The effective fervent prayer of a
righteous man availeth much.
(James 5:16)
Fervent (energeo) in Greek means, “to be active, effectual, mighty in”. So, the prayer of a righteous (holy and innocent) person who prays mightily will prevail. Wow! I desire to pray fervently, with my whole heart. There is another requirement in order for God to answer our prayers and that is to be righteous. If we are in Christ as believers, we have Christ’s righteousness by having accepted Christ as our Savior. However we can’t be in habitual sin and expect God to answer our prayers. We need to repent (confess our sin) and turn away from it.
I desire to get right with God and not just to receive favor. I am created for Him and His good purpose and I’m not going to feel fulfilled without fulfilling His plan for my life.
I need to start with better prioritizing of my time and watching less T.V. news and less of whatever the LORD has revealed to me. I desire to be in His will, so I fulfill His purpose in life for me.
I can expect God to hear my prayers if my relationship is right with Him according to this verse:
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears open to their prayer; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
(1 Peter 3:12 WEB)
As a child, I spent time striving for my parent’s approval and acceptance. When I asked Jesus into my heart, I received Him as Savior and Lord. I immediately knew my sins were forgiven and I felt His love and acceptance. I no longer had a need to prove myself because the love from Jesus is unconditional. Based on the bible, I know that I am dearly loved and precious to Him. I had been striving to be perfect, when I realized that it was impossible. I needed to come to Jesus first and He would clean me up. I can’t cleanse myself. His love is based on grace and not performance. It is a free gift.
Jesus said,
“Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20 WEB)
Jesus offers a personal invitation to receive Him. You don’t have to be good or perfect because He already paid the price in full for your sin. The door is open! I encourage you to open the door and ask Jesus to come in!