James 5:15
And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
When reading the Scriptures, one thing you will see about those whom God used greatly is that they had powerful prayer lives. Moses was used mightily because he always went to God in prayer for guidance and help. Joshua was used mightily when he prayed, and he only saw failures when he failed to pray. Elijah was a man of prayer whose prayers caused fire to fall from Heaven, rain to stop, and the healing of a child. Nehemiah rebuilt the wall, but one of his great characteristics was that he constantly prayed. Daniel prayed and stopped the mouths of lions. The three Hebrew children prayed and quenched the fire's touch on their bodies. The early church prayed and three thousand souls were saved. The Apostles prayed, and God used them mightily to influence a world through their ministries. You will never be able to separate prayer from those whom God used mightily. We find four characteristics about those with a powerful prayer life.
First, they were regular in their prayers. You cannot expect to have power in prayer and be hit-and-miss in your prayer life. There is something about praying daily if you want to see God do something mighty through your prayer life. A consistent prayer life will do more for your Christian walk than any action you can perform. Too many are reading books on how to change their lives when they need to pray to see God do the work in their lives. I truly believe God allows hardships in our lives to get us back to prayer.
Second, those with powerful prayer lives prayed prayers of faith. James 5:15 says, And the prayer of faith shall save… This did not say that your connections shall save, but the prayer of faith shall save. You cannot pray in doubt and expect God to answer your prayer. The prayer of faith that has no doubt is the prayer that has power with God. Matthew 21:21 says, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. Doubt is always the water that quenches the prayer of faith. You must believe that God is real, and that He is able to move mountains if you want your prayer life to have power with God.
Third, those with powerful prayer lives were fervent in their prayers. You cannot be passive in your prayer and expect to get God’s attention. James 5:16 says, The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. How much energy do you put into your prayers? The fervency of Christ’s prayer is seen in Luke 22:44 when it says, And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. When you give so much energy to your prayer that sweat falls from your brow, you can be assured that your prayer will avail much.
Fourth, those with powerful prayer lives learned to pray again. James 5:18 tells us about Elijah’s prayer life, And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. You must never give up on your prayer if you want to have power in prayer. When you don't get the answer, pray again. When it seems your prayer has made no change, pray again. The second mile in praying is to pray again, and it is often that second mile of praying that makes the difference with God to move Him to answer in power.
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