The Power of Our Prayers

"Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests . . . Be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." Ephesians 6:18

"God gives us the Spirit as our teacher in prayer, to tell us what is right and to temper our emotions. We should seek such aid of the Spirit." John Calvin

"Prayer is an art which only the Holy Spirit can teach us. He is the giver of all prayer." C.H. Spurgeon

"There is no man, nor church in the world, that can come to God in prayer, but by the assistance of the Holy Spirit." John Bunyan

James 5:16 tells us, ‘‘The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." There is power in our prayers!

Praise God that the Holy Spirit will help us in our prayers if we ask him for help. He will give us words, both of understanding and in the Spirit, if we ask Him to help us pray. Make sure you ask the Spirit to help you pray. Great men and women of the faith like Calvin and Spurgeon and Bunyan attest the Spirit's loving assistance.

It also seems from the writing in James that there are three key elements that should constitute our prayer lives: We should pray properly, purposefully and persistently. When all three elements are a part of our prayer lives, our prayers are powerful and effective.

The first element of ‘‘effective, fervent prayer” is that we are to pray properly. The foundational purpose for prayer is not to ask for things — although we are told to do that,and we should do that — but to align ourselves with God’s will. We need to remember that prayer is for people, not God. God doesn’t need our prayers, but we need to pray to God if for no other reason than to remember that we are not He. One way we do that is by aligning our prayers and our requests with God's Word -- which expresses much of His will for our lives and situations. Prayer declares the truth of God into our lives and into the world. Praying the Scriptures, just as praying in the Spirit, aligns us with God and declares God's truth into the world.

The second element of effective, fervent prayer is to pray purposefully. God has told us that we are to ask for what we want; we are to be specific. Being specific and verbal about our desires helps us to put out on the table both our needs and our wants. Some of our presumed needs are likely to be seen as wants when we verbalize them, and this helps us to, once again, put things into proper perspective. Asking for what we think want and need doesn’t mean that we are going to get it, but it does allow us to be honest with ourselves before God. And we can be sure He will give us everything we truly need for life and ministry.

Finally, if we are to have an effective, fervent prayer life, we have to pray persistently. The apostle Paul tells us to pray without ceasing, and Jesus used the example of the ‘‘importuning widow” who continually came before the judge to ask for what she wanted until the judge gave in to her request. This doesn’t mean that we are going to be able to wear God down or browbeat Him into giving us what we want. What it does mean is that by praying persistently we will continually seek to align ourselves with God’s will. We are moving in the right direction for we see the light of the lighthouse of God's love. We are allowing His bit in our mouth's to guide us.

Human nature, being what it is, often leads us to think that we are responsible for all the good things that happen to us. Taking time in prayer to thank God for what He has done and to pull ourselves into alignment with His will put life into proper perspective for us. And so our prayer should reflect this just as Jesus’ prayer did: ‘‘Not my will but Thy will be done.” Again, we often find His will for us revealed in the Scriptures. There are many wonderful promises that show us His will. When we see Jesus in the Bible we see the Father and we see His love and caring for all humanity, including us! Praise the Lord!