James 15-16, “And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
The Bible encourages the common man, the layman, to pray. An unsaved person
is not "righteous." A born-again Christian is not righteous of himself; but
rather, has the imputed
(passed unto his account) righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans
4:5-6). Literally, the moment that a person is saved, God places the
righteousness of Jesus Christ upon us; and Christ took our sins upon Himself
at Calvary (2nd Corinthians 5:21). Amen!
You can pray all day, but if you have never personally received Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God (Who died, was buried and rose again), then God is not obligated in any way to listen nor answer your prayers. Hebrews 4:15-16 makes this clear, teaching that Jesus is our heavenly High Priest, to Whom we should boldly (with confidence, not arrogance) approach the throne of mercy to obtain GRACE TO HELP IN TIME OF NEED.
All of God's children have a right (a right granted on the basis of Christ's
blood sacrifice alone) to approach God's throne. Do you realize that only
the high priest was allowed into the holy of holies in the Old Testament,
and if he entered without the blood of a spotless male lamb, God killed that
priest. But today, hallelujah, we have free access to God's throne of grace
because of the precious blood of Jesus Christ which washes our sins away
(1st Peter 1:18-19; 1st John 1:7). So that's the first and most important
thing, you must be saved, a child of God. No man who denies Jesus as the
Christ can ever be righteous in God's eyes.
Elijah Knew That Ahab and Jezebel Were Wicked
I'm
going to take this Bible topic in a direction you probably won't like,
because I believe that to pray effectively you need to know what time it is
in America spiritually. Nearly all believers are woefully ignorant of the
New World Order. Such Christians say they don't want to get involved with
the things of Satan; yet I hear the same people comment ignorantly on
everything from the 911 attacks to the Middle East military build-up. You
need to research the issues prayerfully, asking God to open your eyes to the
truth, because it affects you and your children, and your children's
children.
Our federal government has been hi-jacked by criminals. The context of James 5:15-16 is that Israel was is dire spiritual condition. Ahab was its king, and he was a wicked king, whose wife Jezebel stirred him up to do evil. Elijah didn't turn a blind eye and follow Zionist heresies that whitewash the crimes of government. This is what we see today.
America's religious right is supportive of war, injustice and tyranny. Former Alaska governor, Sarah Palin, has publicly stated that the Bush administration and our troops were doing God's will to invade Iraq; thus breaking many of the Ten Commandments (thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal...). God is not a criminal.
The above image is an artist's expression of the New World Order (NWO). Look on the back of every U.S. one dollar bill and you'll see The Great Pyramid. This is the symbol of the globalist's NWO. They use symbols as a powerful mind-programming tool. This is why king Nebuchadnezzar made a giant golden image 90 feet high and 9 feet wide. A "cubit" is 18 inches. The image was 60 cubits high and 6 cubits wide, erected in the 6th century B.C. (666). The Antichrist in the End Times will also use an image, demanding that the masses worship it or die (Revelation 13:15). The occult use images extensively. Satan desires worship and allegiance. This is plainly evidenced by all the celebrities and our nation's leaders going around flashing the Diablo ("I love You Satan" hand sign). Search the internet for "signs of Satan."
The All Seeing Eye represents the Devil, more specifically, the knowledge of good and evil which came to Adam and Eve when they ate the forbidden fruit. Satan is the god of this evil world (2nd Corinthians 4:4). Since the Garden of Eden, mankind's eyes have been opened, and men became "as gods," deciding right and wrong for themselves. It is this enlightened state of self-godhood that Satan uses to entice men in the occult. The skulls represent the masses of humanity who are enslaved to Satan's kingdom. Only through the truth of Jesus Christ can any man be freed (John 8:32-36). If you are not God's child, then you're already Satan's child. If you believe not, then you are already condemned (John 3:18).
Elijah prayed for God to send drought into the land to destroy Ahab's grape orchards (from which Ahab made wine). God answered Elijah's prayer. Many widows starved to death in Israel. Luke 4:25-26, "But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow." Do you know why God allowed those widows to starve? It was because Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. Isaiah was a prophet to the northern kingdom, which fell to the Assyrians in 722 B.C.! This is why God gave Israel over to the Midianites in Judges 6:1-13, that is, because they did evil in God's sight. This is why God has given America over to the globalists (the architects behind the New World Order). We have done evil in God's sight. Abortion alone is reason enough for God to judge us. China or Russia may one day march on America!!! We certainly deserve utter judgment.
