(Part
2)
“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.”
James
5:16 (KJV)
Another
key component to developing a prayer life that avails much is fervency!
Fervency is a strong feeling of excitement or enthusiasm marked by passionate
intensity and zeal. It is not some
emotional exercise we put ourselves through to display our spirituality, but
instead it is the outflow of our right relationship with God.
“For I can testify about them that they are
zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not
know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own,
they did not submit to God’s righteousness.”
Romans
10:2-4
Zeal
outside of a proper relationship with God, leads to sensuality, spiritualism,
and legalism. Proverbs 19:2 declares that “It is not good to have zeal without
knowledge.” In 1 Kings 18 we read the
story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. It was a supernatural confrontation
for the ages. Four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal against Elijah, whosever
god answered by fire; he was God.
The
altars were built and the sacrifices arranged. The prophets of Baal spent hours
dancing, shouting, and even cutting themselves. They cried out to their god to
send fire on the sacrifice, but nothing happened. They were certainly intensely
passionate, fervent, and zealous; but it was misguided.
When
it was Elijah’s turn, he prayed a thirty second prayer and God consumed his
sacrifice with fire. Why? His zeal was directed toward honoring God. In Numbers
25 we read about another man zealous for God, named Phinehas. He was a priest
in Israel, who took a bold stance against the sexual immorality that was
corrupting God’s people. God recognizes him this way in Numbers 25:10-11:
“The Lord said to Moses, Phinehas son of
Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the
Israelites; for he was as zealous as I am for my honor among them, so that in
my zeal I did not put an end to them.”
The
Apostle Paul said in Galatians 4:18, that it is fine to be zealous as long as
the purpose is good. Honoring God in our prayers is noble, good, and right.
Honoring God in our prayers lines up with Scripture and the will of God. The
fervent prayers of the righteous will always glorify God!
Pastor
Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com/
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