Greetings and welcome to Living Supernaturally, thank you so much once again for giving us this opportunity to come your way and minister God's word and spend a few moments in prayer. This week, we've been looking at different aspects from the letter of James and today we'll close with powerful prayer. James chapter 5 and verse 16, ‘the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.’ The English word ‘fervent’ simply means impassioned, forceful, passionate, heartful, powerful or wholeheartedly. This verse translated in the King James version seems to indicate that a passionate, wholehearted prayer will accomplish much; implying that a half-hearted prayer may not be as effective. Prayer changes things. Maybe you and I have heard this statement before, maybe you've heard ministers preach on this verse that the prayers of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Maybe you've heard testimonies of people who said the power of prayer has affected their lives and change the course of action in their lives and maybe you have heard teachers preach about the importance of prayer. Why would God answer one person's prayer while apparently ignoring the prayer of someone else? How could it be that within a church family a newborn baby was miraculously brought back from near death, when just a few weeks ago probably a toddler passed away with an illness, with the same people praying? There is no human answer for such question but one thing we know for sure is that God hears each one of our prayers when we call on Him and God answers our prayers. God is a listening God, He answers in His own ways according to His own plans. As God revealed to the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 55 and verse 8, ‘my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways.’ The point James is making is that prayer is important and God answers prayers so we must make it our priority. On Mount Carmel, Elijah made a pronouncement that it would rain and then he prayed that it would rain. He prayed for rain seven times, after each prayer he sent his servant to see if the sky looked like it rained. When it did not, he prayed again, he prayed bent down to the ground with his face between his knees. This could be interpreted as an expression of earnest supplication. We don't have to be super Christians, we might be tempted to think that Elijah was some sort of a super Christian but James says that he was an ordinary man and God answered his prayer. However, sin in the life of one praying can block prayer's effectiveness. We should confess our sins and pray expecting God to answer. James also makes a point that prayer comes from a righteous man, Elijah was a righteous man and the results of prayer was beyond incredible. Someday, when Jesus comes again perhaps, we'll see how God answered our prayers and we may also understand more about God's works through our prayers. Let us pray, Father, we thank you for your word that we learnt today that the prayers of the righteous availeth it much. Lord, we are righteous because of what you have done on the cross for us, that righteousness was imputed upon each one of us and even as we pray, enable us to see be beyond what we see with our natural eyes, enable us to trust you that you are a God who answers our prayers. Help us to pray big and believe that you will do it in each of our lives, we thank you, we give you all the praise, in Jesus’s name we pray, Amen.

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