Effective, Fervent Prayers – Part 1
NEHEMIAH WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL
Do your prayers reflect a deep, earnest hunger for the presence of the Almighty?
Are you prepared to move beyond occasional petitions toward a lifestyle of fervent intercession?
Could the key to your next level of fruitfulness be found in effective, heartfelt prayer?
| James 5:16-18 (NKJV) Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 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. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. |
Effective, Fervent Prayers – Part 1
James 5:16-18 speaks of earnest, effective, and fervent prayers availing much. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus shows us what earnest and fervent prayers look like, and then in Hebrews 7:25 we see that even now, He “always lives to make intercession for them (us).”
Prayer and worship are the two channels of direct, two-way communication through which we may seek God, speak with Him, and also hear Him. King David wrote something simple and beautiful, yet so profound, in Psalm 27:8. “When You said, ‘Seek My face,’ My heart said to You, ‘Your face, Lord, I will seek.’”
And again, in Psalm 17:15, David wrote, “As for me, I will SEE Your face in righteousness, and I will be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.”
If you have this level of desire for face-to-face fellowship with the LORD, then indeed your prayers will become fervent and effective. In last week’s devotional, we discussed the journey from the Outer Court, through the Holy Place, and into the Holy of Holies. Let’s go further. If we speak to God from the outer courts, we will need to shout above the noise of the world to be heard. From the Holy Place, we can speak. But from the Holy of Holies, only a whisper is necessary. This is also the abode of the most powerful intercessory warriors.
Fruitfulness of every kind originates from a Holy of Holies prayer relationship with the Almighty. The handprints and holy seal of the Divine will be all over any and every business or ministry idea that is revealed and imparted there. Effective marketplace leaders will find the keys to unlock Divine supply in the Holy of Holies. They will be delighted to implement the Divine strategies received there. Think 30-fold, 60-fold, 100-fold, and just keep going from there, because our God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He has no limits! He has all the supplies that are needed to fulfil His glorious purposes.
The early disciples devoted themselves to four things, one of them being prayer, and the Book of Acts is full of the accounts of their mighty exploits, to the extent of “turning the world upside down” as recorded in Acts 17:6.
| Acts 2:42 (NIV) -The Fellowship of the Believers They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. |
Throughout the 35 years that I have spent on the mission field in the developing nations of Asia, Africa, and the Pacific, I have seen astonishing healing miracles of every kind through the laying on of hands, as the Bible instructs us to do – and all as a result of fervent prayers offered up to God from the secret place prior to the times of public ministry.
Why do I say this? There is something that I have observed and learned throughout my walk with God, and it is this: occasional prayer will yield occasional results, but continual, effective, and fervent prayers, prayed from the heart that abides in the Holy of Holies, will yield continual and abundant results.
Wherever we are in our walk with God, there is always a deeper place of greater effectiveness that He will open to us if we are willing to take the time in prayer.
Here are some points to ponder – may they challenge you to go deeper.
- Fervent prayers flow from deep intimacy and yield powerful spiritual results
- Holy-of-Holies prayer releases divine strategy and supernatural fruitfulness
- Continual, fervent intercession will sustain abundant Kingdom results over time
This is the prayer stance of a committed disciple of Jesus Christ.
Let’s pray. Lord, ignite a holy fervor within my heart that mirrors the earnestness of Elijah. Teach me to abide consistently in the Secret Place with You, and to pray effectively so that supernatural fruitfulness and Divine supply are unlocked in my own life. Amen.
This devotional is written by Pastor Steve Harris, the founder of Global Influencers, an organization that trains and equips leaders and emerging leaders to establish anointed communities that transform nations by restoring Kingdom culture from grassroots to government in the villages, cities, regions, and nations of the world. He is also the Content Development Assistant in the Nehemiah Entrepreneurship Community.
What an inspiration and blessed be the Most High for His Word through His Son.
It’s not only sins we needed to confess so brethren can pray for our healing but the sense of unity and not neglecting the gathering of the saints as in the habit of some(Heb 10:25). Throughout a scripture we see themes of togetherness such as one shall chase a thousand and two ten thousand(Deuteronomy 32:30), which means there’s a lot we can do achieve together especially in prayer. Sometimes it is getting across the line, entering into new dimensions, strength to back up a decision or solution like Daniel and his friends(Dan 2:18-20)etc. We all need company and God doesn’t want us isolated even in matters of prayer, only that it’s a community of those whose personal altars are burning for God.
Even if continual, effective, and fervent prayers, prayed from the heart that abides in the Holy of Holies, does not yield visible, continual and abundant results, we are at rest and are assured of answered prayers!