“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”
Powerful Prayer
The context of this verse is a loving, caring Christian community that does life together, is honest and open with each other and prays together. The strength of any and every local church is in the prayer life of its people. Salvation, healing, restoration, miracles and unity happen when the church is praying, and praying for each other. Whatever else is vital for a healthy church, prayer has got to be near the top of our list of priorities. Part of our witness to the world is a commitment to pray selflessly for our spiritual family.
Prayer
Prayer is the most powerful activity that we can engage in. All other resources are finite, but prayer puts us into the realm of the infinite. With God all things are possible and to those who believe anything is possible. Hard work and effort can achieve some things, but prayer can accomplish the impossible. Jesus’ disciples asked him to teach them to pray and every generation of believers has to learn the same lesson. When we pray we are confessing our total reliance on God and our devotion to one another. Our contemporary world needs a church that knows how to pray.
Righteousness
The basis of our prayer life is righteousness. God does not listen to us because we are sincere, earnest or pious. Nor does He choose to hear our prayers based on a whim. God turns His ear to righteous people. The problem, of course, is that there aren’t any righteous people. ‘There is no one righteous, no even one’. (Romans 3:10) But at the point of conversion when we repented and put our faith in Jesus, God justified us and clothed us with the righteousness of Christ. In God’s eyes we are right with Him, through faith in Jesus. So every believer can be assured that when they pray, God always hears and responds. ‘Lord, hear our prayer,’ is an Old Testament, Old Covenant plea which has no place in Christian practice. It has been replaced with the New Testament, New Covenant, ‘In the Name of Jesus.” God will listen when we pray because of who Jesus is and what He has done for us.
Effectiveness
This makes the prayer of a Christian the most influential activity in life. It far surpasses anything else. Believers get to bypass rulers and authorities and go straight to Almighty God. If you are sick you could go to the doctor, but in prayer you get to bypass every health professional and go straight to the top. If you are in financial need you could go to your employer or the bank, but in prayer you can speak to the Source and Supplier of every need. If someone you love is making a mess of their lives you could try and reason with them, but in prayer you can pour out your heart to the Author of life who is more than a match for the toughest soul. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
A righteous person who prays is the most powerful and effective person alive. So renew your confidence in the power of prayer and get praying.
