Prayer of a Righteous Person

The word “pray” is mentioned in the Bible 547 times, and the Bible contains over 650 prayers. In His short time on Earth, the Bible records 25 times that Jesus prayed. I think we can say that God wants us to speak to Him often through prayer.
Prayer is a solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God. It is a way we as Christians can and should speak to God to ask or tell Him anything that is on our minds or is going on in our lives or those around us. But when we ask God for something through prayer, we should have faith that God will answer our prayers.

But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. James 1:6-7
 
There was a couple in our church who was told they could not have children. They prayed earnestly that God will answer their prayer to have children. They told their community group the news and together, everyone prayed for this couple to be able to have children. The couple had so much faith that God would answer their prayer, that they purchased a box of diapers, knowing that God would answer their prayer, and eventually, He did.

Praying earnestly means that we are not just going through the motions of prayer and throwing them up into the air. It means we are focusing our minds and attention towards the Lord when we pray, and that we are eager to see our answered prayer as we have faith that God will deliver.

Having faith like this starts from being a righteous person. Righteous people have responded to the call of God, have repented of their sins, and have accepted Jesus Christ’s sacrifice to pay the penalty for their sins. This person is considered righteous in God’s eyes. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective because God hears their prayer, and He takes action.
Community groups are a great way we can do life outside of church with other righteous people. We can use our time together to get to know each other and what is going on in our lives. We can confess our sins to each other and pray for one another. We can also pray for those that are sick or need other types of healing. And as time passes, we can praise God for answering these prayers.

James 5 closes out by encouraging those who believe in God to show it. This is most readily shown by praying in response to every circumstance you face.

Ask God for forgiveness of your sins daily. Often, we don’t even realize when we are sinning, but God knows, and He wants us to dig deep in our hearts and ask Him to forgive us for doing those sinful things.

Join a community group if you are not already in one. Or maybe you might be at the point where you need to step out in faith and start leading a community group. Make it a point to spend time with others confessing your sins and praying for each other.

Seek to find out about others that are sick and needs prayer. Pray for those people earnestly, expectant that God will heal them.

God, I ask that you give me more faith than that of a mustard seed to trust that you will answer my prayers. I praise you for all that you have done in my life. Thank you for sending your son as a sacrifice for my sins. I ask for forgiveness for the sins I’ve committed today. Please put people in my life that will hold me accountable, and I can do likewise. Please heal those around me who are sick, and I pray that they know you as I do. Amen