Powerful and Effective
I am like everyone else.
Sometimes my heart is cold and it’s hard to pray. It’s not uncommon to feel, at times, like our prayers aren’t making a difference.
But God gives us a beautiful promise that helps Believers pray more frequently and with greater confidence.
“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).
Now, don’t let that word righteous concern you.
The term righteous does not refer to the Believer’s behavior; it refers to the Believer’s position—anyone who trusts in Christ has been put right with God through faith in His Son. Righteousness is a beautiful gift God gives all Believers in Christ, as it is written:
“And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30).
So.
If you’ve trusted in Jesus, you’re righteous in God’s sight, and “the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
God says so.
And nothing makes prayer harder than when we don’t believe that—when we think not much is going to change as a result of our praying.
I heard a discouraged Believer once say: “I’m not praying about this issue because God is just gonna do what He wants to do, so what’s the point?”
That kind of attitude does not a prayer warrior make.
According to the Bible, God doesn’t just do what He wants to do; He factors in our prayers. As James said earlier in his letter: “You do not have because you do not ask God” (4:2). So we see, prayer does change things.
And don’t you love it when the Lord does something extraordinary to let us know He hears us?
When I was an associate pastor in San Francisco, I was having my quiet time one morning. A friend, whom I hadn’t seen for a while, came to mind. Let’s call him Darrell because that’s his name.
He knew the truth but was playing games. So I prayed for him that morning with a little more steam than usual: God, would you please get his attention and soften his heart.
So, later that day, Guess who calls out of the blue?
When Barb answered the phone, Darrell blurted out: “Is that husband of yours praying for me?”
I was floored.
We know in our heads that God always hears us, but sometimes He answers in a way that’s just astonishing.
A missionary friend of mine has one of those stories (as I think most Believers do).
He and his wife were stateside having coffee and going over the finances for the month. They discovered they were going to wind up about $1000 short. The husband sighed and prayed aloud, Lord, you wouldn’t happen to have a spare thousand dollars out there somewhere you could send our way, would you?
That afternoon, a well-to-do friend, who lived an hour and half away, showed up by surprise, rang the doorbell, and handed him a check for $1000! Needless to say, the missionaries were dumbfounded! And so was the friend after hearing the story.
“God put it on my heart to get this to you in a hurry. So here I am,” he said with a smile.
O You who hear prayer, to You shall all flesh come (Psalm 65:2).
It’s awesome when God does a wow like that with an immediate YES from heaven.
We get the dream job.
The sickness is cured.
The friendship is healed.
The problem resolves.
We prayed, and then it happens before our very eyes!
And the Lord does it in such a way to let us know that it was Him, and Him alone, that brought about the desired outcome.
But most of our Christian life isn’t like that, is it?
The mystery of why God answers yes or no or wait, no one can fathom.
And strangely, we like to say, “God answered my prayers” only when it’s a yes.
But when the answer is no, or hold on a little longer, or you don’t know what you’re asking (Matthew 20:22), we tend to discount the prayer entirely.
And that’s too bad…
Because the Bible calls prayers “powerful and effective” even when those petitions feel weak and ineffective-–and without visible results.
Brokenhearted Hanna prayed through her tears for a son (1 Samuel 1). The priest in the temple saw her praying and thought she was drunk, she was so emotional. And I doubt she felt very eloquent as she blubbered out her request (for the umpteenth time) to God.
And nine months later, there was a need for swaddling clothes in the house.
Isaiah came to bedridden King Hezekiah (2 Kings 20) and told him to get his house in order; he was about to die.
But Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and managed to squeak out a few words that (apparently) were powerful and effective because as a result, the Lord added fifteen years to his life.
God is a good Father.
I love Jesus’ playful rebuke when He chides those who think their prayers are falling on deaf ears:
If your son asks his father for an egg would his father give him a scorpion? If he wants a piece of bread, does he give him a stone instead (Matthew 7:9)?
Jesus is saying: Come on, guys. Give God a little more credit than that!
When prayers don’t appear to be answered in the way we were hoping or in a timely fashion, it doesn’t mean He doesn’t hear us, or that the prayers in question were miserable failures.
Sometimes it means we just need to be patient.
I like the prophetic word from prophet Habakkuk:
For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay (Habakkuk 2:3).
It’s not over till it’s over, friends. Keep praying and then wait on the Lord.
Right before the Lord tells the parable of the persistent widow, Luke gives us something of an introduction, that I’ve always found very encouraging:
One day, Luke says, Jesus told his disciples a story to show that we should always pray and never give up. (Luke 18:1)
I love that.
I don’t even need to hear the widow’s story (though it’s awesome); it’s enough for me to meditate on Jesus’ point: Keep on praying for:
Prodigals.
Healings.
Breakthroughs.
Keep believing Him for miracles. After all, with God all things are possible!
Your prayers matter and they’re making a difference!
So a friendly little reminder, you heirs of heaven. God, who cannot lie, says your prayers are powerful and effective.
Keep that in mind today.
And every day.
And pray, and watch what your God can do.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their prayer (1 Peter 3:12).
