Power of Prayer – James 5:16

Prayer is powerful! And the power of prayer is real and tangible. As real as anything we can see or touch. It is a source of strength that we, as Christians, can tap into at any time, day or night. This verse from James 5:16 sums up this incredible power perfectly.

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

                                                               James 5:16

As I was researching, I came across some articles that claimed the power of prayer is a mysterious force. Honestly, I just don’t believe that. Prayer is not a mystery that we can’t comprehend. Like most things pertaining to God, it is simple and easy to understand.

So, if prayer is not a mysterious force, what is it? And why is prayer so powerful?

Prayer is our direct line to God. When we call on Him, He hears us and He answers. It’s simple, maybe too simple for some people. Maybe they want it to be mysterious and complicated for some reason that is beyond me. But I believe in a God who loves me and wants to hear from me as much as I want to hear from Him. And I believe in the power of prayer too.

Prayer has the power to make things happen. Not because of our own strength, but because we have been declared righteous through faith in Jesus. He alone is the reason that our prayers have power!

What does James 5:16 mean?

For the answer let’s look at an example of the power of prayer in action in the next scripture…

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

                                                              James 5:17-18

Elijah believed in God and therefore was a righteous man. He prayed for the rain to be withheld and the Lord answered him. Then he prayed for the rain to come, and the Lord answered again.

Through his faith, Elijah shows us the meaning of fervent prayer and how it avails much. He didn’t just say a little prayer every now and then. He prayed continually and earnestly that God would keep the rain from falling. Then he prayed for the Lord to bring the rain. In both circumstances, the Lord heard and answered Elijah’s prayers. (You can read more about Elijah in 1 Kings)

And because we are righteous in God’s eyes, our prayers are effective and powerful tools too. We just need to practice the same kind of faithful and consistent prayer that Elijah did. Then the results will be undeniable.

Is there real power in prayer?

The answer is a simple yes. But for us to see the power of prayer in our lives we must first believe in it and have faith in God. This is where the real power comes from… our faith.

Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, Be removed and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

                                                             Mark 11:24

With His words here in Mark 11:24, Jesus emphasized believing in the power of prayer and having faith that God will not only hear our prayer but answer it also.

Sometimes we pray but we don’t really believe that anything will actually happen. Or we pray and think that our problems are too big, too small, too whatever for God. We have a “wing and a prayer” mentality. Kind of like luck or happenstance. Maybe our prayers are heard and maybe they’re not.

But what Jesus is talking about here is the condition of our hearts. Do we really believe deep down inside that God will hear our prayers? Do we have faith God will answer us? Because if we want to see the power of prayer, we must truly believe in our hearts that He will.

Beyond just believing, we can have confidence in the power of prayer. Here’s an open invitation from God to us…

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

                                                            Hebrews 4:16

Prayer is not a last resort. Even though we may see it that way sometimes. When something bad happens, we try to fix it on our own and only turn to praying once we have failed. (Believe me, I’m guilty of this sometimes too!)

But prayer is not our last hope. Instead, it is our greatest offense and our best option in all circumstances. No matter what is going on in our lives, good or bad, God wants to hear about it. There is no need to worry about if it’s okay to pray or how our prayers will be received. We can boldly take all of our problems right to God’s throne of grace in our time of need.

Learn more with these inspirational the power of prayer verses.

In my life, I have seen the power of prayer many times. But never more than when my mom had cancer. The doctors gave her about three months to live, however, God gave us three more years together. And I have no doubt that it was the power of prayer at work. So many people were praying for my mom. Our family and friends, two whole churches, even people we didn’t know. They were all praying for her.

And guess what… God heard their prayers. He listened and He cared. He knew that our family was in need and He didn’t let us down. It was during this time that God allowed me to experience the power of prayer firsthand. I could see how prayer is the solution to all of life’s problems and how we can have complete confidence in taking everything to God in prayer.

So, you see, understanding the power of prayer is not a mysterious thing. We are simply having a conversation with a loving and faithful God.

Isn’t it amazing to know that the Creator of the universe, the One who spoke the world into motion wants to speak to you? God loves you and He wants to hear from you.

Today, I pray you will claim the power of prayer, find encouragement and strength in it, and see the undeniable results in your life.

Now is the time to declare I believe in the power of prayer!

Get started with these Bible Study and Prayer Journals available on Amazon!

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