Back to
Bible Study Index |
Effectual Fervent Prayer
"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." James 5:16
The true born-again life is not for the faint hearted, nor the spiritual sluggard. Every line of scripture breathes with a violent spiritual assault against darkness, a militant pressing into the kingdom of God, and prevailing prayer through great travail. Jesus said Himself that the "...violent take it by force" Matthew 11:12.
Few understand the nature of the battle we are in. If we are to take the kingdom, we must do so by force, however it is here that most confessing Christian's fail. They fail because the battle is spiritual and because it requires death to self. The natural mind envisions taking up arms and charging into battle defeating the enemy by brut force, but this has never been the way of Christ.
In the book of Matthew scripture records that when Judas betray the Lord in the Garden that one of the disciples drew his sword to battle, but Jesus rebuked him and said, "...Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled..." Matthew 26:52-54. While Jesus was fighting a spiritual battle, His disciple could only see a carnal enemy and through fear and self preservation, drew a sword to fight the flesh.
Our battle is spiritual and demands self sacrafice, the more we die to self and yeild to the Spirit, the stronger we become in this warfare. Jesus made it clear that His words are spiritual, "It is the spirit that quickeneth (makes alive); the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" John 6:63. The only word God has for our carnal man is that he must die on the altar, every other word God speaks is meant for the man who walks in the spirit. (Read Romans 8:1-10).
We fight a spiritual enemy and gain spiritual ground. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" Ephesians 6:12. It is a violent walk with God in the spirit and the greatest violence will be against our own carnal desires that hinder our gain of spiritual ground.
The most powerful weapon God has given us in this spiritual battle is prayer at an old-fashioned altar. The devil knows the power of prayer and that is why most churches today have removed the altar. Fact is, the devil has made great advances in the spiritual realm because men are blindly fighting in the carnal realm. Instead of taking up the armor of faith, truth, righteousness and prayer, men stand outside abortion clinics holding up posters, whine to their civil leaders about prayer and Bibles being censored in public school, and critiquing the next Hollywood movie coming out for family values. Is it any wonder we are loosing the battle?
"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" James 5:16. Prayer is the key to victory in this spiritual battle. Jesus prayed continually for strength and direction, He was lead of the Spirit and won every battle, even at the cross.
Two points need to be made here if prayer is to be effectual, that is to bring about a result. First, our prayers must be fervent. The word fervent means passionate, zealous, and even fanatical. Our prayers must burn within us by the Holy Spirit or they will never be effectual in this great battle.
Second, if prayer is to be effectual, it must come through a righteous man. The quality on which the success of prayer depends is not the talent, education, wealth, or office of the man who prays, but rather the fact that he is a righteous man. The Amplified Bible renders righteousness as a man who is in right standing with God. The opposite then is that "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:" Psalms 66:18
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Not any man's prayer; not the prayer of a profane sinner, for God heareth not sinners; nor of hypocrites and formal professors: but of the righteous man, who is justified by the righteousness of Christ, and has the truth of grace in him, and lives soberly and righteously; for a righteous man often designs a good man, a gracious man, one that is sincere and upright, as Job, Joseph of Arimathea, and others; though not without sin, as the person instanced in the following verse shows; "Elias, who was a man of like passions", but a just man, and his prayer was prevalent: and not any prayer of a righteous man is of avail, but that which is "effectual, fervent"; that has power, and energy, and life in it; which is with the Spirit, and with the understanding, with the heart, even with a true heart, and in faith; and which is put up with fervency, and not in a cold, lukewarm, lifeless, formal, and customary way:
It is but one word in the original text; and the Vulgate Latin version renders it, "daily"; that prayer which is constant and continual, and without ceasing, and is importunate; this prevails and succeeds, as the parable of the widow and the unjust judge shows. Some translate the word "inspired": the Spirit of God breathes into men the breath of spiritual life, and they live, and being quickened by him, they breathe; and prayer is the breath of the spiritual man, and is no other than the reverberation of the Spirit of God in him; and such prayer cannot fail of success:
True prayer is not what is written in a book, but what is wrought in the heart, by the Spirit of God; who is the enditer of prayer, who impresses the minds of his people with a sense of their wants, and fills their mouths with arguments, and puts strength into them to plead with God, and makes intercession for them according to the will of God; and such prayer is always heard, and regarded by him: this has great power with God; whatever is asked, believing, is received; God can deny nothing prayed for in this manner; it has great power with Christ, as Jacob had over the angel, when he wrestled with him; and as the woman of Canaan, when she importuned him, on account of her daughter, and would have no denial: such prayer has often been of much avail against Satan, who has been dispossessed by it;
Even the most stubborn kind of devils have been dislodged by fasting and prayer: it has often been the means of preserving kingdoms and nations, when invaded by enemies, as the instances of Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah show; and of removing judgments from a people, as was often done, through the prayers of Moses, as when fire and fiery serpents were sent among them; and of bringing down blessings as rain from heaven by Elijah; and of delivering particular persons from trouble, as Peter was delivered from prison, through the incessant prayer of the church for him: and this power, and efficacy, and prevalence of prayer, does not arise from any intrinsic worth and merit in it, but from the grace of the Spirit, who influences and endites it, directs to it, and assists in it; and from the powerful mediation, precious blood, and efficacious sacrifice of Christ; and from the promise of God and Christ, who have engaged, that whatever is asked according to the will of God, and in the name of Christ, shall be done. — John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible |
Most of the Church today has retreated from the fight because there are so many cowards behind the pulpit. These pretenders have grown spiritually fat and slothful, they have grown used to the best steaks (I Samuel 2:29), these would rather satisfy their own lusts than fight for the Lord, it's too great a demand. But the writer of Hebrews placed an even greater demand when he said, "Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." Hebrews 12:4. He was saying, get in the fight, even if it means your life!
