THE WORD AND PREVAILING PRAYERS

“…The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” – James 5:16b

The WORD of GOD is central to a life of Effective PRAYER. The Word produces Faith and Victory in through effectual, prevailing prayers. There is therefore a unique connection between Prayer and the Word. Let’s ponder on this connection. The Word inspires prayer, informs prayer, and ignites prayer.

The Word of God inspires prayer. The Word commands us to pray, giving promises of what God will do if we pray, and buttressing these with stories of dynamic men and women of prayer. James 5:16-18 testify to a very important biblical Model of Prayer – Elijah. There are three aspects to this testimony. First, there is a command from the Word: “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (Jam.5:16a). Next is a reassuring promise: “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (v. 5:16b). The third part focuses on Elijah as a Model of Prevailing Prayer: “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” (v.17). What an inspiring story! The Word inspires prayer by instructing us to pray, promising us the benefits of doing so, and demonstrating these through the examples of people of faith who prevailed through lives of powerful and effectual praying. The testimony of Elijah – “a man with a nature like ours” – is an encouragement to the weakest among us, that a life of victorious prayers is possible.

The Word of God informs prayer. The Word tells us what to pray and becomes the content of our prayer. When we know the mind of God in His Word, we pray His mind in our prayers.  Through the ages, it has been the pattern of God to fill the prayers of His praying saints with the great purposes and promises that we learn from and imbibe from His Word.

The Word of God ignites prayer. Such ignited prayer produces tangible and visible effects beyond the subtle whispers of the soul, the deep desires concealed in the closet, and the earnest longing of the saints.  The Word ‘incarnates’ prayer. The Word gives content to prayer! Private prayers produce public power. The Word advances the fulfilment of the missions of prayer in human lives and among the nations. God drives His purposes in personal transformation and world evangelisation by direct encounters with the truth of His Word. Prayers become effective by the reception of the truth in human minds and revelation of the truth in human hearts.

Prayer is fundamental, but the Word of God – the Truth – is the Agent of Transformation! The Lord says: “And You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (Jh.8:32). People do not simply believe on Jesus because we pray for them. They need to hear about Him: “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Rom.10:14). Believers do not routinely walk in holiness because someone prays that they will. They walk by the revelation of the truth that sanctifies: “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your WORD is truth” (Jh.17:17). Prayers find materiality by means of declarations and demonstrations of the truth – the Word.

The Word and the Spirit go together. They are inseparable in function. The Word without the Spirit is intellectualism. The Spirit without the Word is emotionalism at best, and probably syncretism. Prayer is one of the most practical expressions of our dependence on God’s Spirit, but it is best enlivened by the Word. One of the best indicators of the Fullness of the Word and of the Spirit is a Life of prevailing and effective prayer.