MY FRIENDS, THE PRAYERS OF THE RIGHTEOUS AVAILETH MUCH, IF WE BELIEVE!!

MY FRIENDS, THE PRAYERS OF THE RIGHTEOUS AVAILETH MUCH, IF WE BELIEVE!!

“……The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. James 5:16-18 (NKJV)

My friends, oh the Power of prayer I can only imagine when we lay prostrate and our prayers are fervent and heartfelt it reaches the throne room by way of our Comforter, where our Savior is already interceding on our behalf.

He here’s the cries of His child like a mother who is alerted to the cries of there precious child in an unfamiliar world who is seeking the familiar warmth of a mothers touch that for nine months established a bond of love that only a mother could feel for a child and a child for a mother.

Let’s imagine Christ folds his priestly robe neatly in place as he did before he left His tomb after redeeming man at the cross. But at this moment His focus is on the cries of His child who seeks His help through prayer.  My friends it’s personal, we must feel the presence of God as one of His Children.

Elijah a man like you and I who knew the power of prayer and understood our heavenly father’s love for him in all of His petitions, let’s try and relate our prayer life to his and see why at times we can’t get the same results.

Let’s start at the foundation of what James is trying to tell us. The first part of the verse says “The effective (producing the intended or expected result), fervent (showing great warmth or intensity of spirit) prayer of a righteous man (virtuous or godly man or woman) avails (effective use in the achievement of a goal) much”

Once these attributes are put into place then the power that can and will only come from God and His Spirit begins to work on our behalf because now what we have prayed for is all about given God all the glory and honor, self is dead, we now live through Christ.

“God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” We must have a deep, earnest sense of our needs. We must feel our weakness and our dependence upon God, and come to Him with contrition of soul and brokenness of heart.

Faith takes God at His word, with or without feeling. It “is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. When we have offered our petition once, we must not then abandon it, but say, as did Jacob when he wrestled all night with the angel, “I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me,” and like him we shall prevail.” (E.G. White The Bible Echo, September 24, 1894.)

My friends through our partitions to God, every situation and circumstances even the unseen that only God sees are put into harmony with the life of Christ as we move out onto the front lines of the battle field. But we are safe now we have now exchanged our problems with Christ as we take up our cross and serve.

Problem accomplished through our faith. Our Savior now unfolds His priestly robe and puts it back on as He continues to intercede on our behalf. My friends “whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you (will) receive them, and you will have them. Mark 11:24 (NKJV)

My Friends, where there is no vision, the people perish…..Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)