God had work to do......

Last week, in this post, I wrote how I thought God was trying to get my attention while I was on vacation. I had left all my cables at home and my laptop was about to die. I wrote that I thought God wanted me to focus on Him and my parents that week and that I could feel in my heart He wanted me to draw close.

He had something for me.........and I had hoped to find out what it was.

Well, I was right. But God had to get me completely quiet to do it. Just unplugging my computer wasn't enough.....I was still going to fill my time with a myriad of things I wanted to do. So, He allowed me to get sick. I was too sick to get out of bed, no TV, too sick to concentrate on a book, too sick to do anything...........and that's when He started to work.

I haven't always had a consistent quiet/prayer time. But in the last several years, as my kids have gotten older, I have been pretty good about getting up before my family and spending time with God. I would have told you that my prayer time was good and productive. But God challenged that last week.

While I was in bed, I spent hours praying and during that time realized that I had forgotten what prayer looked like.....real intercessory prayer.

I realized I had allowed other things to creep in and push that kind of prayer out. Oh, I was still having my quiet time, but it had changed. I had been putting a time limit on it and I had begun to quit easily, letting other distractions pull me away.

The next day, as I got out my devotional, I saw that God wasn't done working......the title for the day was:

Effective, Fervent Prayer
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:16b

What is fervent prayer? What does fervent really mean? I found it means we do not quit easily. It means we purposefully spend sufficient time in intercession. The word "sufficient" really got me......sufficient doesn't have a time limit. It means we cry out to the Father, sometimes in tears, with our heart and soul.

I haven't been doing that.

Scripture says that prayer ought to accomplish much. Were my prayers effective? Had I even examined them or their outcomes?

Next, I turned to my bible study I had brought. The chapter was titled:

Prayers of Faith
James 5:12-20

Sometimes I don't see things right away....but I have to admit, this was pretty clear!

I was challenged to find out what kind of prayer makes great things happen? What do the words effective, fervent and avails mean in the verse?

As I studied these things, I was forced to examine my prayer life and the effectiveness of my prayers. I realized that if little to nothing happens from my prayers, the problem is not with God......it is with me. Now that is not to say that at times, God doesn't answers my prayers with no.....

But when our prayers are aligned with God and we pray fervently and with faith......our prayers avail much!!!

If we adhere to what God requires, He will lead us to pray for things that align with his purposes, and God will answer our prayers in a mighty way. (Experiencing God day-by-day)

This is what I want. I want my prayers to be effective. I want to pray fervently and with faith. I want prayer to be my default setting. I want to be a true intercessor. Will you hold me accountable to that? Really, I would like you to ask me occasionally how I am doing with it. You can leave a comment or email me. But I want to follow through on this commitment and I know that I will struggle without accountability. And I will be honest.

I plan on restarting my prayer journal. This is not just a list of prayer requests, though that is in there, but it is where I actually journal my prayers. In the past, it has helped me stay focused and helped keep distractions from getting my attention. I am not even sure when I stopped using it.....

I am so thankful to worship a God that cares for me so much and takes such time to lovingly teach me. I am so thankful that He makes things so clear for this otter type girl that has trouble seeing the detail sometimes.