Prayer That Availeth Much!

by Thomas Miles
Published May 20, 2005

James, chapter five, verse 16: "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."

James Rotherham's translation says, "Be openly confessing, therefore, one to another, your sins, and be praying in each other's behalf, that ye may be healed. Much availeth, the supplication of a righteous man, when it is energized:"

The Holy Spirit energizes our prayers and we must allow Him to make the Word of God a reality in our heart. Our spirit will become one with God's Word, and we will start to believe like God believes and speak like He speaks when we give the Holy Spirit access to our hearts and minds. The Word of God will shape our lives and the lives of others through us. The world is hungry for truth and if the Word of God is deep within you, you can give it to them.

Getting into the Word of God is very important.

If we are not doers of the Word, standing strong in faith and talking positively, we cannot pray effectively for ourselves or anyone else. James in chapter one verse 8 calls this type of person a double-minded man. And the double-minded man receives nothing from God.

In Ephesians 4:29-32 it says to let no corrupt communication to come out of our mouths but only that which is edifying to others. It tells us to not grieve the Holy Spirit with bitterness, evil speaking and malice. It tells us we are to be kind and forgiving to one another. We are to be a blessing to others, and we cannot be effective if we speak positively and negatively in the same breath. As James says in chapter three our tongue is the littlest member, but can be the most damaging if we do not give control of it to God.

We must speak the answer, not the problem.

God already knows the problems we have and the answer for them is in His Word! God desires for us to use His word telling Him what we want! To do this we must have HIS Word in our hearts. Prayer, individually and with the body of Christ, is powerful and it's a weapon that Satan cannot defeat. Praise God for the victory even before you have it — we walk by faith, not by sight.

When Satan rears his ugly head we must resist him and be steadfast in our faith as we are told in James 1:4. We are told in Ephesians 6:16-17 we must take up the Sword of the Spirit and the shield of faith and put out every fiery dart the enemy throws at us, taking authority in the name of Jesus! Jesus defeated Satan, the author of all evil things, disease, sickness, defeat, death, and destruction.

We must speak God's Word courageously and boldly. We must walk in His truth, pray His Word and know that He hears our prayers. If we commit ourselves to pray according to the Word of God, approaching God with our mouths overflowing with His Word — we will be victorious!

Prayer is fellowship with God and should not be a religious form without power.

Prayer is a form of communication between you and God. For those prayers to be effective, they must be founded on the Word of God, not on the tradition of the church! Prayer is the Word of God alive in our mouths spoken with faith believing that God will honor His Word. God wants us to call on Him and He tells us if we will call on Him, He will answer with great and mighty things.

In Ephesians 6 we are reminded to pray at all times on all occasions.

Prayer is not a luxury or something we jump into when we need something — prayer is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY AND IT IS MY RESPONSIBILITY! If we have failures in our life, it's a prayer failure! The failure is because the Word of God is not embedded deep within our hearts. As believers, our hearts, minds, and mouths should be full of the Word of God!

We have been given the Word as a foundation, and the Holy Spirit to insure total and complete victory in the name of Jesus.

When Satan approached Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus said one phrase again and again: "It is written, it is written, it is written." Christ knew the Scripture. Christ used the Word against Satan.

When the Word of God proceeds out of our mouths in the form of prayer it becomes power and truth. It is written and because it is written, I believe that I receive all things according to God's will for me. I do not receive because I do not ask! James said this in chapter 4 - "We have not because we ask not!"

Power to change the circumstances around us lies in the Word of God and our knowledge of that Word.

The understanding of the Word is given to us through the Holy Spirit. We apply the Word of God in the name of Jesus. We speak the Word of God to situations and circumstances individually or together as believers praying one for another with joy knowing we will receive!

Prayer cannot work where doubt lives. Prayer cannot work where the Word does not live. When we doubt that our prayer will be answered we doubt the truth of God's Word. We doubt GOD!

Joshua 1: 8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate thereon day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."

Meditating on the Word is communing with God in His language! We confess life to self and to others by doing this. As believers, we are called to be intercessors, and He tells us to come boldly in the name of Jesus, asking and believing that we receive.

Step into the Holy Ghost boldness and pray effectively one for another!

And, this, is the boldness which we have towards him: that, if anything we ask according to his will, He doth hearken unto us. And, if we know that he doth hearken unto us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the things asked, which we have asked of him. For if you "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."
1 John 5: 14-15

Viewed 3898 times