Prayer

Let’s talk about prayer. God knows our thoughts before we ever think them; it's neither wise nor productive to have a flippant attitude about prayer. By that, I mean you really can't toss a quick prayer in heaven's direction, for example "Lord, please give me a parking space close to the store' and expect that to have a powerful impact on the heavenlies! I don't pray for those types of things but I sure give a prayer of thanks when I get one!

Scripture says that "the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (James 5:16 NKJV). Let’s break that down.

Effective-We certainly want our prayers to be effective. This scripture tells us what that requires. We can be confident that God does His part; releasing divine energy into the situation and our prayers will produce results when we do our part.

Fervent prayer - motivated by a deeply burdened heart, fervent prayers are filled with passion and a strong sense of personal helplessness. They also have a narrow focus on some specific difficulty about which we care deeply. Scripture calls this type of prayer "laboring earnestly" (Colossians 4:12).

Righteousness - At salvation, we become rightly related to God as His children. We are permanently sealed with the Holy Spirit, and we are declared righteous forever because of our position in Jesus Christ. But the word "righteous" is also used to describe a believer's conduct. This means that to be called a "righteous person," we must be found in Christ (Philippians 3:9) and have an obedient lifestyle before God. If we willingly and knowingly engage in sin, then we are not living righteously and our prayers will not be effective.

Prayer comes in all shapes and sizes, and study on prayer would really enrich your prayer life. Today we just briefly touched on the subject. We all have crisis in our lives and it's far better to have a strong prayer foundation to stand on when the storm of crisis comes than to wait until your facing the winds of adversity to give it any thought.

When the Lord hears an impassioned prayer, He knows who is praying. If it is a righteous person whose life reflects God's ways, Scripture promises the Holy Spirit will begin His divine work. God responds with great power to the prayers of even one righteous person.

That person can be you!