Effectual Fervent Prayer And Works
Please consider the following two verses;
James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Galatians 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
Have you considered the depth of the word worketh in Galatians 5:6? It is the same exact Greek word translated effectual, fervent in James 5:16 above! There is a travailing nature to both this prayer and to this working, that they may availeth! They do not work just because we have or possess them, but because we use them! Where does this work or availeth? It works in Jesus Christ, and again we have the locative word “in”! For this love or prayer to activate faith and to avail it must be in Jesus Christ! Do you have the unequaled, unending, pervasive, love of Jesus within you, and activating your faith? That is what will allow it to be effectual, fervent as it worketh! The church is languishing in natural works, in the love of the world, and in faithless, perfunctory, prayer and missing the fullness of the love of God and His divine purpose for their lives! We must rise above our weaknesses, in Jesus Christ, and give ourselves fully to seeking and finding Him;
Ecclesiastes 1:13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.
There is a travailing to seek and to know God that should be active in our lives: God has given that to us, and intends for us to be exercised therewith. There is an effectual fervency that is needed to achieve this, that is often prevented by the things of the world;
Ecclesiastes 3:10 – 12 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and do good in his life.
In the days that Solomon knew and lived in, no full salvation and reconciliation was provided as yet, and every man had the world in their heart. They could seek to know the works of God, but it was not in them, and they could not fully find out His work: they could only do good, and had to look forward to the deliverance from their sin. We now have the way, the truth, and the life, and a path through Jesus and grace to escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. And yet the people languish today in the love of the world, and fail to travail in what God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in. Will you give your heart to seek and search out God and His way for you?
To confirm this need and necessity to seek to know God, consider what happened when Mary sat at Jesus feet, and heard his word. Martha was cumbered with serving, and sought to have Mary’s help, but consider what Jesus answered;
Luke 10:41, 42 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
If you want to partake of the divine nature you must find that “one thing” as popularized by the secular movie City Slickers, and each one is told they must figure out and find that “one thing” for their selves. People do not realize that the “one thing” is the same for each and every one of us, and is needful, for us to fully know Him and receive the divine nature. Does this give you a greater understanding of Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4)? Jesus, the Word of God, the way, the truth, and the life, is the “one thing” needful for each and every one of us. The children of Israel were given manna in the wilderness as a basis and physical example of this need of the Word of God, and yet even with this new enlightenment we still do not perceive the depth, need, and extent of it. Just yield and get on this path of fully seeking God, and He will lead, provide, enable, equip, and prevail for you by His great grace, and bring you to the righteous walk that will make your prayer, your words, and your actions effectual, fervent! It is not in us, but comes by a meek, humble, yielded, obedience to God, and receiving the grace extended! Purpose in your heart to receive His instruction, and get on the path of being exercised thereby;
Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peacable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Do you desire the peacable fruit of righteousness? Become a receiver of all things spiritual that God desires for you! The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ has provided the way, the truth, and the life for you. Be exercised in the pursuit of the truth, Jesus, and receive the effectual, fervent, work thereby!
We exercise for many reasons, including to lose weight, to gain strength, to gain endurance, to rehab body parts, to maintain that which we have achieved, to prepare for a specific task, or to just improve our appearance. Spiritual exercise can and will provide all of the same purposes in the spiritual if we will receive the grace to achieve it. Consider Moses: he spent 40 years becoming the meekest man who lived before his experience with God at the burning bush. He followed God in obedience through the plagues and deliverance in Egypt and into the wilderness; Moses had already had two mountain top encounters with God, and yet he continued to be exercised in the pursuit of God; to seek more of God, desire his presence, and he asked to see His face. God told him, … my presence shall go with you: does this give you understanding of how the word can say that after another forty years … Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated (Deuteronomy 34:7)? Be fully exercised in the pursuit of God and find all the spiritual and natural gain that Moses did! Purpose that you are His with all your heart and all your soul (Deuteronomy 30:2), obey and give them to Him, and He will circumcise your heart;
Deuteronomy 30:6 And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
If you will turn or return to Him in full obedience, God will circumcise thine heart, and remove the world in their heart, and give a love for Him with all your heart and soul, greater life, and great spiritual blessings! Circumcise, or circumcision of, the heart is mentioned in a number of scriptures (Deuteronomy 10:16, Jeremiah 4:4, and Romans 2:29) and is the spiritual parallel and purpose of the physical example of circumcision that God gave to Abraham. This spiritual circumcision is also noted in Romans 2:25 – 28, in I Corinthians 7:19, in Galatians 5:6 and 6:15, in Philippians 3:3, and in Colossians 2:11 and 3:11. This is a promise of God, and not something we can fully do ourselves (as we have sought to do for years). Understand and allow this spiritual circumcision in your life: as you grow more humble, obedient, and hungry for more of God He begins to change you, to exercise you in righteousness, to chastise you and remove things from your life, to increase your knowledge of Him, and to make you in faith, hope, and love. Does this give a greater understanding that the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us (Romans 5:5)? Purpose to be spiritually exercised thereby, and allow God to work His perfect work in you!