The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in James 5:16b,
"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."
Prayer that is powerful and effective is powerful and effective because our God is powerful and effective. Whatever it is the Lord desires to carry out will happen. I am reminded of Isaiah 55:10-11, "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."
In my mind, what makes the prayer of a righteous man powerful and effective is his standing with God. When he asks, God tells us he is moved to act. I suspect there are some who feel they can attain a certain spirituality that provides them special abilities. Nothing could be further from the truth. A righteous man, that is, man of faith, has a special relationship with God who at times will act on his behalf.
James uses Elijah as an example of a man of faith asking God for certain things. As we read of the account of Elijah that James refers to, we find God responding to that which Elijah asked for in 1 Kings 17 and 18. In these accounts we read, "The Lord heard Elijah's cry..." 1 Kings 17:22. In these chapters we read of the drought Elijah asked for, of the widow of Zarephath, whose son was brought back to life, of Obadiah, and, possibly one of the most dramatic of all events that we are given account of in the Old Testament, Elijah's humiliation of the Baal and Asherah priests on Mount Carmel.
"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." A righteous man becomes that way because he embraces God in faith. He gains a righteous standing apart from anything he may do. "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." A righteous standing before God comes not as a result of our efforts and does not enable us to do "powerful and effective" things on our own. What our faith brings is a righteous standing with God and he is powerful and effective. Therein lies the power and effectiveness of the prayer of a righteous man: God acting on his behalf.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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