THEME: WHATS A FERVENT PRAYER? Reading: James 5:16 ...The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. I was thinking this morning, how important a tool prayer has been my life. I cant seem to recall anything in my life that was not brought into being, by prayer! Then I almost immediately remembered things that Ive prayed for, for like forever and are yet to be AVAILED. That word AVAILED, struck me like a thunderbolt. I rushed to James chapter 5:16. Now, the FERVENT PRAYER of a righteous man AVAILS MUCH! Huh... so, what makes my prayer qualify for the fervent arena? Who prayed a FERVENT PRAYER, so that I may at least copy him? And James did not disappoint; verse 17 gave me an example of Elias (Elijah), who prayed fervently that it may not rain and it did not rain! Wow! Even before I could go further, I had to rush to 1 Kings 17:1, where Elijah cancelled Mr. rains prospects to fall and keep falling. Brethren, what I found there was not what we call a prayer, seriously, what I saw was Elijah just speaking! Not to God...to Ahab; the wicked king! I rushed back to Jas 5:17, may be I went to 1 Kings 17:1 a little bit too fast. To my surprise and shock, I read in Jas 5:18, And he prayed again that heavens may give rain, and it rained. Please note: in verse 17, he prayed fervently, in verse 18, he just prayed. Now, lets rush to 1 Kings 18 and see what the Bible says about Jas 5:18. Guess what!! What James down-plays as just a prayer (by not calling it fervent like the first one) was a prayer that Elijah prayed: 1. Seven times! 2. With his head between his knees! 3. Kneeling down! 4. With his servant checking from time to time if its effect! 5. On a mountain! 6. Etc! Pastor Nesh, are you saying we shouldnt pray thus? Answer: No! No! No! I just want us to study, Elijahs fervent prayer against his other prayer. And this morning, I discovered if you put these components into your prayer, your prayer AVAILS MUCH! 1. Know God: Many times we pray to God like we dont know Him! Paul says, pray in the spirit, but also pray with understanding! In Elijahs first prayer, he says, As long as my God lives, before whom I stand... That signifies a person who has been with God, who has seen exploits in the wilderness while taking care of his fathers little sheep and therefore this un-circumcised phillistine does not intimidate him! 2. Confidence: After you have prayed, believe youve received and you will receive. Do not keep on checking, or sending people to check. If someone tells you, If you are a man, do this! trying to prove to him also means you dont believe in yourself. Elijah believed in himself just as he believed in God in his first prayer, in the second prayer he believed in the opinion of his servant more than he believed in himself. It was not until the servant said, I saw a cloud, that he rose up! Confidence; in God and in yourself! Have it. 3. Lastly, Follow instructions!: James says, you pray and do not get, because you pray amiss. Amiss means, that there is how you are supposed to pray, but you dont. God told Elijah after the draught, Go show yourself to Ahab and Im going to bring down the rain. For seven times Elijah prayed, six times nothing happened! Who told him to pray in the first place??! The instructions were Show yourself, I will bring down the rain! Sometimes we pray for things that God has already availed, dont tire yourself on something that God has already promised to do! Six times! And I can guarantee you; I know many preachers have preached great sermons on the significance of number seven, but it was not praying seven times that made the rain come down. Sorry fir bursting your bubble, but God had already promised it, Elijahs part was just to show up, lest people say, It was just the effect of global warming! Next time you pray, pray fervently. Shalom and keep the Faith. Facebook/pastornesh
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 10:21:15 +0000
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