James 5:13-15 says, 13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
Maybe you're like me and you've needed the prayers of others in your life. I myself have been very fortunate over the years to have a loving family and many close friends who have prayed for me. Sometimes the prayers have been answered and sometimes they have not been answered (or so it would seem). Sometimes the unanswered prayer may very well be God's answer too. When we pray we can't expect God to go against His will in answering our prayers, so our prayers should be based upon His will (His word). Our prayers must be in alliance with God’s perfect will (Matt. 26:39).
How many times have you prayed a pray and it went unheard? How many times have you stood in line to be prayed for at Church, and people have laid hands on you in prayer, and you go home discouraged with nothing? How many times have you called for the Elders of the Church to let them pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord? You did everything in a biblical manner, and yet nothing happened.
If we pray for healing or anything else and God doesn't answer us does this mean He isn't powerful enough? Does it means He enjoys to see people suffering? Or does it prove He does not exist? These are often typical thoughts when our prayers go unheard, and the doubts seem to keep rolling in. We must remember that God's ultimate will is to see us saved through the sacrifice made by his Son Jesus, and then conformed into the image of His Son. This could mean that sometimes it is God's will to see us go through various trials in life, for He knows it will make us more like Jesus.
This may sound high and lofty in the theological sense, but hear in our personal life we can forget this and our faith can take a beating. What conclusions can we come to when these things happen and our faith has been rocked? After all we read verses like...
Romans 8:32
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
We read this and we realize what a great love our Father has for us, but just maybe deep down in our guts we have this little nudge of doubt. We read in other passages how God is not only able to heal, but is also willing to do so. (Matthew 8:1-3). We read of countless examples of the love Jesus had and the people whose lives were changed forever as a result of encountering Him. The fact is God is perfect in His love and all of His virtues, and we are the ones who are NOT perfect. The only logical conclusion that can be drawn for the Believer is that something isn't right on our end - the human end.
16 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. 17 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. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.Isn't it awesome that James points out to us that, "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours" and yet God heard his prayers answered them? To say God heard this prayer and did not hear another's prayer isn't to say that God had hearing loss, for God is perfect and all-knowing. If He was literally unable to hear a prayer then He would not be all-knowing, and therefore He would not be God. So it is obvious that God must hear the prayers He doesn't answer too, but He chooses not to give them any response, or not give the person praying His attention. Why does He do this, and how can we make sure our prayers are answered by Him? A couple of key points can be derived from verse 16 above. The biggest point would be to see your prayer avail much (get results) 3 things must be in place.
#1 - A prayer must be effective.
#2 -
A prayer must be fervent.
#3 - A prayer must be given by a righteous man.
Okay, so the prayer must be effective. I would say first that this means it must be lined up with the will of God. I would make sure of this before praying, but in reading about Jesus, He didn't just cast out the demon, but would often asked the demon his name first. Likewise, He took specific steps at times in His ministering to people. He healed many, but in one instance He went through great lengths to spit and make mud from the dirt, then put it on a blind man's eyes to heal him. If Jesus went about His ministry with such specificity, then wouldn't it be wise to pray specifically - highlighting specific sins to ask forgiveness for, and requests we want answered for others and ourselves?
The word fervent according to dictionary.com means:
1st John 1:9 says,
In Matthew 6:14-15 Jesus says,
We must remember that God sees our heart. He knows our motives. He knows what we are doing for His glory and He knows when we are trying to rob Him of His glory too.
Oswald Chambers, in "My Utmost For His Highest" said,
A final question. Does God hear the prayers of those who are not Christians? By this I mean the ones who have not repented of their sins, accepted Christ as Lord and Savior? Yes and No. I say this because this person has no legal right to ask anything from God until they ask for one thing. When the lost person asks for forgiveness of their sins, and becomes Born Again then they finally have the legal right to ask and receive from their Father (John 9:31, 1st Peter 3:12). Prior to this God wasn't their Father, but Satan was their father (John 8:44).
Once you are a Child of God however, a whole new world of promises from the Father opens up to you. If you are in obedience to Him then you are in right standing with Him, so you may pray and expect results from a loving Father who hears you!
1.having or showing great warmth or intensity of spirit, feeling,enthusiasm, etc.; ardent: a fervent admirer; a fervent plea.
2.hot; burning; glowing.The Bible tells us that God loves a cheerful giver, but when it comes to giving our prayers to God we seldom think of having this attitude. Usually we are desperate or feeling down, and needing His help. God's word however tells us that there is a specific way to approach Him with our prayers. If we are coming to Him with enthusiasm (a fervent attitude) it could only be because we first realize He is the only One we trust and believe in - He is GOD, and He will reward us for we diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)
More than likely this third point hinders our prayers from being heard by God more often than we think. First of all we must be righteous (in right standing with God). When it comes to our salvation the matter is settled for we have already accepted Him as the sacrifice for our sins. This doesn't mean God doesn't care if you sin anymore once you are saved, for remember, God's will is to see us become more like Jesus. Christians have a promise when they sin however.
1st John 1:9 says,
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.So it can be concluded that if there is unconfessed sin in a believer's life, or if they are living in a sinful lifestyle that is not in obedience to God's word, then their prayers are not going to be heard. So if you pray, then you should first make sure you are IN RIGHT STANDING (righteous) before God. With this principle in mind, if you call the Elders of the Church together to anoint you with oil and pray for your healing, if they are not in right standing with God, then it was a useless endeavor.
In Matthew 6:14-15 Jesus says,
14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.So here we find another condition that needs to be met to acquire an answered prayer from God. This passage follows the Lord's Prayer, or as I refer to it, the Model Prayer. (but that's for another blog). So see that if the prayer is not effective, not fervent, not from a man who is in right standing with God due to unconfessed sin or a sinful lifestyle, and one who harbors unforgiveness towards another, then their prayers are in vain.
We must remember that God sees our heart. He knows our motives. He knows what we are doing for His glory and He knows when we are trying to rob Him of His glory too.
Oswald Chambers, in "My Utmost For His Highest" said,
The main idea in the region of religion is – Your eyes upon God, not on men. Do not have as your motive the desire to be known as a praying man. Get an inner chamber in which to pray where no one knows you are praying, shut the door and talk to God in secret. Have no other motive than to know your Father in heaven. (9/16 Devotion)Are the people you are asking to pray for you seeking after God, or do they want to be known as praying men (or women)? Most importantly, are you seeking to know God yourself, or do you have an ulterior motive to steal His glory for yourself? If this is you, then you need to repent, and confess this to the Father. You can then have righteousness restored.
A final question. Does God hear the prayers of those who are not Christians? By this I mean the ones who have not repented of their sins, accepted Christ as Lord and Savior? Yes and No. I say this because this person has no legal right to ask anything from God until they ask for one thing. When the lost person asks for forgiveness of their sins, and becomes Born Again then they finally have the legal right to ask and receive from their Father (John 9:31, 1st Peter 3:12). Prior to this God wasn't their Father, but Satan was their father (John 8:44).
Once you are a Child of God however, a whole new world of promises from the Father opens up to you. If you are in obedience to Him then you are in right standing with Him, so you may pray and expect results from a loving Father who hears you!
