February 23             Effective Prayer Part 2

Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much  James 5:16

If we prayed as earnestly for others as we have prayed for ourselves how different might our church be? In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed so earnestly that we are told that “his sweat was as it were great drops pf blood” Luke 22:44

No priest, no king, no father and no mother ever prayed with the earnestness of Jesus Christ. Yet for all His earnestness Jesus’ request was denied! The Father’s will remained unchanged and then three times our Lord ended His prayers with “not my will but thine be done”

And though apparently His request was denied yet the most earnest of all prayers continues to be answered for us today.  God still hears and has always heard earnest fervent prayers. The way He chooses to answer remains wrapped in the mystery of His Sovereign will. We change and our lives fade yet if we forever hold fervently to His promises lives all around us will be changed!