The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

James 5:16

The power of prayer should not be underestimated. James 5:16-18 tells us very clearly, “… The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.”  God absolutely listens to prayers, answers prayers, and moves in response to prayers. 

Jesus taught, “…I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20). 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 tells us, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” The Bible urges us, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints”(Ephesians 6:18).

Before we can pray effectively, we need to have a deep understanding that prayer is powerful.  Often times it’s easy to pray…hoping for the best.  But if that’s all we’re doing, we’re not tapping into the power God has made available to us.

Two and a half years ago I was down in Florida doing a Mission’s Conference.  My host suggested that I borrow his car to go over to the church to speak to the youth.  Not thinking anything of it, I said sure.  We stepped into the garage and there sat a $75,000 black Mustang Shelby GT500, 725 horsepower engine with 6-speed manual on the floor and a capacity to reach 199 mph!  Oh – my – goodness!  I cranked it up and the rumble and roar that came from under the hood was amazing.  The problem became the fact that the road from his house to the church only had a speed limit of 35 mph!  What an exercise in frustration!  Driving this amazing machine and not being able to tap into the power that was available.We need to learn how to tap into the power that God has made available to us through prayer. We often pray at 35 mph when we could be praying at 199! Next week, we’ll begin to look at just that.  God’s made it available. We need to use it!