What is fervent prayer (James 5:16)?

James 5:16. "The fervent prayer (prayer that is at work within a man, stirring him up, absorbing his whole energy) of a righteous man has much power." The fervency with which such a one prays - and none other can pray thus - is power wrought in him by God Himself, to whom alone belong the answering consequences of blessing.

Thirdly. The example of Elijah is given by James as both illustration and proof of a general principle, namely, that "the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (ch.5:16 AV). But this translation is admitted to be unsatisfactory. That a prayer which is "effectual" avails much is a truism. If it is effectual it avails completely, and it is anti - climax to say that it avails much when it is already admitted to avail perfectly. Mr Darby's translation gives, "The fervent (or, operative) supplication of a righteous man has much power," which is closer to the original than either the Authorized or the Revised Version. Probably the essential points of the Scripture are: (a) That the supplicant is a righteous man; (b) that his prayer is energetic; not a listless, pathetic, indolent performance, but the prayer of one who means it - as Paul on one occasion speaks of himself as "night and day, praying exceedingly," etc. (1 Thess.3:10); or as Jacob on another occasion, "I will not let You go unless You bless me." (c) That prayer of this character has indeed much power. This is the moral which the apostle James enforces.

Finally, we have the assurance that the ardent and energetic prayer of the righteous man has great efficacy: it is the prayer of faith, which knows God and counts upon Him and draws near Him.

We may learn in all this what are the conditions of effectual prayer. Confession of sin, not only to God but to one another; practical righteousness in all our ways; fervency of spirit and petition. Fervent prayer is not that which is uttered in loud stentorian tones, but that which springs from a warm and glowing heart.

The great value of prayer is next pointed out by James. "The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working"; this is a rendering adopted by many. He cites the case of Elijah. He was a man "of like passions with us" as we learn from the historical record of the Scriptures, which tells us of his great infirmities, as well as of his remarkable faith. He prayed fervently and rain was withheld, he prayed again and God answered his faith. The God of Elijah is our God still, who delights to answer the fervent prayer of the righteous man; the power of prayer can never be separated from the character of him who prays.

But the apostle enlarges here upon the value of prayer. "The fervent supplication of the righteous man," he says, "availeth much." Plainly, "the righteous man" here is one who is so simply, out and out for God, so that there is nothing to hinder the confidence in Him which this supposes. Elijah is adduced as an example here, a man who stood for God when all Israel was departing from Him; but, as he notes here, a man of like passions with ourselves — notes it, evidently, for our encouragement. We are apt to make exceptions of such men to excuse ourselves, alas, even from the blessing which was theirs in consequence of what they were. His infirmities are made known to us in the very record given to us of his faith; but the man of God was in him most eminent. Thus it was for the honor of God that "he prayed fervently that it might not rain;" not to serve any end of his own apart from this; and such prayers are of the sort that have wisdom in them, and secure answers. Thus he prayed, and it rained not on the earth for three years and six months; and again he prayed, and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit. The power of prayer can never be separated from the character of the man who prays, although God is pitiful, and can hear any man in his extremity; that is true, but that is not the prayer that is recorded here, or the prayer of which we can really say that it has power in it.

The apostle John warns us of a common hindrance to prayer. He says, "Beloved, if our hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight." (1 John 3:21-22.) Self-judgment and confession, if there has been failure or sin, are therefore pre-requisites to effectual prayer, even as the psalmist says, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." This will again link itself with the statement of James — "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." The righteous man being, we judge, one who is practically such; one who, in the language of John, "keeps God's commandments." For walking in obedience is not only the path of holiness, but it is also the source through the Holy Spirit of intelligence in God's mind, and thus of confidence in prayer. The very example of Elijah that James adduces is an illustration in point. In the history Elijah announces by a word of the Lord that there should be no rain upon the earth for "these years;" and again, after that period, that there should be rain. And now we learn from James that both the one and the other were answers to his prayers.

In 1 Kings 17 we have Elijah's public action, which probably startled all who heard it; and in James 5 we have his private dealings with God before he came forth into public. The connection in James's epistle concerns us intimately; we are all exhorted to pray for one another, and the Apostle adds, "the ardent and energetic prayer of the righteous man has great efficacy" (Darby's Translation). Let no-one miss the seriousness of this. Every Christian has access to the throne of grace: but the man who would pray for others must be himself a righteous man; he must look well to his own conduct, and examine carefully his own ways, ere he ventures into the Sanctuary. Even then prayer must not be a mere utterance of words, the whole spirit of the man must be "ardent and energetic." Here we have the secret of successful prayer.

Therefore it is becoming for saints to confess their offenses to one another, as matters requiring prayerful help; and while the healing here may be primarily that of recovery from illness, yet spiritual recovery is certainly just as needful. And in both directions "the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." What an incentive to a walk of practical righteousness, end also to unceasing, earnest prayer!

I want to refer to this little word 'Oh'. It speaks volumes to my soul. We find it often in Scripture, it seems to me to indicate the zeal, the energy and the earnestness that marked this man when he prayed. It was not a callous, calculated prayer, it was not something that he read from a prayer book or had written down, it came straight out from his heart, right out from his inmost being. 'Oh,' he says to God, 'that thou wouldest bless me!' It is not so apparent in the Authorised Version, but read Mr. Darby's version when the Lord Jesus told the story of the two who went up to Jerusalem to pray (Luke 18:9-14), first the Pharisee who stood in a very cold and aloof manner saying, "God.....", what a way for the creature to address God! "God, I thank thee that I am not as the rest of men......" and so he went on to extol his virtues, and then we find the sinner, "O God, have compassion on me, the sinner". There was an outpouring of the heart in tremendous earnestness before God, he knew his need and he expressed it in such a way that indicated how real his prayer was, his earnest desire to find forgiveness, to find peace with God. We find this in many instances in Scripture, the earnestness of faith that cries aloud to God for help in certain situations.

Mr Darby has another peculiar expression in James 5:17 when he refers to Elijah praying. The Authorised version says, "he prayed earnestly", but Mr Darby renders it, "he prayed with prayer" - a peculiar expression, it seems to me to add emphasis to Elijah's prayer in relation to his call for rain after the long period of drought. "He prayed with prayer", or, if you like, "he prayed earnestly". There again we see this kind of prayer, it was not a cold, calculated, technical kind of prayer, the right things said, the right words used, the right technical expressions, but as cold as ice and as dry as a bone. No, that was not the kind of a prayer that Elijah had, it was not the kind of prayer that Jabez had. You could imagine Elijah pouring out his soul to God, crying earnestly that He would send rain to end this terrible drought that was affecting everyone. So this is the kind of prayer that Jabez prayed. Do we pray like this? Do we cry aloud to God with earnestness, or do we feel that if we have spent a few moments on our knees we have appeased our conscience, we have done what is right? Let us have this earnestness, this real desire to pray earnestly in relation to the things we desire.