God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man to do evil. God didn't cause Herod and his henchman to murder thousands of innocent Jewish babies, Satan did. Satan is behind the War in Iraq. Satan is behind the War in Afghanistan. Satan is behind the Middle East build-up. I saw a Christian with a bumper sticker on his car that read, "I support the Middle East build up!" God can't answer your prayers if you pray in ignorance, lies and deceptions. God desire's truth in the inward parts. Psalms 51:6, "Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom." It's a mistake to take one Scripture and run with it without considering the rest of the Bible. The Bible says that much is accomplished when a righteous man gets down to business in prayer.
God hears all prayers, for He knows the very number of hairs on your head; but God is moved by persevering prayer for OTHERS. In Luke 11 we read the Lord's Prayer (really the Disciple's Prayer because He was teaching them to pray). Jesus then teaches them about the man whose neighbor came at midnight to beg bread for his friend who came to him on a long journey. God is pleased by persevering prayer. This is NOT ritual prayer like Roman Catholic chant. God hates recited prayers, which is not prayer at all. Jesus condemned formality in Matthew 6:7. God is not moved by vain repetitions. God wants us to have a pure heart, sincere, honest and knowledgeable of the truth of what's going on around us.
Jesus taught persevering prayer for OTHERS. For our own needs God wants us to keep it brief, but not to forget to pray daily for our needs. Jesus said to ask God to give us our DAILY bread. We live on a 24-hour cycle. God meant for it to be that way. There are 86,400 seconds in a day. We ought to thank God every day and praise Him with a grateful and loving heart for His blessings upon us, despite whatever problems and hardships that we may be enduring.
Certainly, we'll never understand as much as we'd like to, which is why we need to trust the Lord Who sees all. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit maketh intercession for us, because God sees the truth that we are ignorant of. There's no way that we can understand all the evil that exists in this world; however, we ought to at least attempt to research and know the truth. I'll tell you what, I am becoming more and more patient and understanding with others as I learn about the New World Order.
I am not anti-Semite (racist against Jews), God forbid. Albeit, it just so happens that wealth elite Jews own and control the mainstream newsmedia. They own and control Hollywood and the TV networks. Freemasonry is largely a Jewish organization. The Rothschild's family are Jewish, which is why this is so. They are the richest family in the world. In fact, they are so rich that their wealth could easily food, cloth and house every man, woman and child in the entire world. Yes, that rich!
To understand what is going on today, you need to read a popular publication which emerged in the late 19th century, which was eventually published in the early 20th century as THE PROTOCOLS OF THE LEARNED ELDERS OF ZION (or World Conquest Through World Government). Although elite Jews tried to deny and play-down the contents of the publication (just as Jews deny and play-down the true occult nature of Freemasonry today and their agenda for World Government). Freemasonry is an organization within an organization, using the outer 95% as a front (cover) for the esoteric inner group. Mormonism is the same way, using the outer group as a cover for the inner sex cult. THE PROTOCOLS OF THE LEARNED ELDERS OF ZION are a blueprint for manipulating the public into accepted World Government. Argue as some people may, what they book teaches is exactly what is happening today in America.
Perhaps you ask, what in the world does this have to do with prayer? In a word, everything? Elijah was awake to righteousness. Elijah knew what was going on in Israel. The New World Order are like a bunch of fire-ants and we just lay down so they can crawl all over us and kill us. They have strength in our weakness. That's what The Council On Foreign Relations does, using the news media to trick us into war every time. Media Lies and the Onset of War (how the media leads the public to accept war, again and again!). They demonize the enemy in the public's eyes and then people are willing to send their sons and fight til the death. People are so easily manipulated into war.
You'd be surprised how many preachers think Republicans are good people. I've heard so many pastors praise President George W. Bush, even president Barack Obama, errantly believing all the lying propaganda from the newsmedia concerning 911 being an Islam attack, and other deceptions. The newsmedia are owned and controlled by the globalists, who have started and financed every major war for the past two centuries. They thrive on war, making oodles of money, while the world's sons die on the battlefield.
During the Korean War (1950-1953), tens-of-thousands of soldiers died in the last two years of the war while the elite squabbled over trifle issues to finalize their armistice (a state of peace agreed to between opponents so they can discuss peace terms) agreement. It's easy for the rich to send the poor to die for their agendas. If the scum who start wars were required to send out their sons to die first, all wars would cease for all-time. It's our children who die on the battlefield. War has happened since the beginning of history and war will continue as long as man lives upon the earth. Human stupidity will never cease, because people are fools by nature.
So when you bow to pray and ask God to bless criminals, don't expect God to answer. When you pray and ask God to bless America (a nation that murderers babies, produces more pornographic smut than any other nation, corrupts the world with filthy TV programming, and now recognizes same-sex marriage as legal), don't expect God to answer. When you pray in woeful ignorance and ask God to give you a job, while your nation's leaders have sent tens-of-millions of manufacturing jobs overseas, don't expect God to answer.
