Effective, Fervent Prayer

"“It shall come to pass
That before they call, I will answer;
And while they are still speaking, I will hear."

Isaiah 65:24 (NKJV)

John Knox prayed, and the Church in Scotland burst into new life. John Wesley prayed long and often, and the Methodist movement was born, spreading across two continents and transforming lives in numbers too large to count. Martin Luther prayed earnestly, and the Reformation exploded across Europe, changing the course of Christianity and of Western civilisation.

These were not exceptional cases. They were demonstrations of a principle that runs through the entire Bible: earnest, faith-filled prayer, offered by people who genuinely believe they are speaking to the living God, changes things. Big things. Historical things. Personal things.

James says the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Avails much. Those two words are worth sitting with. Prayer does something. It is not simply the subjective experience of feeling connected to God, though that is real and valuable. It is an objective force that moves things in the spiritual realm and, through that movement, in the material one.

God says through Isaiah: before they call, I will answer. While they are still speaking, I will hear. That is not a description of prayer as an afterthought or a last resort. It is a description of a God who is already leaning in before the words are formed, already responding to the inclination of the heart toward Him.

Why, then, do we pray so casually? Why do we approach this extraordinary privilege with such a lack of seriousness and urgency? I think it is because we have lost our sense of what prayer actually is. We have reduced it to a quiet personal moment rather than what it truly is: an audience with the Sovereign of the universe, who is willing to hear and to act.

Knox, Wesley, Luther: they knew they were up against overwhelming forces. And they knew that prayer was not their last resort. It was their primary weapon.

Pray today with that kind of fervency and that kind of faith. God is already leaning in.

Prayer: Lord, restore in me a genuine, fervent, faith-filled prayer life. Forgive me for the casualness and the distraction. I want to pray the kind of prayer that avails much, that trusts You fully, that expects You to hear and to move. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Pastor Ras
All Nations Community Church

Enjoyed today’s devotional? Sign up for our newsletter and never miss a daily devotional.