BELOVED: THE EFFECTUAL FERVENT PRAYER OF A RIGHTEOUS PERSON!!! One of the reasons why many Christians do not spend much time in prayer is that they feel that they are inadequate in their praying, or that their prayers are not effective. In other words, they feel or question in themselves, “who am I that Almighty God will hear my prayer?” But the truth of the matter is that the word of God ASSURES us that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man AVAILS MUCH. So let us begin this study in Gods word by reading JJAMES 5:16-18, which tells us about one of the effectual fervent prayers of a righteous man named Elijah. “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the Earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the Earth brought forth her fruit.” Now many of you may be thinking, “Well, that was the great prophet Elijah who prayed and it did not rain for 3 1/2 years. There is no way that my prayers would ever be heard and answered like the prophet Elijahs prayers.” But wait a minute, did you not also read in this very same verse of Scripture that Elijah was a man subject to the same passions as we are? In other words, Elijah was a mere man JUST LIKE you and I. Sometimes when we read these great miraculous accounts in the Bible we tend to lift up and exalt the man by whose hand these miracles were brought forth forgetting that he was just a man like you and I, who was being used by Almighty God. You see my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, it was not the man who was or is doing the miracle, but rather it was and is the anointing power of Almighty God flowing through the man or woman, who yields himself or herself to be used by God. Jesus made a very interesting statement found in both the gospel of Matthew and the gospel of Luke. Let us take a look at what Jesus said in LUKE 7:28 about John the Baptist being the greatest prophet who ever lived. “For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: BUT he that is LEAST in the kingdom of God is GREATER than he.” Jesus is telling us here that John the Baptist is the greatest prophet who has ever lived, and that he is even greater than Elijah and Elisha. However, Jesus did not stop there, but went on to say: BUT I tell you of a TRUTH that he of you that is the LEAST in the kingdom of God is GREATER than John the Baptist and ALL the other prophets that were before him including Elijah and Elisha. Now some of you may be thinking, “Well, this verse is talking about being a prophet, and I am not a prophet.” Oh, but you are a prophet, that is to say, if you are a Christian, then you are a prophet of Almighty God. For you see, the word prophet in its simplest definition means to foretell the future, and anyone who shares the gospel is foretelling the future. I will share more about this later on, but for now let us take a look at what Jesus said in MATTHEW 11:11, which reads as follows, “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist: not withstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is GREATER than he.” Here in the gospel of Matthew Jesus did not use the word prophet, but simply said, “Verily or truly I say unto you, Among mankind that are born of women there has not risen a greater human being than John the Baptist, however, I tell you a truth that whosoever is the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist and every man that came before him.” So in other words, if you are a human being and are a Christian, then you are GREATER than John the baptist and ALL the prophets of God that were before him including Elijah and Elisha. Now some of you may be saying, “Well, that is talking about a future time when the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven is with men on the Earth.” And yes, I will agree that the kingdom of God has not come as yet to the FULLEST. That is to say, Jesus has not returned to the earth to establish Gods kingdom to rule and reign for 1000 years. However, Jesus teaches us in LUKE 17:12-21 that the kingdom of God is WITHIN us. “And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go your way: your faith has made you whole.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 07:33:57 +0000
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