Prayer That Works

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.  James 5:16

 Pray for Results!

3 Qualities of Effective Prayer:

1. Personal
2. Sincere
3. Trusting

Personal - Jesus taught us to pray to “Our Father.”  This denotes a very personal relationship with God, instead of a superstitious approach to an impersonal natural force or a distant cosmic tyrant.  Through Isaiah came God’s invitation, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord.”   The Great Invitation of Jesus is “Come unto Me.”   Prayer is our personal connection with God.

Sincere - The people in the Bible who are famous for getting results are also famous for being honest with themselves and with God.  In fact, the same passage in James about how much prayer helps includes the admonition to confess our sins, which is a religious way of saying “be honest with yourself.”  In the same way we face ourselves honestly in God’s presence about our failures and shortcomings, we need to also be genuine about our needs and desires.  Along with giving the Our Father as the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus also encouraged prayer in secret, where we could express ourselves openly and freely with God.  Prayer is about who we really are and what we truly think.

Trusting – Leave on the altar what you lay on the altar.  Jesus faced the Cross with the prayer, “Not my will but Thine be done.”   We can trust God’s love and grace with whomever and whatever we commit to Him in prayer.  Part of what it means to trust God is to let God decide how best our prayer should be answered, and to adjust to His perfect will. 

 Here’s the promise of Psalm 37:3-6

 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.  Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.  And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

Let’s pray!