A famous scientist once postulated a theory
which says an object will continue to remain in the state of rest or continuos
motion until it is acted upon by a force…which also confirms the saying that
nothing changes on its own, this applies both to the spirit realm and in the
physical. In other words there is a force or power behind every change that
happens in life!
By definition Power is
the ability to do! Now in our kingdom, we recognise a certain Force/Power
called ‘’PRAYER’’ that gets things
done and which is one of the keys of communication, interaction and commanding
the supernatural.
Every believer prays,
but not every one gets results.Paul says ‘’…Ye ask, and
receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your
lusts…’’ (James 4:3) In this
write-up, we would not be focusing on praying amiss but looking at praying the
will of God and yet not getting results? (Why there are delays) (Dan10:1-2)
A lot of believers
give up easily, when they ask and they don’t see changes. We quickly conclude
that, it is not Gods will for now or it is not meant to be. The truth is that,
a lot of time, it has nothing to do with God, these times, but with our
approach to prayer.
The
True - Correct Approach
‘’…The
effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much…’’ (James 5:16b) KJV
‘’…The
insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective…’’ (James 5:16b) NIV
From the above scripture there are two key
words the writer uses to qualify the prayer that availeth much which are the
true and correct approach to prayer - Effectual
and Fervent.
Sometimes when
believers pray we do not demostrate this two virtues revealed by James, unfortunatly,
it is the effective and fervent dimension of prayer that delivers result. This
has nothing to do with shaking of ones head or shouting on top of ones lungs
neither is it synonimous to being effective and fervent. Until believers adopt
this approach, we may remain in ’’wonder
land’’ thinking a miracle will happen someday that may never come soon
except through the special mercies of the Lord.
Be Effectual- Effectiveness
Taking one of the dictionary meanings by
effectiveness we mean fully equipped and ready for (military action)- prayer. Sometimes
our prayers are not effective as it were, that is, not well equiped to deliver
result. An equipped prayer is prayed in/with understanding of Gods word. Many
pray not with understanding neither is their any scriptural bases for what they
ask for. I am not advocating memorising scripture but I am of the strong belive
that one should pray with the understanding that is drawn from that particular
scripture that gives light to our condition. In another light, to pray with
understanding is to pray in faith ( for faith cometh by understanding and
understanding the word of God for hearing produces understanding ) this is the
backbone of the effectivenesness that we
speak of; for what is the use of qouting / memorizng the sripture you do not
understand?
Another word from our
definition of effectiveness is ‘’ready’’
for action. Prayer should be done with a serious minded approach. A man who is not ready to pray should never
be forced to pray because his mind is not ready, that is, is mind is not set to
engage in the prayer that availeth. When we pray we should have a ready mind
that is set to meet with God and the heavenly host, when we pray we should be
expectant (Prv 23:18) and ready to receive from
the lord and ready to give him what is due to his holy name. Friends! Never
pray without an expectation…it will only end up a fruitless journey. Be ready
to give all and do all in the course of your communing with God as the Holy
Spirit will be leading you. Because, for some; instructions will go out to take
certain steps for their issue to be resolved in the course of the prayers;
those who are not ‘’ready’’ to take these steps may remain on their knees for a
long time. Mary said to the disciples ‘’…whatever he
tells you to do, do it…’’ (John 2:5)
Be
Fervent
By dictionary meaning
we mean showing ardent or extremely passionate ethusiasm. Many do not show
passion for what they ask from God, hearing them or seeing them pray sometimes
reveal how very un-passionate they are. A complete scriptural example of
fervency and passionate prayer is seen in the books of Acts12:5 ‘’… Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without
ceasing of the church unto God for him…’’
The church was passionate,
they had lost James earliear, now they were about to loose the pillar of the
church…they couldn’t afford that, they had to go Passionate with their prayers.
The truth is that many believers pray as if they have an alternative to God,
that is why passionate enthuisiasm is missing in the prayers of many.
Prayer was made for the
Pillar-Peter without ceasing and he was set free….halelluya. Another version
says the church was praying hard (earnestly).
Brethren, this is the
type of prayer that generate results. They were ceaseless in their approach to
the matter on ground and guess what? they got results! It is my prayers for you
reading this write-up as we speak that, as from today, you will begin to
generate results in the mighty name of Jesus.
More
Scriptural Proofs of the True-Correct Approach
·
Hannah
was both effective and fervent in her approach when she prayed and she made a
vow unto to the lord.
‘’… In her
deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. And
she made a vow, saying, “Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your
servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her
a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and
no razor will ever be used on his head…’’ (1Sam 1:10)
‘’…As she kept on
praying to the Lord…” (1Sam
1:12)
·
The
book of Thessalonians also recommends prayers without ceasing
Pray without ceasing. (1Thes 5:17)
·
Jesus
also said
‘’…And he
spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to
faint…’’ (Luke18:1)
·
Elijah
prayed ceaseless
‘’…Then Elijah
said to Ahab, Go get something to eat and drink, for I hear a mighty rainstorm
coming! So Ahab went to eat and drink. But Elijah
climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and bowed low to the ground and prayed with
his face between his knees. Then he said to his servant,
Go and look out toward the sea.The servant went and looked, then returned to
Elijah and said,I didn’t see anything.Seven times Elijah told him to go and
look. Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, I
saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea…” (1Kings18:41-43)
In conclusion, don’t give
up easily on your prayer alters, the fact that, you’re not seeing results doesn’t
mean your prayers has not been answered and that your results are not dispatched
by God through his holy Angels, in most cases, results are held up by demonic
forces, so when we relax or sleep by not praying, we end up short changing
ourselves.
What the true approach
does is to create more heat, agitation and tension in spiritual places of
darkness and stir up heaven to dispatch more Angelic forces on our behalf for
your supernatural breakthrough and answers.Our prayers are like bullets, bombs
or any weapon of assault of war; it is our appraoch that will determine whether
we are releasing a bullet or a bomb. As you employ this approach of effectively
and ceaseless praying…may you begin to generate results.