The Earnest Heartfelt Cry

The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available. (from James 5:16 AMP)

       We all synchronized our watches and stepped outside in different parts of the country.  At the designated time we all cried out to God in our own way for the same thing. It was truly dynamic.

       After instructing campers that there would be no secular music allowed –part of the ritual of rules and regulations- one camper snapped a very foul cassette tape into her player and cranked it up to full volume.  I lifted my hand and said “Papa, bless that tape.”  It broke.  The girl was livid.  I broke her tape.  I didn’t touch her tape.

       The car I was riding in was sliding quickly toward a steep drop off.  I cried out “Father, please.”  The car stopped.  When the driver stepped out, the road was so slick he could not stand on either side of the car.

       I walked out of a prayer meeting with a bad limp, in great pain.  There had been so many needs spoken that night that were heavy and I did not ask for myself.  Another person saw my condition as I left the building and asked me if he could pray for my leg and I agreed.  The pain which was constant and increasing day by day was gone immediately.  Then we were both called back in to pray for another need.  Wow! What a boost to my own faith and fervency in the prayer that followed. 

What is my point?  The heartfelt cry that acknowledges God’s power and love is heard and effective.  The continued prayer of a righteous heart accomplishes much. Here is a key: repetitious chanting and continued prayer are two different things.  Jesus spoke of vain repetition in disdain.  He also spoke of a widow who would not stop asking and was honored.  The widow was confident in the power of the judge and her need was overwhelming.

       I also remember a young mother who never seemed to have enough to go around, who prayed fervently over her entry into the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes believing that God would give it to her so she could do great good and also pay all her bills and buy the needs of her family.  She did not win the Sweepstakes.  But she was given the ability to earn enough to meet the debts and needs she faced –again and again.

       She walked into her study with an anguished heart and demanded that God give her daughter’s stolen baby back.  It was not accomplished that day.  Instead, God used the anguish of her child to restore the daughter’s broken life and she now believes one day the rest will be done in His time.

       She stood on her front porch and cried out to God to redeem the life of her daughter.  His spirit said “It is done!”  She was amazed and excited, but watched in anguish as the daughter was incarcerated time after time for another 7 years.  One day she did see the redemption and has witnessed an ongoing restoration.

I have had more prayers answered in my lifetime than should ever allow me to doubt my God.  I have had more prayers denied in my lifetime than to ever stand puffed up in my own worth or ability to pray. I have prayed prayers and been denied the right to know whether they were answered or not.

I believe that God is far greater than to be limited by my failure, lack of understanding or questionable motive.  I believe we should pray about everything but I think also that we must consider the character and wisdom of God when we pray.

I believe that faith is counted for righteousness when directed toward God in obedience and that without faith it is impossible to please God.  I believe that to come to God we must believe that He is “God” and that he will always reward those who come to him with trust.  I believe that we are saved by grace –soul and circumstance- through faith which does not come from our own ability or understanding but is given to us by God himself.  I believe that any request made with faith in God’s character and rightness will be honored –even if we don’t immediately understand the answer.  I believe that God understands the cry of our heart and that we do not have to use a formula to get His love or His answer to our need.  I believe that willful sin and inherent doubt –disbelief in the character and soverienty of God- will break our line of communication with God and our requests will not be granted.

God is love –always.  God is truth –always.  God is good –always.  God is righteous –always.  This is not His choice; it is His character.  We cannot pray with disregard for His character and hope to be given our request.

Jesus told his disciples to forgive 490 times.  That brings us great consolation and hope.  What He taught us to be is who He is by character.  He said that God is honored when we ask in faith, believing.

It is my belief that selfish, immoral, or harmful requests do not come from faith in who God is and will not be honored. 

We can understand God’s character by his written word, by the life of Jesus, and by His creation.  Our desire for something to be true does not make it true.  If we want to be fully effective in prayer, we must take time to learn the character of God.  Prayer will reproduce the character of God in our lives when we understand the God we pray to.

That being said, I believe God is as happy to hear a badly spoken, sincere prayer as a daddy is to hear a badly pronounced call from his toddler.  We do not have to have it all packaged nicely to begin calling on His name.  We are only admonished to grow in knowledge and faith.  There has never been a time when speaking those fervent, faith to righteousness prayers is more important.  We are fighting the battle of the ages with sticks when we have a shield and a sword at our side.

I will be praying about national and global problems as well as more personal needs.  I believe a single honest prayer of faith touches the Father, but if you wish to join me, I also believe that 2 or more make a difference.