Introduction
In
the earlier lessons on prayer and the person who prays, we learned several key
things from the Bible. We learned prayer is communing with God – speaking and
listening. We learned how to approach God with our heart, mind, and soul by
recognizing key things about God. Besides these, the Bible teaches us how to pray
– petitioning for self, others, and enemies, adoring and thanking God, and
confession and repentance. Added to this, we learned about some of the
attributes, attitudes, and actions of an effective person of prayer. The first five
taught:
·
The person has a righteousness which comes from
God.
·
The person has a belief God has the power to do
what is necessary to change things and answer prayers.
·
The person meets God in solitude so he or she is
not distracted and does not seek acclaim for his or her piety from other
people. God hears in secret and rewards in secret.
·
The person of prayer is watchful and alert.
·
The person of effective prayer prays without
ceasing.
In this
week’s lesson from the Bible, we will learn another attribute, attitude, or
action of the person of effective prayer. That person will pray with fervency
and enthusiasm.
Fervency and Enthusiasm
Along
with ceaseless praying, the Bible instructs people of prayer to approach the
Lord in prayer with what is on his or her heart. When a person does this, the
person is fervent, passionate, and intensely enthusiastic about that for which
he or she prays be it a petition, confession and repentance, or adoration and
thanks. The word “fervent” comes from the Greek word ektenos and means earnestly, fervently, and intensely. When a
person genuinely approaches God in prayer, the person speaks with enthusiasm
(fervency) and not with meaningless repetition. The fervency in prayer is the
side effect of a person’s vital and growing relationship with God through Jesus
Christ. Let us now consider what Luke, Jesus, and James teach and model about
fervent prayer through in four passages.
Acts 12:5
In Acts
12, Luke recorded Herod’s men arrested Peter and imprisoned him. Herod left
four squads of soldiers to guard him until after Passover when he would bring
him out before the Jews to please them. No earthly powers would intervene for
Peter. The followers of Jesus knew God’s power could provide release for him. In
verse five of this chapter, Luke recorded, “So Peter was kept in the prison,
but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.” We see the
believers’ belief in action through prayer. They fervently prayed to God. They
recognized Peter’s only source of rescue could be God. The people of the church
requested Peter’s release by Him. They did more than ask, they prayed with fervency.
Remember,
prayer is focusing on God, not self. It recognizes and realizes all blessings
and helps come from Him through His power. The Jerusalem Christians’ fervency –
intense earnestness – showed they believed God would listen to their request
and could do what they asked. Jesus made this form of prayer known to them.
Jesus taught and modeled fervent prayer. The church had a close relationship
with God through Jesus, believed in His power to effect change, came before Him
with righteousness, prayed ceaselessly, and had been alert knowing when to
intercede for others, particularly Peter at that time.
In
verses six through nineteen. An angel of the Lord removed the chains from
Peter’s hands and opened the iron gate that led into the city. When the people
who had prayed for Peter saw him released, their joy abounded and a report of
his release went to the other believers. The church’s faith in God and their
relationship with Him along with their fervent prayers affected God and He
provided release for Peter.
Luke 22:44
Christ’s
followers of Acts 12 learned how to pray before the time of Peter’s
imprisonment. Jesus modeled fervent praying. When believers today think of
Jesus’ prayers, one most often considered showing fervency is His prayer in the
garden of Gethsemane.
After
the Passover meal, Luke recorded Jesus’ time in the garden. The disciples
followed Him there, and He told them to pray so they would not enter into temptation.
After that Jesus went about a stone’s throw away and asked God, if He was
willing, to remove the cup of bitterness, (the death He would soon die as
sacrifice for humankind’s sin) from Him. He asked the Father’s will be done,
not His own (Luke 12:42). God helped Jesus by sending an angel to strengthen
Him. Luke recorded the following in verse forty-four. “And being in agony He
was praying fervently and His sweat became like drops of blood falling down
upon the ground.” With intense earnestness, Jesus prayed to be strong through
the next ordeal of His life – the one of betrayal and intense pain. His
fervency was so great, Luke recorded that His sweat was like drops of blood on
the ground. The writer of Hebrews, too, recorded the tears of Christ as He
prayed to the One able to save Him from death (Hebrew 5:7). Jesus being wholly
man and wholly God experienced the same fear of betrayal and pain any human
feels. As part of the Godhead, He knew His betrayal and crucifixion was the
only way to bring people into a right relationship with God. His fervent
prayers came from man and beseeched God. They, too, were the communing of the
Son to the Father asking for strength and courage.
Being in
relationship with God often requires fervency. When a person prays – communes
with God – he or she should be earnest/fervent in knowing Him better and
becoming more like Christ. Jesus modeled fervent prayer in the garden of
Gethsemane.
Matthew 6:7
Jesus
taught His followers about fervent prayer. This occurred before Gethsemane and
His arrest. Fervent prayer is speaking with meaning and depth. It speaks with
intense earnestness. This means no frivolous words are wasted in conversation,
but depth and conviction with passion.
