I was going to start on 1st Peter today but my head kept being pulled back to the second part of James 5:16
“… for tremendous power is released through the passionate, heartfelt prayer of a godly believer …” TPT
“… The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective…” NIV
“… The prayer of the righteous person is powerful in what it can achieve… “ CEB
“… The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much…” KJV
In months gone by, one thing that pops back into my mind is how my bible reading habits have changed… I often catch myself falling into a rabbit hole of history of the time (understanding the context of a command or statement) or looking up the meaning of Hebrew and Greek words.
And one thing that I have noticed is that over time, we have assigned new meanings to words. Take the word “Righteous” in the passage above. Most people will take the meaning in a modern day context, meaning a “good” man, a man “above reproach” and in my head, I translate it to “a better man than me”
However, the greek word there, although it carries the same meaning, is Dikaios: Just
Its a word that in the time meant somebody looking for the best way to do something. Josef was Dikaios because he wanted to save Mary the embarrassment of revealing she was unmarried but pregnant.
It was a word referring to keepers of the faith. Jesus said that he wasn’t sent to save the Dikaios but those that were lost.
The Dikaios man was the man that tried to follow God. That was always seeking God. Not the man that got it right every time… a godly believer!
So that made me look at that verse again and again. Why is power released when we pray?
Because we are Dikaios, we are the ones seeking God. And we pray fervently. With passion (active prayer, efficient and effective, the greek word there is ENERGEO) and a heartfelt prayer (PROSEUCHE – worshipful, earnest, in truth)
And not just any power… tremendous power!
So the heartfelt prayer, of a man looking for God in all things, a man seeking God’s will in all things, not selfish things or ambitions, will avail much.
… And in contrast…
The prayer of a man, looking for a quick fix, trying to use God as a tool, and the Holy Spirit as a source to empower his own desires, wants and needs… will fall like paper thin leaves to the ground, and be scattered away.
“… for tremendous power is released through the passionate, heartfelt prayer of a godly believer…” James 5:16
