“The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].” Jas. 5:16 AMP
Today’s verse shows that our continual prayers make God’s tremendous power available. Surely God wouldn’t want us to waste our time asking for something like his Kingdom and will to be done if that was going to happen anyway? No. Because He gave authority over the earth to man, He therefore must be asked before He will move on the earth. (Joyner The Torch and the Sword 2004) God’s pattern has always been to release His will through man. Andrew Murray said, “God’s giving is inseparably connected with our asking…only by intercession can that power be brought down from heaven which will enable the church to conquer the world.” John Wesley said, “God does nothing on earth, save in answer to believing prayer.” Our prayers distribute the uniting and disuniting power of the cross.
Our pattern for praying as God’s representative here on earth is Elijah for he is the one referenced in the above James 5 passage. Elijah was a human just like us and knew that it was God’s will to send rain, yet he had to persist in asking for God’s will in heaven to be done on earth seven times. Seven is the number of completion, indicating we must pray it through until we see God’s will accomplished on earth. Like Elijah we are to pray expectantly looking for results. When we are tempted to give up and say, “It must not be God’s will,” we must ask ourselves, “What would have happened if Elijah had given up after just one prayer or on the sixth prayer?” Like Elijah, our cumulative prayers make tremendous power available. We must ask and keep on asking. We must seek and keep on seeking. We must knock and keep on knocking. All the while believing that we have received, but that we just haven’t seen the results yet. That’s how Elijah prayed, and he is our model. Our prayers are likened to filling the incense bowls before His face and are poured out when they are full. (Rev. 5:8, 16:1) Jesus gave the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18 to illustrate “At all times, we ought to pray and not lose heart.” A lack of endurance is probably the single greatest causes of defeat in prayer. (Sheets Intercessory Prayer 1996) So let’s pray with Galatians 6:9 in mind, “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.”
Adapted from the Coram Deo Secret
http://www.marisarickerson.com/coram-deo.html
Today’s verse shows that our continual prayers make God’s tremendous power available. Surely God wouldn’t want us to waste our time asking for something like his Kingdom and will to be done if that was going to happen anyway? No. Because He gave authority over the earth to man, He therefore must be asked before He will move on the earth. (Joyner The Torch and the Sword 2004) God’s pattern has always been to release His will through man. Andrew Murray said, “God’s giving is inseparably connected with our asking…only by intercession can that power be brought down from heaven which will enable the church to conquer the world.” John Wesley said, “God does nothing on earth, save in answer to believing prayer.” Our prayers distribute the uniting and disuniting power of the cross.
Our pattern for praying as God’s representative here on earth is Elijah for he is the one referenced in the above James 5 passage. Elijah was a human just like us and knew that it was God’s will to send rain, yet he had to persist in asking for God’s will in heaven to be done on earth seven times. Seven is the number of completion, indicating we must pray it through until we see God’s will accomplished on earth. Like Elijah we are to pray expectantly looking for results. When we are tempted to give up and say, “It must not be God’s will,” we must ask ourselves, “What would have happened if Elijah had given up after just one prayer or on the sixth prayer?” Like Elijah, our cumulative prayers make tremendous power available. We must ask and keep on asking. We must seek and keep on seeking. We must knock and keep on knocking. All the while believing that we have received, but that we just haven’t seen the results yet. That’s how Elijah prayed, and he is our model. Our prayers are likened to filling the incense bowls before His face and are poured out when they are full. (Rev. 5:8, 16:1) Jesus gave the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18 to illustrate “At all times, we ought to pray and not lose heart.” A lack of endurance is probably the single greatest causes of defeat in prayer. (Sheets Intercessory Prayer 1996) So let’s pray with Galatians 6:9 in mind, “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.”
Adapted from the Coram Deo Secret
http://www.marisarickerson.com/coram-deo.html
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