Praying Effectively
In some of my reading recently, I was reminded of the importance of prayer in living the Christian life. James 5:16b, says “the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” It is a terrific promise but do we really believe the Word when it says prayer is powerful and effective? In times of honest reflection, I am guessing we sometimes would say “yes” and sometimes “I am not sure.” But we can be reassured by the truth that ultimately prayer is not a performance and God is not grading our abilities to get it just right. It is more like an invitation to spend time with God the Father who loves us to distraction. And the more we do it, the more we will discover prayer is powerful and effective.
Then there is the question of “what does it mean to be “righteous” in the sight of God?” It is an important question for each of us to answer because as the verse indicates, it has an impact upon both the power and effectiveness of our prayers. And no one signs up for an ineffective prayer life.
So how do we understand what it means to be righteous? The International Bible Encyclopedia offers a helpful definition for righteous and informs us that the root word is normally used to “connote behavior that is in keeping with the covenant relationship between God and His people; thus, the righteous person fulfills the covenant law in regard to God and others” (ISBE, Vol. 4, 192). In short, it is a person who loves God and others in accordance with the teaching of the Word of God. We would all do well to occasionally spend time asking the Holy Spirit to reveal those thoughts, attitudes, beliefs, and actions that do not reflect our covenant relationship with Jesus Christ so that we might repent and be restored to a place of power and effectiveness in prayer. Again, it is not about doing all the right things but in a response of love we align our hearts with His and hear Him more clearly. The result is our prayers are more powerful and effective.
In this last month of the year, it is a good time to step back and reflect, especially as we set ourselves up for 2019. We are of course celebrating the Lord Jesus coming to earth to accomplish our salvation. It was an incredible act that demonstrates both the humility and love of God in a concrete way. Self-sacrificing, others-oriented, agape love as Jesus set aside His divine attributes and became the God-man. Jesus would go on to model what it means to believe in prayer, as He spent time each day in prayer with His heavenly Father. His, and our, heavenly Father would speak to Him as He prayed and then Jesus did what the Father showed Him. It is the same life the Father has for you and me.
Would you pray for the ministry of God’s Living Stones as we prepare to enter the New Year, a year filled with opportunity and promise? It is our heart’s desire to hear the Father’s voice and walk in obedience to what He reveals. We pray for the return of the King but until then we seek to be ambassadors of His Kingdom. Thank you for partnership and God bless your Christmas and New Year celebrations.
Author
Pastor Bruce is the Executive Director of God's Living Stones. He lives in Omaha, NE, with his wife Barb. They have two adult children.
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January 11, 2019 at 9:38pm