Day 16
Persistent prayer—Righteous prayers
Is your prayer time being effective? Do you wonder what is happening because of your prayers? The Word of God says that Elijah prayed earnestly, that means his prayers were sincere. He meant what he prayed and he prayed what he meant. He asked God to stop the rain and he did for three years. Then Elijah prayed and asked for rain and the rain began to fall and the earth was green again!
James 5:16-19 states, "The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.' Elijah was a man with nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain: and it did not rain o the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth produced its fruit.
Elijah was a righteous man. In order to pray a righteous
prayer we must become as much in His will as possible. This means we are
walking in right standing with God, or morally upright according to the dictionary.
This brings us back to the “regarding iniquity in our heart”; we must be right
with God to see our prayers answered.
David prayed when he was caught having killed a man over lust
for his wife. He knew it was wrong and when he was called on his sin by Nathan
the prophet he broke down in prayer.
Psalm 51:1-12
“Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me from my
guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my rebellion: it haunts me day
and night. Against you and you alone,
have I sinned: I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right
in what you say, and your judgment against me is just. For I was born a sinner,
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. But you desire honesty from the womb,
teaching me wisdom even there. Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean:
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; you
have broken me—now let me rejoice.
Don’t keep looking at my sins, remove the stain of my guilt.
Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit
within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit
from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing
to obey you.”
In your prayer this morning you could pray something like
this;
“Good morning Lord, create in me a clean heart, remove any of
that sinful dirt from my heart and life and make me righteous in your eyes.”
Don’t forget to continue your prayer and make it personal.
