Effective Powerful Prayer

By:  Dale Weckbacher

James 5:16b

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

NKJV

Unfortunately, we have all been guilty of telling someone we would pray for them, only to get busy with life and forget.  This is why I try, if it is possible, to pray with someone on the spot when I say I will pray for them.  If that is not possible, one thing we can do is to make a note on the calendar of our smart phones reminding us to pray for them.

Most of us have also experienced the feeling that our prayers are ineffective and seemingly not heard by our heavenly father.  This feeling is usually due to not receiving an instantaneous answer to our prayers but rest assured, God always hears the prayers of His people when they pray according to the will of God (1 John5:14-15).  However, a look at some of the prayers of Jesus to His Heavenly Father provides insight on how we can be more effective and powerful in our prayers.  The ABC’s of Jesus prayers are,

1)      According to the will of God (Matthew 26:39) – In His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed for the cup to pass from Him.  The cup Jesus is speaking of was the cup of God’s wrath as he was about to take upon himself the sins of humanity.  Some believe this may be the cup referred to in Revelation 14:9 that all that receive the mark of the Beast in the last days will be required to drink.  Jesus knew that drinking of this cup would result in incredible physical pain and possibly the human side of Jesus was seeking to escape the pain.  (1)  However, Jesus prayer goes on to state that not His will but the will of His Father must be done which included his brutal death by crucifixion on the cross.  Similarly, we to want to avoid pain and often find ourselves praying that the pain goes away.  In Psalm 23, the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ (John 10:11) reminds us that when it is his will that we go through the valley of the shadow of death, the darkest place we as fleshly humans could possibly endure, the Good Shepherd will be with us. 

2)      Be specific (John 11:41-43) – Jesus has come to visit the grieving family of Lazarus.  Lazarus has been dead four days (John 11:39) and therefore the situation appears hopeless.  However, Jesus knows His Father has a miracle planned and when He prays, His Heavenly Father will hear and answer his prayer.  Jesus does not offer up some lengthy eloquent prayer and instead prays that through this miracle those watching will believe God the Father sent Him.  After offering his brief prayer, Jesus simply asks Lazarus to come forth (John 11:43).  Jesus specifically asks for Lazarus in order to prevent every dead person in the cemetery from coming forth.  Jesus specific prayer was answered for many did come to believe (John11:45) initiating the plot of the Pharisees to kill Jesus (John 11:46-53).  Not only did this specific prayer lead to the miraculous resurrection of Lazarus from the dead causing many to believe but it also initiated the process that would lead to the shedding of the Blood of Jesus Christ providing salvation for all who believe. 

3)      Constant (Luke 18:1-5) – The persistent widow constantly petitioned the ungodly judge and by her continual prayer, convinced the ungodly judge to avenge her from her adversary.  Jesus goes on to say that if an unjust judge would avenge someone after constant petitioning, can we not depend upon our Heavenly Father to avenge us when we constantly petition Him to do so (Luke18:6-7).  There was a time when I believed continually petitioning God for something demonstrated a lack of faith and meant we believed God did not hear us the first time.  However, this passage is in scripture and I now believe Jesus is telling us to constantly demonstrate our faith in God’s ability to answer our prayer by continuing to petition Him instead of taking matters into our own hands.  Constantly praying to God means we are continuing to believe He has the answer and are waiting on Him to provide.

Prayer is a powerful weapon in the arsenal of the people of God and therefore a weapon we must learn to use more effectively.  Effective and powerful prayer is a prayer that is according to the will of God, specific, and constant waiting and believing God will provide the answer. 

Join me in becoming more powerful and effective in praying to God. 

1. Biblestudy.org. Let This Cup Pass From Me. www.biblestudy.org. [Online] Biblestudy.org. [Cited: April 17, 2016.] www.biblestudy.org/basicart/let-this-cup-pass-from-me.html.