Prayer that Works!

“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much…”  James 5:16

Lately the Lord has been dealing with me about the importance of fervent or earnest prayer. So many people live with far too little margin in their life.  We are all booked up from the moment our eyes open in the morning until we fall into bed exhausted at night.  We pray “on the go” prayers.  And truthfully, this type of prayer has its place in our repertoire of prayers.  However, we run into problems when that type is our staple prayer. We need deeper times of fervent and earnest prayer.  We need to return to the old fashioned prayer closet.

I am more convinced each day that until the church of America rises up and becomes, once again, a people of prayer that life in America is going to continue to decline.  We need God in our homes, we need God in our communities, we need God in our schools, and we need God in government.  When you look in the Bible, God’s people have a tendency to side with the enemy up to the point that the bondage becomes so overwhelming, that they cry out to God in earnest.  We need to see our country return to God.  We need to do this individually, as well as corporately.

Let the Lord rekindle the flames of your prayer life today.  I urge you to take stock of where you are and begin to pray that God will make you a person of prayer who is earnest, fervent and effectual.  Work toward this high calling so that you can begin to reap the benefits of prayer availing much in your life.  If you are seeing too little fruit from your prayers, the time has come to cultivate a deeper type of prayer.  We need God’s power to be people who pray in season and out.  We have to become people who once again believe in the power of prayer and live it throughout our day.

Dear Lord, teach me to pray, just as you taught your disciples.  Infuse my prayer with the power of the Holy Spirit.  Guide me, direct me and help me to savor these times spent in communion with you.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Sherri