EFFECTIVE FERVENT PRAYER

The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. Our referenced scripture calls it the "effective, fervent prayer" of a righteous man. Who is a righteous man? The new creation in Christ Jesus. God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). On the strength of this truth, the new creation in Christ became the righteousness of God. As a righteous man, your prayer can accomplish much when you pray effectively and fervently.

Reference: Reference: James 5:16 New King James Version (NKJV) '...The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.'

Effective prayer is successful in producing a desired or intended result. It grants notable solutions to problems. Why did the translation (NKJV) add the word "fervent"? Its because such prayer is offered to God with enthusiasm or passion. The passion involved authorises the realm of the spirit to influence your request effectively. As a child of God, the most accurate measure of your spiritual life is your prayer life. If your prayer life is nothing to write home about, your spiritual life may be in the soup.

Your prayer life is the battery that powers the remote control of your destiny in Christ. It sustains your spiritual life. Any Christian who seeks to walk in true dominion must have an effective prayer life decorated with fervency. As a born again Christian, you can rest assured that every great and lasting blessing in your life usually starts with fervent prayer. In other words, your effective prayer life is the portal for spiritual transactions that rain down spiritual blessings upon your life.

The Bible says, 'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ' (Ephesians 1:3KJV). The blessings we have in Christ are spiritual but we function in the earth realm. To activate and access those blessings here on earth, we need to be 'effective and fervent' in prayer. The best ways to make your prayers effective, if you want to access any spiritual blessing:

1. Be specific with your request: If you want specific answers to prayer, make specific requests. If your prayers consist of general requests, how will you know if they're answered? However, you can list all of your requests specifically - in their order of priority - because God is not limited by the size of any prayer requests. He is only limited by unbelief. When you list all of them, it makes it easier to know when they're all granted so you can tick them as 'answered'.

2. Back them up with the Scriptures: This is the right way to remind God about His Word concerning those requests. Nehemiah was a man of prayer who had passion for God's own people. Even though God made a promise to the nation of Israel, they became indifferent to God. On that note, Nehemiah interceded on their behalf. Though they were unfaithful and would lose the land of Israel, He reminded God about His promise that if they would repent, He would give it back to them (Nehemiah 1:5-11). When you back your requests with appropriate Scriptures, you also remind God about His Word and put pressure on His ability to perform.

3. Your utterances must be based on the framework of God's integrity: Pray like God has no other choice than to answer. That's what it means by 'fervency'. Of course you are expecting an answer or reward for your prayer because of who you are in Christ. Then, know who you're communicating with - a faithful God. He is the Almighty God; a loving and a wonderful God. He can handle any problem because nothing is impossible with Him. So you pray with the consciousness of God's character because its an inward knowledge that has constructed your belief system.

4. Thank God for the answers in advance: Once you've received an 'assurance tone' in your spirit that your prayer is granted, start giving thanks to God. Mark 11:24 (NIV) says, 'Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.' If you truly believe that you've received it after praying, then its yours. Just give thanks henceforward. Does God need to be reminded of the request every other time? No. Does He forget what we've asked that we still need to pray more about it? No. Once you have that note of answer in your spirit, why must you keep giving thanks for answered prayer (in advance)? Its because it helps you to perch on the frequency of God's provision and the assurance you've received in your spirit about the provision - till you walk in the reality.

Scripture Reading - Psalm 34:15; Daniel 9:18; Hebrews 4:16; 1 John 5:14.

Guided Prayer: Heavenly Father, I'm grateful for your Word which grants me insight and guidelines on how to pray effectively and fervently. The privilege of communicating with you, the Creator of the universe, is mind-boggling and delightful. Thankfully, I'm ordained to receive all answers to my prayers and petitions as I pray with an expectant attitude, the boldness of the Spirit, authority I have in Christ, and in line with the truths of your Word in Jesus' Name, Amen!