Be assured beloved, the kingdom will not be found of you without a great fight, without pressing in, without the violent taking it by force. There is a great allegory portrayed by John Bunyan in his great literary masterpiece "The Pilgrims Progress" that gives us a better look at this warfare.
"I saw also, that the Interpreter took him again by the hand, and led him into a pleasant place, where was built a stately palace, beautiful to behold; at the sight of which Christian was greatly delighted. He saw also upon the top thereof certain persons walking, who were clothed all in gold.
"Then said Christian may we go in thither?
"Then the Interpreter took him, and led him up towards the door of the palace; and behold, at the door stood a great company of men, as desirous to go in, but durst not. There also sat a man at a little distance from the door, at a table-side, with a book and his inkhorn before him, to take the names of them that should enter therein; he saw also that in the doorway stood many men in armor to keep it, being resolved to do to the men that would enter, what hurt and mischief they could.
"Now was Christian somewhat in amaze. At last, when every man started back for fear of the armed men, Christian saw a man of a very stout countenance come up to the man that sat there to write, saying, "Set down my name, sir;" the which when he had done, he saw the man draw his sword, and put a helmet on his head, and rush towards the door upon the armed men, who laid upon him with deadly force; but the man, not at all discouraged, fell to cutting and hacking most fiercely. So after he had received and given many wounds to those that attempted to keep him out, Matt. 11:12; Acts 14:22; he cut his way through them all, and pressed forward into the palace; at which there was a pleasant voice heard from those that were within, even of those that walked upon the top of the palace, saying, ‘Come in, come in, Eternal glory thou shalt win.’
So he went in, and was clothed with such garments as they. Then Christian smiled, and said, I think verily I know the meaning of this." — John Bunyan "The Pilgrims Progress" |
Beloved, if we too are to enter in, we must run this race, we must fight the good fight, we must overcome. Now is the time to rise up Church, as David said, "Is there not a cause?" I Samuel 17:29.
— by Randy Munter
Praying Till We PRAY
by A. W. Tozer
Dr. Moody Stuart, a great praying man of a past generation, once drew up a set of rules to guide him in his prayers. Among these rules is this one: "Pray till you pray." The difference between praying till you quit and praying till you pray is illustrated by the American evangelist John Wesley Lee. He often likened a season of prayer to a church service, and insisted that many of us close the meeting before the service is over. He confessed that once he arose too soon from a prayer session and started down the street to take care of some pressing business. He had only gone a short distance when an inner voice reproached him. "Son," the voice seemed to say, "did you not pronounce the benediction before the meeting was ended?" He understood, and at once hurried back to the place of prayer where he tarried till the burden lifted and the blessing came down.
The habit of breaking off our prayers before we have truly prayed is as common as it is unfortunate. Often the last ten minutes may mean more to us than the first half hour, because we must spend a long time getting into the proper mood to pray effectively. We may need to struggle with our thoughts to draw them in from where they have been scattered through the multitude of distractions that result from the task of living in a disordered world.
Here, as elsewhere in spiritual matters, we must be sure to distinguish the ideal from the real. Ideally we should be living moment-by-moment in a state of such perfect union with God that no special preparation is necessary. But actually there are few who can honestly say that this is their experience. Candor will compel most of us to admit that we often experience a struggle before we can escape from the emotional alienation and sense of unreality that sometimes settle over us as a sort of prevailing mood.
Whatever a dreamy idealism may say, we are forced to deal with things down on the level of practical reality. If when we come to prayer our hearts feel dull and unspiritual, we should not try to argue ourselves out of it. Rather, we should admit it frankly and pray our way through. Some Christians smile at the thought of "praying through," but something of the same idea is found in the writings of practically every great praying saint from Daniel to the present day. We cannot afford to stop praying till we have actually prayed.
|
• 
Andrew Murray