My husband and I recently watched the movie, War Room; it dramatically demonstrates this truth—“the earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results” (James 5:16 NLT). Or, as it reads in NKJV version, “the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

As I watched the film, I felt awed by the way God answered the prayers of prayer warrior, Miss Clara (played by Karen Abercrombie) and her mentee—Elizabeth Jordan (Priscilla Shirer).  He stirred up in my heart a renewed commitment to pray. I want my prayers to become more effective; I want to see significant—not piddling—results, and I want to stir up in your hearts—my blog readers—a similar commitment. I believe that God will answer our prayers in powerful and new ways, giving us joy and bringing him honor.

Consequently, the topic of my blog posts—starting today and continuing for the next six weeks— will be prayer.

Through viewing War Room and studying the Scripture in James, I got a vision of what truly effective prayer looked like and realized at least one thing that my prayers have been lacking. As I mediated on the Scripture, these three words stood out to me: earnest, effective, and fervent.

Dictionary definitions of the word earnest include the following:

These are dictionary definitions of fervent:

Thinking about these definitions, and reflecting on the prayers of Miss Clara and Elizabeth Jordan, I saw what fervency (great intensity of feeling) and earnestness (intentionality, effort, and clearly focused purpose) look like in prayer. These women demanded and received God’s serious attention. They were boiling mad about destruction and evil, and with God’s authority, they powerfully resisted Satan—the Evil One.

As I think about how my prayers can become more earnest and fervent, these are the questions I am asking myself:

I hope that you will consider asking yourself the same questions and that you will continue reading my upcoming blogs on the topic of prayer. Together, I believe that we can exert a powerful influence for good in the world where we live.

An Additional Reference: Prayer is Invading the Impossible by Jack Hayford

13 Responses

  1. My husband and I both love this movie! We have watched it several times already and highly recommend it to our friends….thanks for writing about it so beautifully!

  2. Thanks for this lovely reminder to pray effectively and feverently! I too loved the war room and it has spurred me on to be more intentional about my prayers. In fact I am going through the book “Feverent” at this time. If you haven’t seen it – you may want to check it out.
    I love the questions you are asking yourself and these are also questions I need to be asking myself. I look forward to reading your upcoming blog posts.

  3. YES, WHAT A DIFFERENCE COULD BE MADE IF WE ALL SPENT PRAYER TIME IN THESE WAYS. TOO OFTEN WE JUST MENTION A NEED IN PASSING AND THEN LAY IT ASIDE. WE DON’T NEED TO CONTINUALLY ‘WORRY’ ABOUT IT, BUT FERVENTLY PRAY EXPECTING GOD TO ANSWER IN HIS WAY, AND LEAVE IT WITH HIM IN TRUST AND CONTINUED INTEREST.I NEED ALSO TO TAKE THE CHALLENGE AND I KNOW IT CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN SITUATIONS, AS WELL AS IN MY OWN LIFE.

    1. Thanks for your comment, Donna! I especially like your words of wisdom to “leave it with Him in trust and continued interest.”

  4. Thank you Jane for this post. I especially like how you said to pray to God not railing and complaining, but with confident trust.

    1. Steph, I made that comment about confident trust not only to others but also as a reminder to me.

  5. Great questions that I too will be asking myself this week. Thanks for the challenge, I loved that movie and I want to focus more on my prayer life as well.
    I look forward to your future blogs on prayer!

    1. Thanks, Rose. I so appreciate your encouraging comments, your teachable heart, and your firmness of faith.

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