By: Darrell G. Young
Feb. 16, 2014
Focus on Jerusalem Prophecy Ministry
James 5:13-16 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Oh how much we need prayer! Prayer is a Christian’s second most important weapon in this world, after God’s holy word itself. And remember too, as Christians, we are not “at home” in this world. We are actually in “enemy territory!” We are in fact in “hostile territory” with an enemy ever pursuing us and hell-bent on seeking our absolute and total annihilation.
Given the reality, that we are Christian soldiers, attempting to survive in the enemy camp, and in fact are waging a crusade to rescue others from the clutches of an evil dictator, should we not be better informed and trained about how to use our weapons? Let us consider the following analogy for instance: imagine an infantry troop trying to fight his enemy without possessing a rifle, or fighting without the proper physical training and field preparation. Perhaps he is even deployed without any intelligence report of any kind regarding his enemy. That soldier would be in dire straits, and not possessing much hope of surviving, let alone of being an effective soldier.
The same thing is true of Christians pertaining to their reality of being a spiritual soldier. We need maximum training, in order to be spiritually fit. We need constant communication links to our headquarters for clarity of operations. And we need to be alerted to the “intelligence report” of our great Commander, in order to be knowledgeable about the plots and schemes of our enemy. The Christian’s “intelligence report” is the Bible. Our communication link is our individual and collective prayer life.
In the evaluation of the scripture presented above from the book of James, we can glean much needed assistance in utilizing the weapons at our disposal. First, note that the “prayer of Faith” has the capacity to save and heal. Even more important than that fact is the truth that sins can be instantly forgiven. This easily obtained release leads us into righteousness. Now, I know many Christians who continually complain that the Lord will not hear my petitions because I am not righteous enough. But let me counter that shortsightedness by pointing out that even the vilest sinner in the world gets instantly forgiven of sins the moment he genuinely sends God a signal that they are pleading for forgiveness. Now, the question becomes; “How righteous was the non-Christian at the times he pleaded the sinner’s prayer”? He had no righteousness at all, did he? So, we need to simply confess our sins, and we can be forgiven and be transformed into righteousness.
Still, though, we as spiritual soldiers need to develop our links to God through studying his word and through continual prayer, the practice of thereby enabling us to be “fit and armed” and ready for spiritual battle. All soldiers and armies practice their art, and we must do likewise if we are going to stand tall in the day of battle. James presents the prophet Elijah as an example of a man fully equipped and at the ready for spiritual warfare. But in verse seventeen, we find that he too was confronted with the same problems and the same passions as we often experience. Yet, Elijah utilized his weapons to energize supernatural forces to stop the rain for 42 months. So, there is a tremendous amount of power that is availed to us through the arsenal of our great Commander.
Now, this brings us to the important step of analyzing how we as Christian soldiers can be like Elijah, and be able pray with purpose and power. First take note of the words in verse sixteen about praying. “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much”. That is a great statement and proclamation, isn’t it? The first thing I always have noticed about this exclamatory statement is the last part about a “righteous man” being empowered greatly to mighty things. I oft have wondered if I measured up to be able to have this capability. You probably have to, as will all do from time to time. But we must not stop there with the wondering, but actually begin to pray, and allow God to conform us into a prayer warrior. Most all prayers are about “conforming oneself” over to God’s will, his designs, his purposes, and his timing. After that begins, you quickly become acclimated to the next step as a prayer warrior.
Next, take careful note of these two words, effectual and fervent. Do you know what they mean? The word “effectual” comes from the Greek word “energeo”. It refers to the status of becoming fully adequate to release energy or force. It means that as a prayer warrior that you have the authority to request legal force and energy from your great Commander. It essentially makes you an effective combatant. Now we are really getting somewhere, aren’t we? We all have inside of us a need and desire to be “effective” Christian soldiers, and we’d all like to see some evidence that we are indeed so equipped, and not just whispering words in the wind.
Next, lets take a close look at the second word in this phrase about a righteoues praying warrior. It is the word “fervent.” The Greek word for fervent is the word “deesis,” and it refers to the cooperative passionate intensity that resides in your heart about the person, thing, sickness, or matter that you are praying about. We often call this condition as a “burden.” In truth, while it can be a weighty thing on the heart, it stimulates us into a frenzied burning desire to persist in prayer!
You’ll notice that I included in the above statement about a “passionate intensity” for praying the word, “cooperative.” Yes, effectual fervent prayer is a cooperation. It is a cooperation with fellow Christians, because we are fellow soldiers and yoke-fellows. But more importantly, it is a cooperation with our great Commander-in-Chief, Jesus Christ. We always pray “in Jesus name” don’t we? Why? For what reason do we repeat that line in each prayer? Well, we pray in Jesus name because He is our intercessor, and He is the one for whom ALL glory, purpose, promotion, designs, and results are appointed to. Now, let me add, that Praying in Jesus name is not a kind of magic saying, nor does it carry a magicians wand, like saying hocus pocus. God is not a showman, nor an entertainer, nor a pay-for-show huckster. He moves in very mysterious ways his wonders to perform, and we are not able to understand or even comprehend the multitude of dynamics that He is already engaged in. In fact, before we ever pray (join-in-the-cooperative event) He is already working behind the scenes bring things to a climax. He is engaged in warfare far beyond our lowly perception. We are just the ground forces, and He is the omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient sovereign everywhere, working not only in the seen world, but also in the unseen (invisible) world.
When we pray in the “effectual, fervent” manner, and stay in tune with his righteousness, then we can become tremendous prayer warriors in this world. And we can also become cooperating witnesses, as God overcomes all our adversaries. And when we pray for someone, or a matter that afflicts us, we need to pray over all the detailed specifics about the situation. In the case of a sickness, pray for all the family members, the doctors, the nurses, and even the medicines themselves. We have the power to call down spiritual agents, literal angelic agents that specialize in wisdom, insight, comfort, healing, combating demon forces, and a multitude of other specialties.
Our God is All Knowing and All Powerful, knowing the End as well as the present
I Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing
Colossians 4:2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;
Luke 18:1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
Remember, there are 3 keys to successful cooperation in the power of the prayer of Faith.
1.) All prayers of Christian warriors must be brought into conformity with God’s will.
2.) All prayers will be answered at God’s perfect timing. (patience is essential)
3.) All prayer warriors must be fit, and informed. (persistence is applauded)
