EXPRESS IMAGE GLORY MINISTRIES
THE MESSAGE NOW
Vol. 5, No. 10 – Sunday, 15th March, 2020
(James 5:7-18)
THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER
‘Elijah was a man of like passion as we are; and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months’. The same man ‘prayed again and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit’ (James 5:17-18).
There is but a single word central to the theme and the many words contained in the foregoing two verses. It is the word ‘earnestly’. The adverb or the word earnestly imports the same connotation as the word tenacity.
Many times, men of our contemporary times have passionately raised the inquisition: why can’t we do the things which the men of God of old did?Tenacity at duty is always the defining moment which defies no for an answer. Tenacity is the greatest antimony of indolence. Tenacity never gives up nor takes the backseat of despair, self-pity or anger. Tenacity is blind and deaf to all things except the sight of the finish-line and the clarion call from the finish-line.
The unchallengeable truth is this: in all things and in every situation, God remains constant and so is His power. So then, the trouble is always with man who is seeking the move of His divine power.
The hand of God is always shaken through heated prayer from a spiritually treated heart. So, if I can profer any answer to the above inquisition on why many Christians cannot do the exploits performed by the men of old, it is the simple answer that God has not changed but the men of contemporary days have changed or deviated from the understanding that the men of old had about the never changing God.
Get this straight and unmistaken: if the spring of any water is impure, the pump discharging the water and the water itself will be impure. So is the case of the heart from which any word of prayer flows, the tongue and the lips discharging or dispensing the prayer and the prayer itself.
Without doubt, Elijah was a man of purity from within to the without. Additionally, Elijah was driven by only one passion: it was the passion to see to it that the Almighty God was glorified with and in all his actions. Elijah was never concerned with personal glory or the praise of men after requisite result is gained. (See Jam.4:1-3, 1 Cor.10:31).
When prayer is offered with idols in the heart; when prayers are driven by ulterior intention; When self-seeking is the force of any prayer; the attention of divinity to such prayers is outright deafness and sustained denial.
The efficacy of God-centred prayer cannot be questioned or faulted. Neither can the power of God to do the things He has done prior to our days be in any doubt. In fact and in deed, even in our days, the efficacy of prayer and the power of God to do the impossible and the incredible is constantly being manifested.
If then, our prayers of our own contemporary days are being delayed, we should consider the following:
1. Is the attainment of God’s glory the focal point of that prayer?
2. Is the trajectory of that prayer tailored along the same spiritual frequency and in tandem with the spiritual tangency of the will of God?
3. Is the prayer flowing from a treated heart?
4. Are there certain spiritual skills and lessons God wants the offeror/offerer of that prayer to learn prior to the prayer being answered?
5. Will the offeror/offerer of that prayer remain strong in prayer after the testimony to the prayer has been gained or will that offeror/offerer subsequently retire into a relax mode until another need arises or the next tragedy looms large? Understand that being constantly on the offensive keeps one from the penalty to be suffered from being consistently on the defensive.
It is the will and the command of the Lord and the Holy Scripture that ‘men ought always to pray and not to faint’. Unrelentedness is the soul of any prayer where the interest to record testimonies is the utmost desire. Did not the Lord and the Holy Scriptures teach us the principles of ‘importunity?’ (Lk.11:8).
Understand that prayer is a Spirit and all who will reap the rewards of its efficacy must be possessed by this spirit of prayer (Zech.12:10). Therefore, the greatest prayer which will prove the efficacy of prayer is first and foremost the prayer which examines the treatedness of the heart from which prayer flows.
IN THE END, TWO CRITERIA GIVES PRAYER WEIGHT AND COMMANDS ITS AUTHENTICITY AND RESULT-ORIENTED ABILITY. FIRST IS HOLINESS. SECOND IS SPIRITUAL FIRE.
Question and Answer Section
Question: When was the last time you heard a force praying within your belly without your consciousness? When was the last time you saw yourself praying so fervently in your dream?
Answer: Hmmm!.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Counseling, Prayers and Appointments: Please contact contactus@expressimageglory.com Alternatively, meet us every Sunday at the address below:
Suit 26, 2nd Floor, Nikky Africana Plaza, 70C Allen Avenue, Opposite UBA/MTN Office, Ikeja, Lagos.
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ALTAR CALL:
Backslidden – living in sin – needing fresh recommitment (say):
Christ Jesus, You are the Anointed One of the Most High. I come to you today as I am. In your mercy, help me out of my situation. Heal my soul, my spirit, my body, my life and my destiny. I acknowledge you as the only true lover of my soul. Please, deliver me on every side and save me through and through. I promise from the depth of my soul to be yours from henceforth, in Jesus name. Help me now O God. Be my Lord, my Saviour and my all in all from this day. Thank you Lord (read Ps.54 in closing and pray more).
HYMN: Christian Seek Not Yet Repose
PRAY NOW:
1. Holy Spirit, please fill my heart afresh.
2. I sack from my heart every kind of worry and anxiety.
3. O God, help me to have the consciousness of your faithfulness in my heart always.
4. O God, please release upon me the willingness and strong desire for praying.
5. O Grace and Spirit of prayer, indwell me from henceforth.
6. O God, please advance your kingdom through me.
7. Treat my heart afresh and anoint it too for unusual exploits.
8. Great glory of God, locate me and cause me to pursue after You only.
9. Present your personal petitions.
