James 5:16b NKJV
Psalm 91:1-4 NKJV
I John 2:1-2 NKJV
Revelation 5:8 NKJV
James Series
James’ words in James 5:16b beg the question, what really is prayer?
The specific definition says,“The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
In this section of chapter 5, verse 16 the author begins by using the Greek word, ischuo’ telling us, “For the believer, ischuo’ refers to the Lord strengthening them with combative, confrontive force to achieve all He gives faith for” (https://biblehub.com/greek/2480.htm).
In English the New King James Version translated that to mean “effective and fervent”. The most interesting element of the description of the Greek word ischuo’ is that it doesn’t begin with us. It begins with the Lord. We are not strong. Our strength comes from the Lord. The description of prayer begins with the strength of the Lord.
And what does the Lord give us?
We are given the ability to combat the need, the issue, the ardent desire we bring to God. We stand in the shadow of the wings of the Almighty while a Spiritual fight rages around us. We do not see the battle, but it is real and it is the most important battle we will be faced with on earth.
Secondly, the ‘effective and fervent’ confront the forces of evil that are real and present. Once again, most of us do not see the fight, but it is a fierce battle. We turn to God and while the battle rages on we put our trust in God who is our shield.
In Psalm 91:1-4, Moses wrote:
“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”
Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.
He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.”
The theme in Psalm 91 is not an isolated subject. Throughout scripture we are reminded that as we turn to God, He fights for us. Our turning and our prayers are our declaration that we stand with God. While we declare, we are promised:
God fights for us.
God protects us.
God is our refuge and our shield.
Our effective and fervent words spoken to God tell Him we stand in the shelter of His wings.
The Greek word for Prayer is deésis and it stands for our entreaty, our need, our supplication.
Once again, it doesn’t begin with us. It begins with God wooing us to Him. God knows we have a need. It’s no surprise to God that we have requests. God IS God.
God’s most ardent desire is that we will turn to Him. God wants to be in fellowship with creation and each person, each soul matters to God.
God loves us and wants us to love Him in return. God wants us to bring our requests to Him. He does not want us to suffer through life without Him.
There is a term we studied in Seminary, it is the ‘Now and Not Yet.’ That means that heaven (God) is now in us when we turn to God, but it is not fully actualized…that’s the ‘Not Yet’. When we pass over, we will be fully IN God. We will see God face to face. The light of God will fully shine on us.
Heaven is the ‘not yet’ eternal reward.
A Righteous Man is a person who knows who he/she belongs to. This person knows righteousness is not of his/her own doing. The righteousness begins and ends with Jesus. As we look to Jesus, He covers us with His righteousness.
The Greek word is dikaios and it means the right and just in the eyes of God. Jesus is the only man who has walked the face of the earth who is fully right and just without sin.
I John 2:1-2 says, “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”
Only Jesus is righteous and when we turn to Him, it is Jesus who covers us with His righteousness.
The last words in James 5:16b tells us the result of our urgent turning, asking, and receiving righteousness from Jesus ‘avails much’.
The Greek word is energeó and the verb is translated as energized, working and accomplished. It is a powerful word that tells us when we turn to God and ask (pray) God hears us and responds in mighty ways. Indeed, in Revelation 5:8, John saw “when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”
Every prayer we think, speak, and offer to God is placed in a golden bowl in heaven. The prayers become incense that burns eternally and continuously into the nostrils of God.
When I first read about the golden bowl and the prayers we speak that continuously burn, I was speechless. It forever changed how I view prayer. Our requests are effective, fervent, righteous in Jesus, and an energized accomplishment that become incense that God continuously breathes.
Today’s Spiritual Practice is: pray
Turn to God. Ask. Receive.
In God, Deborah
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