Fervency

James 5:16:
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

God doesn’t say that the halfhearted, half-falling-asleep, going-through-the-motions prayer of the righteous avails anything. Fervency in prayer is important! We should have some passion in our praying! If we can get excited about sporting events, we should certainly be able to get excited about things that affect eternity!

You’re kidding yourself if you’re waiting for the “unction” to come on you to pray.  Prayer is a decision, not something that you wait for God to tell you to do. After all, He already DID tell you to be consistent in prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:17, Ephesians 6:18). Paul said, “I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding” (1 Corinthians 14:14). If you make the decision to be available for the Holy Spirit to use you in prayer, the feelings will follow!

It is not up to God to stir you up to pray.  You are supposed to stir yourself up to pray!

Isaiah 64:7:
And there is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You…

God is not looking for wishy-washy prayers.  He likes “I won’t be denied!” prayers.  Jesus gave the example of the friend who arrived at midnight looking for food for a friend. Some people mistakenly think that praying that way is arrogant, but God enjoys it.

Luke 11:5-10:
And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut; and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.  So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

The woman in Matthew 15:21-28, who wasn’t even legally under Israel’s covenant, besought Jesus for her daughter’s deliverance. Jesus even told her, basically, that she didn’t have any right to the Jews’ blessings, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer and ended up with what she came for! Jesus wasn’t annoyed with her; He told her that she had great faith.

Do you need help?  Hebrews 4:16 tells you how to get it, and it’s not by groveling before the throne of grace! “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

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