“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16 KJV)
I believe that we do well to study the prayers of the Bible—especially prayers that WORKED. Prayers like the bold declaration of Elijah which, without asking one question, caused fire to fall down from heaven. (1 Kings 18:36-37) Or the desperate prayer of King Hezekiah as he lay dying. It resulted in not only his healing, but also another fifteen years added to his life. (Isaiah 38:3)
I love the example of Jesus’ prayer—we know it as The Lord’s Prayer—Matthew 6:9-13. But, I also love the OTHER Lord’s Prayer—the one Jesus prayed in Gethsemane: “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” As a result of this simple one-sentence prayer, an angel from heaven, no less, appeared to strengthen Him in His hour of deepest grief.
Another worthy example of an effective prayer was that of King Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20:6-12). The structure of his prayer, spoken well over 2,800 years ago, is still a great pattern for prayer in our day.
Let’s break it down into steps:
- Declaration for Who God IS. “ADONAI, God of our ancestors, you alone are God in heaven … no one can withstand you.”*
- Rehearsal of God’s past faithfulness. “You, our God, drove out those living in the land … and gave it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend.”*
- Reaffirmation of trust. “If calamity strikes us, such as war … we will stand before you … and cry to you in our distress; and you will hear us and rescue us.”*
- Presentation of the current need. “So now, see: the people of Amon, Moab and Mount Seir … they have come to throw us out of your possession, which you gave us as an inheritance.”*
- Confession of personal weakness. “We haven’t strength enough to defeat this huge horde coming against us, and we don’t know what to do …”*
- Submission to God’s direction. “ … but our eyes are on you.”*
- Adoration and praise. “Jehoshaphat (and) all Judah … and Jerusalem fell down before Adonai, worshipping Adonai the God of Israel at the top of their voices” … (and singing) ‘Give thanks to Adonai, for his grace continues forever.’”*
*(All quotes from CJB)
That was it. What was the result? While Judah was still singing praises, God caused an ambush of confusion among their enemies. Instead of attacking Judah, they turned and destroyed each other. Judah won a battle they didn’t even have to fight! PLUS, they acquired significant spoil, to boot—so much so that it took three days to collect it all. What they needed that day was peace from a group of aggressive antagonists. What Judah got was a victory that far surpassed their need.
Generally, we are not praying for strength to defeat multiple armed military invaders. However, our requests for help from God may be every bit as desperate as Jehoshaphat’s. We pray to the SAME Eternal God “that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think …” However, for us, He responds “according to the power that worketh in us.” (Ephesians 3:20 KJV) We have a “secret weapon” in prayer that Jehoshaphat never had. It’s the power of the Holy Ghost ever working inside of us—for us.
We can easily follow the seven steps of Jehoshaphat’s prayer walk—adapting each one to our particular situation. The same God who gave Judah victory that day is able to bring us rescue, help, and peace in the conflict we are facing. For REMEMBER, “the battle is not ours, but God’s.”