During
the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught the people not to practice their
righteousness before men, but solely before God. He taught about solitary
prayer and righteousness in the first six verses of Matthew 6. With verse 7,
Jesus taught His followers to pray with intention, not meaningless words that
sound good and impressive. He said, “And when you are praying, do not use
meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be
heard for their many words.” Jesus told them not to speak with frivolous words,
but come before God communing with Him with intentionality. Draw near Him to
know Him better, seek His will, and petition His help. Come to the point. Be
honest in conversation with God.
I think of children who want to ask a parent
to buy them a toy. They talk in circles stating how they have done well at
school, the cleaned their rooms and they behaved. The children try to convince
the parent of their worthiness. The parent would rather the child genuinely talk
and be transparent with him or her. A good parent will bless his or her child
with gifts and necessities just as God the Father does. What is more wanted is
genuine communion with the person. Instead of flowery words or lots of meaningless
words, Jesus taught His followers to come before God with a genuine, earnest
intent to commune with Him. He taught His followers in Matthew 6:7 to be
genuine and pray with intention and fervency/earnestness.
James 5:17
James taught
in this chapter about effective prayer. Before verse seventeen, he spoke of
praying for the sick and praising God. With the second half of verse sixteen,
we recall one of James’ most famous teachings. He said, “The effective prayer
of a righteous man can accomplish much.” From these verses people have learned
much over the millennia. James gave an example of a righteous person who
offered an effective prayer to God. He said in verse seventeen, “Elijah was a
man with a nature like ours and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and
it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.”
Elijah
was a man of God. He acquired this status because He believed in God and obeyed
Him. He acted upon what God said and commanded even though it was unfathomable.
Elijah’s prayer to God to keep the rains from falling from His storehouse was
an earnest prayer. Elijah was a man who had no previous history in the Bible,
but he came from Tishbe, went to King Ahab, declared the name and power of the
LORD God of Israel, and proclaimed no rain would fall until he prayed again to
God. King Ahab was the most evil king to reign over Israel. God wanted his
attention, repentance, return, and obedience. Because the purpose to withhold
rain was God’s means of getting Ahab’s attention and repentance, when Elijah
prayed for no rain to fall for forty-two months, he joined with the will of
God. Notice in the conversations with Ahab, Elijah was concise – did not use
meaningless repetition – and earnest. His heart’s desire was to do the will of
God.
What
occurred in this story? Read 1 Kings 17-18. Ahab did not return to the Lord.
Forty-two months later, Elijah confronted Ahab again to show him the power of
God. Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal and Asherah. Their gods failed them
at their altars to them and the Lord God prevailed at the altar Elijah built.
After Elijah with the prophets of Baal and Asherah, he went to the mountain top
and prayed with his head between his knees seven times for rain. On the seventh
time his servant returned saying a fist-size cloud hovered over the sea. Elijah
told his servant to tell Ahab to hurry and return to his palace because rain
was coming. Before Ahab returned, the rain fell. Elijah was an earnest man. He
was a man obedient to God. Elijah did not use fluff words, but spoke his mind
and the mind of God. His prayers, because they were sincere and sought the will
of God, were fervent prayers to God. God answered His prayers, Elijah grew in
his relationship with God, the people of Israel saw the power of God, and they returned
to worshipping Him.
Relevance and Conclusion
Earnestness/fervency
comes from the heart. Praying with fervency does not mean praying a rote
prayer. It is not a habitual child’s prayer. Fervent prayers do not come from
repetition, but from a heart’s cry to the Lord almighty. Jesus stated the
Gentiles prayed meaningless repetition to their gods, and those supposed gods
remained silent. Their prayers went unanswered (Matthew 6:7). Instead, Jesus
taught His believers should pray to God about what is on their hearts. Be
earnest. He modeled fervent praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. The church in
Jerusalem sought the Lord through fervent prayer for the release of Peter from
Herod’s prison. An angel of the Lord released him. James used Elijah the
prophet as an example of a righteous man who prayed fervently. Elijah prayed fervently
to God, and the rain ceased for forty-two months.
Each of
these people and groups sought God in truth. They strove genuinely to commune
with Him. These people sought God’s will, asked believing in His power,
received God’s righteousness for their sins, were alert to what was happening
and prayed accordingly, and prayed with intense earnestness – fervency. They
offered effective prayers to God seeking Him in a growing relationship and
becoming more Christlike.
We each
should examine ourselves to determine first if we pray genuinely seeking a
relationship with God and His will. If we are merely throwing out words with
little meaning or heartfelt belief in God, then we pray in vain. If we are
seeking God in prayer genuinely seeking to be with Him – communing with Him by
speaking, listening, and obeying, then God will hear and answer our prayers. Being
in a vital, growing relationship with God through Jesus Christ is what gives us
life and gives our prayers to God life.
How is your prayer
life?
Now is the time to
stop and consider your relationship with God and the effectiveness of your
prayers.