What I am saying is that if you pray in total ignorance, then you are wasting your time. It must frustrate God a lot when His children pray in utter ignorance, because they don't listen, don't care and won't search for the truth. It must frustrate God when Christians pray and blame Muslims for what the Wall Street gang (the international banking cartel) pulled off on 911. Mega-banks have bought-off our governments around the world. It's illegitimate government.
God deliver us from ignorant men who don't care about the truth, but yet they want power with God and answers to prayer. God cares about the truth. Do you?
Having said that, the words "effectual fervent" in James 1:16 are the Greek word energeo, meaning "to be active, efficient: do, be mighty in, shew forth self, work." Hence, it means to sincerely apply one's self to prayer. Albeit, do not make the mistake of leaving off the part about being a "righteous man." A righteous man is a saved man, one who has been born-again in Christ Jesus by faith. A child of God who pours out their heart to God knows that God hears their cries.
Having said that, I personally believe that there are MANY factors involved whether God answers one's prayers or not. For the sake of time and space I won't go into the references here, but the Bible plainly mentions numerous hindrances to prayer. I believe that God has turned a deaf ear to many Christians today because of their tolerance for crime, injustice and sin in America. Look around you and see, how many professed Christians are taking a public stand against abortion anymore. Like the end of the Prohibition Era (1919 to 1933), all of the Christians gave up and joined the beer drinkers.
Likewise, Christians in America no longer speak out against the evils of abortion; yet over a million abortions still occur every year in our nation (3,500 precious gifts from God murdered each and every single day in the U.S.)! Homosexuality is going the same route, as has feminism, pornography and divorce. Christians are silent. No on seems to care anymore! Do you think God should answer our prayers? Isaiah 59:1-14 parallels America today... our sins have separated us from God.
I'll tell what what "effectual fervent prayer" is not; it's not remembering somewhere throughout our busy scheduled day that we forgot to pray, and then rambling off a mental list of prayers to God just to say that we've prayed for the day. That's what most people who pray do.
I heard a Christian leader (a youth director) once tell me that when someone asks him to pray for them, he immediately says within himself, "Lord, I pray for this person." That way he won't be a liar if he forgets later (because he has already prayed for them). I think such shallow prayer is sad. We ought to be more careful with prayer than that. I tell people that I will pray for them if I know that they're a believer in Christ. However, if they are not saved, then I remind them that the wrath of God abideth upon them (Psalm 7:11; John 3:36). God is angry at Christ-rejecters. Repentance is not an option. God commands all men everywhere to repent unto salvation, believing on the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 17:30).
Most religious people view being "born-again" (John 3:5; 1st Peter 1:23) as "making a commitment to Christ"; but that is not salvation. You don't amend your ways, nor give up the sinful world, nor turn over a new leaf to get saved. You come as a guilty sinner and trust upon the redeeming Savior (Who bled and died for your sins, was buried and arose three days later). This is the gospel according to 1st Corinthians 15:1-4. Note: All Scripture references are from the precious and reliable King James Bible. All modern Bibles have been corrupted for filthy lucre's sake (dirty money).
Effectual fervent prayer is not unobtainable. You don't have to attend seminary (cemetery). You don't have to pretend to be spiritual. God sees through phoniness in a heartbeat. You can't fool God my friend, and neither can I. Proverb 24:12 tells us that God pondereth (studies) the heart's of men and will judge them accordingly in eternity Proverb 24:12, "If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?" Effectual fervent prayer means being honest with God, sincere, nothing deceitful. God desires a pure heart, a desire for truth in the inward parts and a thirst for justice and righteousness. Are you hungry?
In short, God just wants us to be truthful with ourselves. God already knows what we pretend not to know. Nothing ever occurs to God. God never remembers something. There are trillions of billions of known stars to the telescopes of mankind; yet only God knows the exact number of stars, and He has a name for each one, and calls them all by their name. Psalm 147:4, "He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names."
Effectual fervent prayer doesn't have to be toilsome, sweaty nor long prayer. The Lord prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane as if it were great drops of blood. Keep in mind that He was about to be crucified and He knew it. The Bible does not require us to prayer with such intensity to receive answers. In fact, we read in James 5:17-18, "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit." God reminds us that Elijah was a sinner like anyone else, a common man; yet God heard Elijah. All God asks is that you be real my friend. Be real! Our churches are filled with phonies these days. How do you be real?
The truth friend! The truth! John 18:37, "Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice."
