Fervent Prayer

“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. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.” James 5:16-18

When you pray, do you expect things to happen? James believed that we should. James was a believer in what he calls fervent prayer. The word fervent means passionate, intense, or heartfelt. The Greek word here is the word from which we get the word energy. Are your prayers fervent? Are they passionate, intense, and heartfelt? Do you put any energy into them? The example that James uses here is the prophet Elias (Elijah). James says that Elijah was a regular person like any of the rest of us, but he prayed earnestly that it would not rain. God did not give us the specific words to the prayers that Elijah prayed about the rainfall in Israel, but we do find the words of his prayer for fire to fall from heaven. It was a simple prayer; only 63 words long. But what Elijah lacked in profundity, he made up for in intensity. Elijah was surrounded by the people of Israel, the prophets of Baal, and King Ahab. Elijah’s physical life was in the balance, and the spiritual life of the nation of Israel was at stake. Surely Elijah prayed that prayer earnestly. What could happen if God’s people would begin to pray fervently for His blessings once again!