Potent Prayer

The rocker creaked gently as my grandma moved back and forth. Her early morning chores were completed. Each family member had eaten the breakfast she had prepared according to their preferences and time schedules. Everyone had headed off to work or school; now, it was only Granny and me.

Granny’s reading glasses rested atop the worn Bible in her aproned lap. Her eyes were closed, her lips moved soundlessly, and tiny tears slipped down her cheeks. I sat silently at her feet, watching her pray.

That picture of her, repeated many times during my early years, has never faded. I see her in my mind and heart as clearly now as I did over sixty years ago.

Even as a child, I realized something special was happening when Granny prayed. I never interrupted. I didn’t speak, squirm, or fidget as I sat still as a mouse.

James the Just, head of the Jerusalem church, minister to the Jewish converts, and brother of our Lord and Savior, was often called “Old Camel Knees.” James received this nickname because of the rough and calloused condition of his knees caused by the many hours he spent on his knees praying. What a beautiful testimony of his intercessory ministry for the Jewish Christians and The Church.

His heart for prayer was evident in the letter James wrote to the Jewish converts scattered across the Roman Empire. In James 1:5, James instructed those lacking in wisdom to ask God for it. In James 4:2, he admonishes the believers for not having because they don’t ask. Then he adds in James 4:3 that when you do ask and don’t receive, it’s because you’re asking for the wrong things for the wrong reasons.

James gave a simple, two-part guideline for prayer:

If you’re lacking, ask God for it. You’ll never get something if you don’t ask for it.
Ask for the things that God wants to give you. If you’re asking for something that is not pleasing to God, not good for your spiritual growth, or not in line with His intentions for you, you can be sure God will not say “Yes” to your request.

A loving father never gives his child something that will harm or stunt its growth— no matter how desperately the child begs for it.

Prayer is a strong theme throughout the Book of James. It is foundational to James’s overarching message, which is that our faith is to inform every aspect of our behavior.

“The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”
James 5:16b

I love that promise. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful as it is working. It’s a promise. When a person is rightly aligned with God, not only are their prayers heard, but the prayer is also powerful and active. It is doing powerful and active work in the one who is praying.

Think about that. It’s amazing. Yes, God hears our prayers. Regardless of His answer, He will use our prayers to shape, mold, grow, and change us. When we pray, we don’t change God’s mind; He changes us.

But think also about this—this verse has a flip side. What about the unrighteous person’s prayer? The person who has unconfessed wrongs (sin)—who chooses to live outside of God’s will and refuses to surrender their self-centered will to God, what about their prayers?

God says in Isaiah (50:2) that sin harbored (cherished, favored over God) in the heart places a blockade between that person and God. God does not promise to hear or answer the prayer of an unrepentant heart intent on having its way.

God will always listen to a prayer of repentance. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” 1 John 1:9. That is also a promise.

James answers the question, “When should I pray?” Again, James gives a straightforward answer that boils down to this: pray in good times, bad times, and times of sorrow and joy.

Paul’s answer in 1 Thessalonians is even more straightforward: pray without ceasing.

Keep the lines of communication open—in both directions. You pray, God listens. God speaks, and you listen.

POTENT PRAYERS ARE PENITENT PRAYERS.

POTENT PRAYERS PLEASE GOD.

POTENT PRAYERS ARE PERSISTENT AND PATIENT.

Were all of my grandmother’s prayers answered in the way that she hoped? I don’t know. I’m sure she was praying for my grandfather’s salvation, but she didn’t see that prayer answered in her lifetime. My granny died young—in her late sixties. Over twenty years later, my grandpa came to know Jesus as his Savior—he was ninety-two years old. I feel sure that Granny was rejoicing in Heaven, where she could personally tell her heavenly Father “Thank You” for answering her prayers.

God hears all our prayers and answers them. Sometimes, the answer is “yes.” Other times, it’s “no.” And sometimes, the answer is “when the time is right.”

So what are we to do? Friend, we are to keep on praying.