The Power of A Rightful Prayer

In life, we have different kinds and forms of barriers which prevent one thing or the other from happening. At home, barriers come in between parents and children when the latter exhibit some act of disobedience towards the former. And this does not allow for the free flow of communication at home. When there's an unsettled difference between you and your dad and/or mom, you can't even ask anything from them. Even if you do, they are likely to ignore your request. This owes to the barrier which exists between the two of you. It happens to me severally. This also happens to our prayers when we don't obey God's command. God is light and in Him there's no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). What He hates so much is sin, and it is the only barrier between God and man. God will not stand the face of sinful men and acts. This is what hinders the answer to our prayers.

In Isaiah 59, the Bible says, "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or His ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you so that He does not hear." This is serious. But thanks be to God for His love for man (John 3:16). We can approach God in repentance and with the openness of our hearts and ask for forgiveness. The Bible says "He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all our unrighteousness," (1 John 1:9). You can read my article: The Kind Of Repentance God Seeks.

Have you been praying like what I am about to share, yet you've got no answers? Confess your sins to God with a broken spirit and a contrite heart, and ensure that you are fully convinced about your relationship with Him, and pray again. He is ever ready to receive sinful men like you and I.

In 1 Samuel chapter 1, there was this woman named Hannah, the wife of Elkanah. Elkanah had another wife in addition to Hannah whose name was Peninnah. Peninnah had children but Hannah had no child. So Hannah continually goes to the house of the Lord to weep and cry and to pray for a child. Who do you go to when you are in trouble? God demands that we look to Him alone for provisions like Hannah did. She neither ate nor drink. She pours her soul before the Lord. She speaks in heart; only her lips moved. This is an intense form of prayer. The Bible says the Lord heard her prayer and gave her a son whom they gave the name Samuel. The life story of Samuel alone shows that her prayers were extremely potent.

A powerful prevailing prayer is the one from the heart. One that flows deep down from the soul. Is your prayer intense like that of Hannah? Pray to God with all your heart, soul and mind and He will act.

In the gospel according to St Luke, the chapter number 18, Jesus explains the power of continuous prayer. He said, "There was a judge in a certain city who neither feard God nor regarded man; and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him saying, 'vindicate me against my adversary.' For a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming.' " Jesus was talking about the kind of prayer that can move God to act in our favor. Continuous prayer is always answered.

Therefore by powerful prayer, I mean:

1. The prayer that is intense as seen in the example of Hannah.

2. One that is offered from a heart that is free from sin. From a broken spirit and a contrite heart.

3. Prayer that is continuous, without ceasing.

4. Prayer that is offered by the church ( can be a gathering of two or three people). (James 5:14).

5. The prayer of faith (James 5:15).

1. Forgiveness of Sins:

Psalms 51 paints a picture of how sins are forgiven. Our sins cannot be forgiven by offering sacrifices in cash or in kind to God. The sacrifice God demands and accepts is a broken spirit and a contrite heart. And prayer gives us the privilege to offer up such sacrifices to Him. Powerful prayers compel God to forgive us our sins and to draw us to Himself. God will never despise a broken and contrite hearted man.

2. Sicknesses and Diseases Surrender:

Jesus is a man of prayer. Many times Jesus withdraws to a lonely place to pray ( Mark 1:35). Because of this He has power over diseases and sicknesses. Wherever He goes He heals. The secret to this is His continuous powerful prayer life. In Matthew 17:21, Jesus said, "Howbeit, this kind goeth out not but by prayer and fasting." We wonder why diseases and sicknesses dwell comfortably among us and in us today, it is because we are not prayerful enough. Powerful prayers even have power to raise the dead.

3. Powerful Prayers are Incense to God:

In the Old Testament, offerings were burnt on the altar of the temple as an incense to God. Now, we don't have those things because Jesus has offered Himself up once for all. The incense we raise to the nostrils of God is our prayers. In Revelation 5:8 we read, "And when he (the Lamb) had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints." You read it right. The prayers of the saints are being accumulated in a golden bowl as an incense offering to God. Is yours part? Let's start praying because it gladdens the Lord's heart.

4. The will of God is established:

As already stated, God is all sufficient, and He calls us to completely rely on His sufficiency for everything. He created life and death. He has everything we need. Prayer is what unleashes God's power and provisions in our lives. It is the will of God that men enjoy peace, health, success, and every good thing on planet Earth. It's left with us to offer up prayers to Him, for Him to act in our favor. That's how the master went, should not the servant tread it still?

In Acts chapter 16, reading from the verse 25, "About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken..." Many times when we pray fervently, with singing of hymns and psalms and with fasting, there is earthquake. Dr Sam Owusu, the Senior Pastor of Calvary Worship Center, Surrey, Canada, shared how their high school's administration block shook one night when they were praying. Many of such incidents happen. The truth, as written in Revelation 6:12, is that the prayers of the saints are accumulated in golden bowl and sealed. When this seal is opened, which is the sixth seal, the Bible says there's a great earthquake. This is the power of our prayers.