MamaArcher's Blog

A Prayer That Availeth Much

There is great power in prayer. We are told in the book of James that “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” I learned this verse in the old KJV which says, ” The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” We know that there is great power in prayer and often times the answer to our prayers is joyfully that which we requested. After all, we are told in the Psalms that God grants us the desires of our heart and in the New Testament we are told to ask and we shall receive.

But how do we respond when we do not get the answer we desire? Are we able to accept an answer we did not wish to receive? Do we argue with God, do we find ourselves feeling resentful? Do we fall into the trap of thinking that God owes us? Do we question that God is even correct in His answers? I know this sounds unthinkable but it occurs more than many would care to admit.

What this all boils down to is do we truly believe that God is sovereign? Is He really the one in ultimate control, with ultimate authority, does He really love us with a love bigger than what we as mere humans can comprehend, or does He not?

I just finished reading Job and am astounded at how much he grasped the concept of the sovereignty of God. After all that befell Job, look at what he had to say.

“But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” Job 2:10

Do we have the depth of relationship with God to be able to speak in such a way?

I have often seen others who rest in the fact that God grants the desires of our hearts but they do not consider this in context.

Psalm 37: 3-5
Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.

We are to be trusting in the Lord, befriending faithfulness, delighting, and committing. We are to be relying upon the Lord. When one does these things we grow in grace and our desires develop into the desires of the Lord. When this happens we realize that His will in all things should be our desire. We move more from the temporal desires to the eternal desires. Our prayers will change to not merely praying for physical healing but also and foremost that the Lord would heal the heart, strengthen the character, draw others to Himself, bring comfort and wisdom, and be glorified. Our main desire is that God’s will would be done and we can then rest in Him and His sovereignty regardless of the outcome.

Jesus modeled this for us when He was in the garden praying. Jesus, being God, already knew the answer.

Luke 22:42-45 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.

I believe as the scripture says, prayer does availeth much. I think that sometimes we may loose sight of the fact that what that “availing much” may be is to make us more like Christ. We will never be satisfied with the Lord if we see the availing much as only the physical desire being granted. I spoke with a woman once who told me that she demands things of God. Yes, we are able to come boldly before the throne but we should never forget our position before God. Prayer should mold us to God’s desires rather than trying to bend Him to our desires.