The Power of Prayer: Prevailing through Faith
The scripture below has always stood out for me in many years past which says,
“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availed much” (James 5:16).
A dear sister learnt about exercising spiritual authority and decided to act her faith. It had been cloudy and a downpour was imminent. Stepping out of her home, she commanded the rain to hold its peace. But soon enough, the rain started pouring down. She commanded the rain to cease, but the more she issued those commands, the heavier the downpour, and the more she got drenched.
She had read that Elijah stopped the rains from falling for three and a half years (1 Kings 17), and so she thought, “If Elijah could do that, why couldn’t I?” But there’s something the young sister didn’t understand.
If you only studied 1 Kings 17, you might run off with the view that Elijah merely proclaimed that there would be no rain, stormed out of Ahab’s palace, and the clouds were shut. James 5:17 shows us there was something more: “…he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.”
Before Elijah declared that there’d be no rain, he had already settled the matter with God. He had prevailed with God in prayer, bringing strong reasons that subdued the forces against his declaration. Jesus made it clear in Matthew 5:45 that sending down rain is solely God’s domain: “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”
What Elijah did was to bring his strong reasons before the Lord in prayer, and the Lord granted his request. This is what you do when dealing with cases or issues that seem stubborn. You must first prevail in prayer. There must first be moments of intense, heartfelt, earnest prayer, supplication, intercession, and giving of thanks. Such prayer, the Bible says, makes tremendous power available, dynamic in its working (James 5:16 AMP).
Oh, how God by His love, gave us the right strategies as detailed in the scriptures. Praise be to God! I can’t underestimate the importance of prayer for all of us if we are to make credible changes that will impact the world around us.
Get up child and make a demand through prayer coupled with thanksgiving in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, so the forces of darkness are rendered weak and without options for our generation. As a ministry, we are people of prevailing prayer, and our prayer counselors are always ready to join their faith with yours for any need you may have.
This is your time for grace, and let these words inspire you to take advantage of what’s yours in Christ. Send us an email: prayer@christvictorypraise.org with your prayer requests directed to the man of God, Senior Pastor Brian D, and the prayer counselors who will specially pray for your needs, and kindly remember to testify of what God has done for surely, God answers prayer offered in faith.
We thank God for testimonies so far reported to our attention, and we will be glad to hear yours, for with God, nothing is impossible.