Powerful Prayers and a Burden
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. (James 5:16-17)
Have you ever listened to someone pray and thought, “Wow, that was a power-packed prayer!” Maybe it was your pastor, your mentor, or someone in your small group. As children of God, it is amazing that we can pray with strength, power, and boldness because of Christ. Sadly, most Christians don’t pray with power, mainly because they don’t know how.
What will it take for our prayers to become powerful and effective? We will focus on one specific sentence from our Scripture passage in James that says, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” Are you wondering what that statement means and how that applies to your walk with Jesus?
If we want to pray with power, we need three things. The first thing we will need is a connection to a burden. Is there something in your life that is burdening you? You might have a wayward friend, a disobedient child, or a poor relationship in your marriage. The kinds of prayers that God answers are those connected to a burden. God wants you to live a life that is sensitive. Wherever the burden is in your heart, run there.
How do you find a burden? You don't have to look for a burden. Usually, a burden finds you. If you have to think about it, then you have no burden. You have no heaviness. If you are living life without a burden, you are just existing. The burden finds you, and it finds you when you start walking with God.
You need to allow the Spirit of God to probe your heart as you ask yourself a question. Why don't you have a burden? You might have a concern, and you may have some sympathy, but why don’t you have a burden? Here is the answer. You are not spending enough time with God!
That is what Elijah did, and maybe that's all Elijah needed to do. He spent time alone with God. The way you will connect with the burden is to connect with God in prayer. When you become sensitive enough to Him, you will become burdened with those things that burden Him.
Have you ever listened to someone pray and thought, “Wow, that was a power-packed prayer!” Maybe it was your pastor, your mentor, or someone in your small group. As children of God, it is amazing that we can pray with strength, power, and boldness because of Christ. Sadly, most Christians don’t pray with power, mainly because they don’t know how.
What will it take for our prayers to become powerful and effective? We will focus on one specific sentence from our Scripture passage in James that says, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” Are you wondering what that statement means and how that applies to your walk with Jesus?
If we want to pray with power, we need three things. The first thing we will need is a connection to a burden. Is there something in your life that is burdening you? You might have a wayward friend, a disobedient child, or a poor relationship in your marriage. The kinds of prayers that God answers are those connected to a burden. God wants you to live a life that is sensitive. Wherever the burden is in your heart, run there.
How do you find a burden? You don't have to look for a burden. Usually, a burden finds you. If you have to think about it, then you have no burden. You have no heaviness. If you are living life without a burden, you are just existing. The burden finds you, and it finds you when you start walking with God.
You need to allow the Spirit of God to probe your heart as you ask yourself a question. Why don't you have a burden? You might have a concern, and you may have some sympathy, but why don’t you have a burden? Here is the answer. You are not spending enough time with God!
That is what Elijah did, and maybe that's all Elijah needed to do. He spent time alone with God. The way you will connect with the burden is to connect with God in prayer. When you become sensitive enough to Him, you will become burdened with those things that burden Him.
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3 Comments
I have a burden for those who are making drugs to sell to people who really can't afford to be hooked on them. I don't understand how people go on living after taking the harmful drugs. These people are looking for an escape from every day life,
Being "personally connected" to a burden is different than "having a worldly problem or issue" with someone or something.
When personally connected to a burden you can't escape the pain and suffering that's in your heart. It's God's opportunity to help you with his mercy and love.
People choose to do drugs. It's not about money for the user. The supplier does the devil's work and the survivors end up in the hands of our Lord.
I pray for those who cannot see and hear and that by God's grace they survive to live in the loving arms of Jesus. Matthew 13:10-17 CSB 💕 🙏
1. A burden.
2. ?
3. ?