THE SECRET OF ANSWERED PRAYER (4)

Keep all of this in mind as we now notice “the secret” of answered prayer. “The secret” is not in the three “L’s” that some of us are concerned about: length, language, and loudness. “I can’t pray,” someone says. “I can’t pray very long” (length); “I don’t know the words others use” (language); or “I’m shy; people couldn’t hear me if I prayed” (loudness). No, “the secret” is none of these. What is it? Notice once more James’ statement: “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” (5:16). “The secret” (I use the term tongue-in-cheek) is to be “a righteous man.” “The secret” is a right relationship with God. There is value in studying the requirements of acceptable prayer. All we can learn about this vital subject is important, but the key to a great prayer life is to be the kind of people we should be. The bottom line is to be “righteous.” Our great need is to get right and stay right with our God!

When we think of Elijah as a man of prayer—and especially as we remember the spectacular results of his prayers—we may think that we could never have a prayer life like his. Again note what James says as he introduces Elijah as a man whose prayers were powerful. James does not say, “Elijah was a great prophet of God” or “Elijah was a mighty worker of miracles.” Instead, he says, “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours” (James 5:17). If Elijah had a bath, a shave, a haircut, and a new suit he could sit in a pew, and we would be unable to tell him from anybody else.

Why were his prayers answered? It was not because of some unique quality he had that we could never have. Rather, it was because he was the kind of person he should be. Elijah put it this way: “I stand before God” (see 1 Kings 17:1; 18:15). He was always in the presence of God. When he prayed, it was not a matter of going through steps to a successful prayer life or checking off fifteen requirements for acceptable prayer. Rather, he talked to his God, the One to whom he had committed his life.

What is your relationship with God? What is mine? Can we really pray, “Our Father who art in heaven”? (Matthew 6:9). People repeat the so-called Lord’s prayer and say those words, but do we have a right to say, “Our Father. . . .”? The Bible teaches that if we have not been baptized as penitent believers, we are not children of God (John 3:3-5; Galatians 3:26, 27). People sometimes say, “I don’t want to commit myself to all a Christian ought to be and do.” When they say that, they are jeopardizing their souls for eternity. However, as an immediate result, they are cutting themselves off from God. Think of all the trouble there is in the world. Would it not be terrible to be unable to go to God when problems come? On the other hand, if you have already been baptized, what is your relationship to God as His child? Are you a faithful child? We sometimes quote John 9:31, “We know that God does not hear sinners,” and apply it to alien sinners. It is talking about unfaithful children of God, however. The blind man no doubt based his statement on Old Testament passages like Psalms 66:18: “If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear.” Again I say, how tragic to be unable to come to God! You cannot, however, if your life is not right before Him. “The secret” of answered prayer is to be a “righteous” man, a “righteous” woman, a “righteous” young man, a “righteous” young lady. Get “right” with God and discover the secret to answered prayer!

Word Affirmation: “ Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month." - Joel 2:23 (Don't just say it, mean it!)

“ “The secret” of answered prayer is to be a “righteous” man, a “righteous” woman, a “righteous” young man, a “righteous” young lady. "

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