The Power Of Prayer

January 15, 2021

Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

~James 5:16~

When Jesus walked the earth He taught the importance of praying to the Father. He showed the importance of it by doing so Himself. Jesus didn't do anything before praying first. His life consisted of powerful prayer. If our Lord was heavily focused on going to the Father for comfort and help, shouldn't we be too? We are told to.

"Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart."

(Luke 18:1)

Jesus says always pray. However, our words can come out yet we don't understand what we even pray at times. Pray from the heart of flesh He has given you. "The preparations of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord." (Proverbs 16:1)

When we come to the Lord we are given a heart of flesh, we are given the Holy Spirit to dwell in each of us. The Holy Spirit will help us pray from our hearts instead of our minds. The Holy Spirit will provide us with words we do not know to pray on our own; "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit."

(Jude 1:20)

The Holy Spirit is our guide. It was Jesus' guide too; "Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness."

(Luke 4:1)

The Holy Spirit led Jesus out to be tested and then to minister. We are called to do as Jesus did as His followers. Most people have a hard time understanding this. I have heard things like, "miracles ended with the apostles," or "only Jesus was to do these things, not us." The second statement is only partially correct; we are one with Christ and now that we have the Holy Spirit just as Christ did, we are told to do all of what He has done; the apostles understood this and that is why they went out doing just that. Jesus does not say he who is an apostle shall do these things, He says he who believes in me; "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father."

(John 14:12)

You believe in Him, don't you?

Let us ponder this for a moment. Jesus came, was baptized in water and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him, He was then sent out to minister after He did not give heed to satan's tests and He continued to live His whole life praying as a righteous man. As followers of Jesus we are called to do exactly as He did. We are baptized in water and the Spirit, the devil will test us quite a bit when we come to the Lord, we are sent out with particular gifts for each of us to minister and we are called to live the rest of our lives abiding in Him through reading His word and praying always. There really is no difference between us and Him once we have fully come to Him. We are one. Our old man or woman dies with Him and we are alive in Him. We are not righteous on our own without Jesus but because of His blood we are righteous and can pray as righteous children of God; "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

(II Corinthians 5:21)

Jesus was completely righteous for us. He did not sin once. He was perfect, we are not. But through Him we are seen by God as Him and guess what? Satan sees Him too in us. It's a beautiful gift! When we pray in the Name of Jesus with our hearts we are praying in His righteousness and those prayers that are prayed without ceasing will avail much. We can move the heavens and the earth with our prayers my fellow brothers and sisters! We must not let the devil silence us, because that's one thing he always tries to do, as he knows thats where the battle is! Satan likes to distract us with worldly things right as we go to pray, hinder us from doing anything for God and stopping us from praying from the heart as he attacks our mind during prayer. Before we pray we must stand strong and be consistent with what we are asking just as if we are looking Jesus right in the face as we ask it. He is right there looking at us waiting to help with anything we need. We need to be praying for others strongly everyday, especially in these times. In order to receive from God we must ask in faith; "You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask."

(James 4:2)

Elijah was a righteous man of God and he prayed that it would not rain on his people and the heavens shut up for three and a half years; "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months." (James 5:17)

We see what can happen when one truely prays earnestly. Miracles happen. Healing manifests. Demons flee. Doors are opened for new oppurtunities. This is the Lord's world, not ours. He has all authority! "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."

(Matthew 28:18)

When we pray in His Name with our new hearts filled with the Spirit of God we will avail much my friends! All the glory be to Him for this wonderful gift of powerful prayer. Do not back down, pray more!

Prayer:

Gracious God, thank you for the gift of coming to You in prayer with the righteousness in Jesus resting on me. If not for Him I would have no way to communicate with You and get things done in the heavenlies and in the earth. Jesus we are a team and it is the winning team! Praise be to You for all authority and power is Yours! The devil has no place in our works beside You. No matter what he may try to pull against me I shall prevail as I follow Your will, it is unchangeable. I submit to You Jesus completely and I ask the Holy Spirit to fill me and show me the words I need to pray for others that I do not know of, thank you for Your guidance. I know that with my faith in prayer I can move mountains! It's all thanks to You Jesus. All blessing and glory and honor and power forever! In the Mighty Name of my Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.