Effective Prayer (James 5:16)

Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. A prayer of a righteous person, when it is brought about, can accomplish much. - James 5:16

There is no one out there who says to themselves, "I want my prayers to accomplish little."

We all want our prayers to be more powerful. We want them to be more effective. So how can we do this?

James tells us that righteousness is what gives prayers the ability to accomplish much.

But as Christians we know that righteousness does not come from ourselves. It does not come from our own abilities or our own worthiness. It comes solely by the grace of God.

Christ offers to give us His perfect righteousness in exchange for our righteousness which is as filthy rags compared to His.

So if we want our prayers to be effective we must allow Christ to pray through us. This means we must be praying "in Jesus' name," not just as a phrase we close our prayers with, but literally to be praying in complete harmony and synchrony with Him.

We must know His will and speak it out into the world. We must know His ways and align our lives with them. We must know His love and allow it to transform us.

And the only way these things are going to happen is if we spend time in His presence. We must invite Him into every moment of our lives. We must find Him in all circumstances.

This is a process, not a one-time thing. But as we engage this process, we will inevitably begin to see our prayers take hold of more power.

If you abide in me,

and my words abide in you,

ask whatever you wish,

and it will be done for you

John 15:7