The truth is important to God. Sadly, most of our churches are buried in false teachings today about everything from what really happened in the 911 attacks to the meaning of the words "repentance" and "Lord." Things are getting insane! God is pleased when we seek the truth, uphold the truth and preach the truth. Christianity is not about playing a little religious game where everyone in a church meets three times a week, sing a few songs, tell a couple jokes, take up an offering, preach a sermonette... and then do it all over again week-after-week, month-after-month, and year-after-year... going through the motions. Yet, meanwhile, truth is fallen in the streets of America and no man careth.
Isaiah 59:14-15, "And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment."
The following Scriptures accurately describe America today...
Isaiah 59:1-14, "Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity."
Wow! Hands defiled with blood? ... abortion, illegal wars. None calleth for justice?... ten years later, hardly anyone cares what really happened in the 911 attacks. No legitimate investigation has ever been done. No one has ever been brought to trial. The alleged capture, burial at sea and assassination of all 20 members of Navy seal team 6 was staged... leaving no evidence to trace. What a scam! Hardly anyone cares! Who is pleading for the truth? The Bible says the Jews had become apostate in Israel and no one wanted truth, no one card, no one demanded justice.
Notice that the Bible says "they trust in vanity, and speak lies." Is this not equal to the lying mainstream newsmedia in America today? Most people believe everything that the media tells them, no matter how blatant the lies are! Our leaders conceive mischief, such ungodly bills as the recent NDAA, signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 31, 2011. In the new law, the military can now commit homosexuality and have sex with animals. Type on a web search, "NDAA sex with animals."
Most people who speak the truth these days about what's going on in the world are labeled as a "conspiracy theorist" or "nut." The Bible tells us that Satan is the god of this world. Why is it so hard to believe that Satan is behind all the lying, deception and crimes of leaders who smile in our faces and promise us rose gardens and better times ahead. War is all that were; seeing... and more war!
Perhaps you are asking, "What has all this got to do with effectual fervent prayer? In a word, everything my friend! You see, I'd been praying my heart out for God to open my eyes and use my life for His honor and glory since I got saved as a young teenager. I served the Lord for many decades in ignorance, voting Republican and thinking that our leaders were sincere people. It wasn't until after the 911 attacks and other adverse events in my life that my eyes began to open to the reality of the demonic world we live in. I began listening to Alex Jones at Infowars.com and researching the internet, books, documentaries, whatever I could fine to learn the truth. It changed my prayer life completely. Now that I began to see everything differently I needed to pray differently.
I've said all this to say... YOU CAN'T EFFECTIVELY PRAY IN IGNORANCE! Jesus said in John 4:24 that we MUST worship God in spirit and IN TRUTH. I hear preachers defending the Bush administration, blaming Islam and Muslims for the 911 attacks, and teaching that Christian ought to support the blatant treason, theft, and crimes against the people by our leaders. Have pastors lost their minds? The problem is that they are blinded by commonly held false teachings, particularly Zionism, which has infected our churches.
First, the Bush administration are a bunch of criminals that ought to be tried and hanged in public.
Second, the Bush administration orchestrated the 911 attacks, substantiated by a preponderance of irrefutable, concrete and disturbing evidence.
Third, God never commanded us to obey criminals who blatantly steal our money, bankrupt our economy, send our jobs to foreign soil, open our borders to illegals, break all their campaign promises after taking office, and a hundred other crimes against America's citizens. When a man lies his way into the Office of the Presidency, appoints a bunch of Wall Street insider criminals to high positions of government, and repeatedly violates his oath of office... that man should be impeached, immediately removed from office, tried and hung for treason.
By now you should be realizing that you've been praying for all the wrong things for a very long time. God told Jeremiah... PRAY NOT for this stiffnecked people, for I will not hear thee (Jeremiah 7:16). I pray for God's judgment to come upon America. I pray for God's will to be done. I pray for God to show me more ways to fight against the Devil, more avenues to get the gospel out to lost sinners, and for God to help me please the Lord with my words and life. Revelation 4:11 teaches that we were created for the purpose of pleasing God. That's why I am here on earth, and you too. God wants us to please Him day-by-day in all we say and do.
Look at America today? There's professed born-again Christians all over, but yet hardly anyone is standing up against evil today. What is wrong? Why are Christians so complacent? I'll tell you why... it's the television which has DESENSITIZED everyone to sin. People see so much pride, arrogance, lying. apostasy, blasphemy, indifference, murder, rape, killing, molesting, stealing, feminism, divorce, homosexuality and every sin imaginable on TV that sin is no longer shocking. People are numb today to the awfulness of sin. Late Night comedy shows mock and laugh at the sickest of wickedness, and people can't get enough of it. It's fun for people to watch others sin, but God hates it (Romans 1:32).
If you're a TV Christian (which is not much of a Christian at all), then how can you expect God to answer your prayers?
