“Are there any believers in your fellowship suffering great hardship and distress? Encourage them to pray! Are there happy, cheerful ones among you? Encourage them to sing out their praises!
Are there any sick among you? Then ask the elders of the church to come and pray over the sick and anoint them with oil in the name of our Lord. And the prayer of faith will heal the sick and the Lord will raise them up, and if they have committed sins they will be forgiven.
Confess and acknowledge how you have offended one another and then pray for one another to be instantly healed, for tremendous power is released through the passionate, heartfelt prayer of a godly believer!
Elijah was a man with human frailties, just like all of us, but he prayed and received supernatural answers. He actually shut the heavens over the land so there would be no rain for three and a half years! Then he prayed again and the skies opened up over the land so that the rain came again and produced the harvest.” (James 5:13-18 TPT)
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
This passage in James 5 triggers several questions in me. 1. What is the prayer of faith? 2. What is effective prayer? 3. What does fervent prayer look like?
The prayer of faith is prayer that really believes that God exists; that He is listening to our prayers and that our prayers reach His attention. Faith-filled prayers are directed toward God the Father or His son, Jesus. They are not buckshot randomly uttered toward the stars. Faith-filled supplications are just that, requests containing our belief they are heard and will be considered.
What is effective prayer? Effective prayers are successful, those that hit the mark and are answered by God. Prayers that are based on the Word of God (not our emotion or desires) will get the job done. Jesus taught His disciples to pray Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, not our will be done. Praying only God’s Word and not our emotions takes practice and discipline. This doesn’t mean cherry-picking scriptures to find one that fits our desires. It means learning what the Bible says so we can pray effectively (there’s that word again!). Therefore, it is important to pray the answer, praying healing scriptures repeatedly until the flesh comes in line with the Word.
If we pray in doubt or with whining we are acting doubleminded, mixing fear with our faith and our prayers don’t produce. James 5:16 tells us to confess our sins to one another and pray for one another that we may be healed. For this reason, confess your fear to another person (or God Himself), repent, and start over. It’s a continual process to ask in faith and rid oneself of fear, but it is possible with practice to do so over time.
What is fervent prayer? Fervent is an adjective that means to pray exhibiting deep sincere emotion, a passionate intensity that is fueled by Holy Spirit.
Fervency is a noun meaning to show gusto, enthusiasm, fire, zeal, or zest. It manifests as zealousness, prayerful enthusiasm, earnestness, and a serious mindset that is vehement and ardent toward prayer. It is not apathetic, cool, or indifferent in prayer. The passionate intensity does not originate in our emotions or political feelings, rather, it arises from our spirit inside. A righteous anger against injustice is an example of passionate intensity.
Fervent prayer is also unified prayer – when two or more Christians pray in unity for the same purpose. They take hold together against a common foe.
Photo by Matheus Bertelli: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-wearing-bonnet-and-hoodie-1906157/
So James 5:16 could read: The prayer of a righteous person that produces much fruit – gets answered- is the Word of God spoken out by a child of God – or several believers gathered in unity – with enthusiasm, passion, and sincere emotion. They project an attitude of “this promise in scripture is mine and my life is hidden with Christ in God. Jesus paid a high price to obtain this benefit on my behalf and I am not allowing it to be stolen by the enemy. I receive it by faith with no doubt.”
Finally, Dutch Sheets reminded me that prayer for others (Intercessory prayer) is when we war for them, seizing the answer spiritually. Picture yourself reaching out, grabbing a water bottle, refusing to let it go. We SEIZE the answer, not ripping it away from God, but rather ripping it away from the devil who is attempting to rip it away from us.
If we do not resist sickness, it won’t go away. If we do not war for our children, grandchildren, and an entire generation of Gen Z’s and Alpha’s, who will?
Categories: Bible Study Devotionals God's Word Intercessory Prayer Prayer Talking with God
Kathryne
Christian author and truth teller whose words make darkness tremble. Author of two non-fiction books at https://www.instagram.com/tattooedking_book/
Kathryne Leach 
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