Fervent Prayer

I have prayed for a lot of things, circumstances, and people over the years, as I’m sure you have, too. Some of my prayers have been short and intense, like the time an oncoming car swerved into our path one winter coming back from Rockland. Others have been long and passionate, such as the time our precious daughter rebelled against the Lord in her teens and early 20s. Most of my prayers, however, probably fall into the category of being very routine. 

Men, this prompts me to ask the question, “are my passionate, intense prayers more effective than my routine prayers?” While I may not have all the answers to that question, I would like us to consider the following thoughts on the subject. Then you decide.  

To begin with, the fact that our attitude in prayer in important is not debatable. Quoting Isaiah in Matthew 15:8 Jesus said, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” (NIV) God is much more concerned about our hearts than our words! God knows if we are serious, or not. 

Also, James 5:16 says, “…the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” [Emphasis mine] While we may not be able to say for certain how effective our routine prayers are, we do know that our fervent prayers move our God to act.  

I wish I had time to examine the many stumbling blocks to attaining fervency in our prayers, just let me say here that I have seen one in my own life that leads to all the other stumbling blocks…that is unconfessed and unrepentant of sin. When I am in this condition, the Lord will not hear my prayers (Psalm 66:18). Then my distance from the Lord leads to apathy, laziness, distraction, and many others. 

How about you, friend? Is there anything preventing you from experiencing real, deep, fervency in your prayer life? If there is, may I encourage you to get authentic with your God and deal with it? He will forgive you, heal you, and draw you back into fellowship with Himself. He will revive you and your prayer life!