Effectual Fervent Prayer

16 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.
17 Elias [Elijah] 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.
18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
James 5:16-18

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. As I was rereading the passage above I noticed something in verse 16. Verse 16 does not begin with, The effectual fervent prayer . . . but rather, Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed . Why is that significant?

It is always important that we understand the Bible in context. No good speech writer appreciates it if a phrase of his speech is quoted out of context. Doing so could bring out a totally different meaning than what the writer conveyed in the speech. We must always be careful that we do not do the same thing to the Bible. Many great errors have come from just taking a few words out of context and giving them an entirely different meaning. Therefore we must read the last sentence of verse 16 in the context of the first sentence.

The first sentence of verse 16 gives us incite as to how our prayers can be effectual. We must come to prayer with an attitude of forgiveness, making sure that we are not holding a grudge against a fellow believer, or that we have no unconfessed sin toward another believer. Remember, God looks upon the heart; He already knows the thoughts and intents of our hearts.

Do your prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling? What is your relationship to fellow believers? Have you wronged a fellow believer, or has a fellow believer wronged you? Go to God, confess your sins, and ask for a forgiving heart. Then pray for the believer you have wronged, or the one who has wronged you. Go to them, asking for forgiveness; then, come before God in prayer with a clean heart.

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much . You will then understand the true meaning of verse 16; like Elijah, you will see the true effect your prayers have before God. The most important thing to God is that you have a right spirit toward Him; that you fellowship with Him on a daily basis. If sin blocks that fellowship, cry out to God for help; He will come to your aid.