Effectual, fervent prayer

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 5v16 

I have to say right at the very start that I don’t fully understand prayer. I know that God wants us to pray. I know that answers to prayer are contingent on His will and His knowing what is best for us. I know that there are times when God says ‘no’ to our prayers. I also know that the effective, fervent prayer of a right believer will accomplish much. I don’t know if I will ever get it all sorted out, but maybe that is best. 

The context of this teaching on prayer is the prayer of faith that will heal the sick. I don’t know why some people get better when we pray and some don’t. I am not going to answer all the questions in this little devotion. Instead I want to look on something that is clear and unarguable – the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man does avail much. 

Prayer is effective when it is fervent and when it is offered up by a righteous man. We are of course made righteous by the blood of Christ at salvation. However, we can’t hope to offer up effective prayers unless we are living righteous lives. If we are holding on to sins in our lives God is not going to hear our prayers and we can’t expect them to be effective. 

However, when we confess our sins and deal with them we have the most powerful tool on earth. When we pray we open up a power and a resource that is without limits. I don’t know how it works, but prayer does get things done. I know that from the testimony of His word and I know that from the testimony of experience. 

I may not know the particulars, but I do know the truth – the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man does avail much. That is certain.