moses uses it in reference to the priests "setting in order" the sacrifices to be brought before the Lord each day (Exodus 40:4).  Joshua uses it to describe an army being "set in array" in preparation for battle (Judges 20:20-22).  David is declaring here that he had a plan for his prayers and he brought his thoughts in order and he was prepared for the prayer before he began it. 

   It sounds hard and tedious to think about your prayer before you actually pray, but praying should not be a burden.  Praying should be a joy!  Our Heavenly Father loves to hear from us and as we grow in Him we will find ourselves wanted to talk to Him.        

   The verse in James requires two English words to translate the Greek word Energeo - effective and fervent.  These are two positive and powerful words.  James describes a prayer that is not selfish nor is it just an emotional plea.  This prayer is passionate and is prayed with confidence that God hears our prayers and He has the ability to answer our prayers.  It is belief that God’s Hand is moved by the prayers of His children.

   As you pray today, pray believing He hears you.  Our prayers work!  In my life I have seen many answers received and many blessings fall on people in need.  I have seen sinners come to the Kingdom, sinners you would never have thought could possibly be saved, and I know they had saints praying for them behind the scenes.  These were saints who determined to pray and keep praying until something happened.  

   So much in your life and the lives of those you intercede for depend on your prayers and you will only see the Hand of God moving when you spend time in prayer.  So when you pray, pray expecting to see an answer.

Stephen Cram                     September 25, 2011             Colossians 2:8

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8