THE FERVENCY OF PRAYER

THE FERVENCY OF PRAYER

James 5:16b- “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much”. (KJV)

“The earnest prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available, dynamic in it working”. (AMPC)

Prayer is the master key.  It is and will always be our way out of the predicaments and issues of our lives. The bible admonishes us to ceaselessly pray (1Thessalonians 5:17-Pray without ceasing). Prayer is a very vital tool in the hands of a believer. With it, we can force the heaven to open on our behalf. It is a form of communication between man and his creator, one which is important if we must break through in our present day world. 

But many have forgotten the place of prayer in their daily life. Some even go about their day-day activities without saying a word to their creator, forgetting that it is only when we call on Him that He can show up on our behalf. We expect a prosperous day ahead, a joyous one, a happiness filled day, disregarding the fact that only the creator, God himself can do it.

Some have even given up on the place of prayer because either they think their situation is too big for God to handle or they feel they cannot approach His presence as they have been too far away from him or they feel they have prayed and nothing seems to happen so they stopped praying. All these three will be addressed in our article today. I want to admonish us that in everything we do, let not the place of prayer be taken away from us, because that is where we build strength, we are empowered to face anything that comes our way. This world in which we are is full of evils and ills, it will take a prayerful Christian to steer the wheel of this world. Prayer is our weapon of warfare. The bible says that “for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal…” (2Corinthians 10:4). The word also says, “for we wrestle not against flesh...” (Ephesians 6:12) Prayer is our spiritual leverage against the host of darkness.  Take away prayer from the life of a child of God and such person is a walking dead. He is just like a farmer going to the farm with nothing to make ridges or clear the grasses, or a hunter going to hunt without his tools and implements, such a futile journey.

For the above first category, no situation is ever too big for GOD to handle. Remember He said in HIS word, “I am the GOD of all flesh, is there anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27), believe God on his word, He said as the covenant of day and night stands, so also His word stands. HE said “my covenant will I not break…” (Psalm 89:34); we serve a covenant keeping God and there is no problem too big that he cannot solve. A song writer sang in his lyrics, there is no mountain you will climb up, no wall you won’t keep down. As long as we are His, there is no battle of ours he won’t fight on our behalf; when we have the knowledge of this, we need not worry.  Can your battles be as tough as those faced by Paul (his sufferings, tribulations, even unto death), the three Hebrew boys, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Daniel who was ganged up against and thrown into the den of lions or are you facing the same problem our fathers of old faced; Abraham, Joseph in the hands of Potiphar’s wife or the Israelites who were in captivity for 430 years in Egypt. There is nothing we can ever face that God has no power over- I am the God of all flesh, HE said.  I want us to understand when it looks like we are faced with difficult challenges, God never promised us of a  challenge free life neither did he say we won’t go through struggles, but he said be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world (John 16:33.) Believe God has overcome that problem before you are even faced with it. Just take a look at your surroundings, the same God that created everything you can see in 6 days, believe your situation is too small for him to handle. I want to show us a little trick that the devil uses, he knows how small the problem we are facing is to God but he makes it look so big before us and then all we can see is the giant problem facing us and not the super-giant God who can overcome it. Trust in God, go down on your knees and pray with all fervency and see if he will not show himself. King Hezekiah was faced with a dilemma, he was told by a very vibrant prophet he was going to die, but all he did, instead of worry about what has been said concerning him, instead of worrying about what to do, immediately he thought of what God can do.  I want to urge us instead of thinking of what we can do, let’s hold GOD to His word and He will not fail us.

For those that think God no longer hears them because they have committed sin or no longer seek His face, our God is a just and righteous God, he won’t condone sin (Psalm 26:5)but He is also merciful and is capable of forgiveness (1 John 1:9; 2:1-2). He said if we call unto Him, He will answer us.  As long as we know we have sinned and we ask God for His mercy, HE is compassionate enough to forgive and heed our call. The only thing that will make him not hear us when we call to Him is if we still abhor sin in us. We know that God hates the nature of sin hence He said flee from all appearances of evil. If he despises it then whatever He despises, ask Him to cleanse you of it and come unto Him, He is just to hear us.

For those that say I have prayed and nothing seems to be forth-coming, I have even fasted and gone to prayer grounds but it seems like God is not hearing me. I want you to understand that God hears all and he sees all. Let’s not because of this, lose faith in God or lose faith in the potency of prayer and seek other alternatives. There is no alternative outside God. Daniel was faced with similar problem, in his case he has been praying concerning certain revelation and it looked like the gates of heaven were shut against him. So many are in this position today, but as we were made to understand his answers were delayed, but he continued to press, he did not say I expected my answers the first day, second day passed, no result, then I won’t pray any more. HE kept on with it and God brought forth his answers. Sometimes, when we pray and it looks like no answers, still continue on that altar, pray without ceasing as the bible admonishes us. 

When we relax and stop praying, is that when we expect the solution to show forth? NO. The delay to our prayers might be because there is something we are holding back in our lives that will debar our answers or we need to overcome the forces of darkness trying to conquer our prayers. We should remember God’s words about being fervent and effective in our prayers. One thing I have also enjoyed its efficacy is the place of Praise as an addition to our prayers, it has a way of fast-tracking our blessings (Acts 16:25-26). You think your answers are not coming, add the element of praise to it then see the manifestations of God’s divine presence.