Pray with confidence
2020-12-21James 5:16 NCV
The Bible says: ‘When a believing person prays, great things happen. Elijah was a human being just like us. He prayed that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years!’ (v.16-17 NCV). There are two things in particular for us to take note of here:
1) ‘A believing person.’ When we pray, we need to believe that God will hear and answer our prayers. ‘Anyone who comes to God must believe that he is real and that he rewards those who truly want to find him’ (Hebrews 11:6 NCV).
In Matthew 6, Jesus says: ‘When you pray, don’t be like those people who don’t know God. They continue saying things that mean nothing, thinking that God will hear them because of their many words’ (v.7 NCV). The only requirement for seeing ‘great things happen’ is to believe.
We might hear other people praying almost fiercely, full of emotion and passion. There’s nothing wrong with praying that way (as long as we’re not doing it for effect), but we mustn’t fall into the trap of thinking it’s the only way God will hear and answer us. Our feelings may move us, but it’s our faith that moves God. A simple, quiet prayer coming from a heart that believes and trusts in Him will get His attention.
2) ‘Elijah was a human being just like us.’ Elijah was righteous, but that doesn’t mean he was perfect. His prayers were effective, but he still struggled at times with fear and despair. He really was ‘just like us’. So we can pray with confidence, knowing that we don’t need to be perfect for God to listen, answer, and do great things. We just need to trust and believe.