Fervent Effective Prayer
It’s Time for a Global Prayer Storm
James 5:16 NKJV – “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.”
Storms are arising around the world. Often storms are compared with weather terminology. You can have other kinds of storms: a storm of anger or protest; or a storm of the opposite emotion, such as a storm of laughter; a storm or bombardment of objects, a storm or torrent of communication. When we use the word storm as a verb, we talk about military type storming of a fortified location, often suddenly and with great force, in order to attack and capture it. We also, of course, say it is “storming” when the sky is dark, lightning flashes, and the wind blows, driving rain or snow before it.
A Prayer Storm is when people cry out, not just quietly but in a passionate, verbal way, asking God, in the name of Jesus, to change things. We are calling forth the strong winds of the Spirit and the glorious flashings of His brilliant presence. We want Him to shatter the darkness with His light. We are holding up targets for Him to aim at. Come, Lord! Come here to my city. Storm the gates! Blow us out of our comfortable traditions. Break off our blinders. Strike our enemies. Win back Your people.
The Effectual Prayer
In our Global Prayer Storm we must raise up Effective Prayer for Israel, Revival in the Church, the Greatest Youth Awakening, Crisis Intervention, Governmental Intercession, and the other causes the Holy Spirit leads us into. The apostle James told us that “…the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16 KJV). That word, effectual (or effective, in modern translations) is, in Greek, energeo, and it implies something that has worked in you and that is, therefore more effective.
It is vital to get beyond dutiful, rote repetition in our prayer, even repetition of Scriptural prayers, and to tap into the recesses of God’s heart as you pray. We want to have information plus revelation from God’s mind and heart worked into our minds and hearts. Then we will be able to really pray. Then our prayers will hit the mark. So let’s join together for some history making global intercession in our day and time!
