Righteous People Who Pray

"We pray in trust of God who is most trustworthy."

JOB PRAYED for his children from a place of fear, and fear answered his prayer. “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me (Job 2:25).” Job prayed for his friends in obedience, and obedience brought the blessing of God. “And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before (Job 42:10).” What he believed that he spoke with his mouth, he received. This is the principle of the Scriptures, though Job was a man who lived before redemption and Jesus’ death and Resurrection. In that day, there was no salvation, no shed blood of Christ, no Spirit of God living in the heart of men.

This goes to our view of God as well. We must know who He is in the New Testament, through our knowledge of the Scriptures, and also our own salvation experience. We know Him because we communicate with Him, coming boldly to the throne in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16). Something Job could not do. Nor can Satan come into the presence of God’s throne any longer. He was a created angelic being of great beauty. He is now a condemned and defeated wart. The Lord who spoke protection over Job’s life is God who saved the world through Jesus Christ.

See that God protected Job from the devil and blessed Job’s prayer of obedience. Anything else that does not fit with who God is, must be laid before the Holy Spirit, our teacher. Point is, Job’s fearful prayer brought a destructive answer. Job’s obedient prayer brought blessing.

Jesus gave instructions about how to pray. He said not to pray with unforgiveness in your heart but to resolve the issue first and then pray. He said not to “sound a trumpet” as the hypocrites do to make men look at them, but instead, to pray to the Father in secret. He said not to pray from a place of worry but to know that the Father knows your needs and will supply them. He said when you pray to believe that you will receive what you are asking for. BECAUSE God is a prayer-answering Father. Our focus in prayer needs to be on God, not on the answer nor the method of answer. Jesus said not to pray in “vain repetitions” like those who think they will be heard by their god or God for much speaking. (There is only one living God.)

The apostle James said to pray fervently. This is not repetitive words, which Jesus warned against. Nor fearful prayer such as Job offered, “just in case” his children had sinned. We are told to not be anxious (Philippians 4:6) but to pray and that God does not give us the spirit of fear but love, power, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). So there should be no fear in prayer but instead confidence. For a man or woman who comes boldly to the throne of grace is in the favor of God. They know they are loved, and a loving God will hear them and with delight, answer their prayer. This is who we are as God’s children now. We cannot get lost in Old Testament theology and forget Jesus made all things new.

Daniel is another example of Old Testament prayer. Daniel prayed, and it was said a supernatural battle in the heavens prevented his immediate answer. There ARE supernatural powers in the heavens. But Daniel was, again, a man who lived before salvation. There was no authority through the name of Jesus, which had been given to men. The devil and his demons were not yet defeated at the cross. There was no Holy Spirit living in men and coming upon them in great power (dunamis). As New Testament believers, we fight against the powers of darkness from a position of victory which Jesus accomplished. We are not looking forward to salvation, but we have received it in its fullness.

An interesting word search in the Old and New Testaments gives a picture of this truth. The phrase “God of” in the Old Testament brings up primarily verses which contain “God of salvation,” (excluding the many references to God of Israel and God of Jacob). The same phrase in the New Testament is the previsions God has supplied. He is God of hope, God of peace, God of love, God of all comfort. The Old Testament Law and its sacrifices and forms of worship were supposed to turn the gazes of men toward the coming of Christ who would fulfill it and provide salvation. Then, once fulfilled, it was to be set aside and the confidence of faith in a loving God, with man being the temple of the Holy Ghost, was to be the new normal.

In Jesus Christ, the Father chose mercy over judgment. Mercy is His preferred response to all our behaviors and situations. The blood of Jesus is what He sees when He looks at us. Now, He can speak to us directly, through His Holy Spirit, and we can know Him on a level that Daniel and Job did not. Moses was considered a friend of God, yet what we have in the New Covenant is greater than Moses. We pray in trust of God who is most trustworthy. We then put His Word in our mouths and speak the solution and not the problem. We love any people involved and refuse to allow unforgiveness and strife to stand in the way between us and God who is eager to do “exceeding abundantly above all” we can ask or think.

Not because we’re prayer warriors nor that we are “so good with words,” but we are, as James says, righteous people who pray. And our God whose words never return to Him without accomplishing what they are sent to do, “will act powerfully and will certainly do it.” We can know this without any fear or doubt. Even if we don’t know how to pray (what to say), God in us does, and we can pray knowing He sees our heart, knows our motive, and has the perfect answer. But we must not “read God” like we “read” the book of Job. We read and notice the destruction which happened to Job, the words of Satan desiring to cause the destruction, and even our misunderstanding of the heavenly conversation, instead of that God protected him. That should be our focus. God spoke, and Job lived. Job repented. He prayed, and God answered.

Answering prayer is God’s heart behind hearing prayer, and not one prayer ever “hits the ceiling,” as is sometimes said. We may feel that way, but God hears all prayers from anyone in any spiritual condition who prays them. Not one is lost. And prayers of faith in His power and desire to do good things for us are why He answers. He, alone, knows the heart of man and our motive. Many were healed because they believed God when Jesus walked on earth. They were not of the Jews, yet God heard and answered. He sought out the demoniac whose heart cried out for deliverance and the man at the pool who had lain there 38 years. We should see He answered, above all other things. Then we should focus on the cross and the Resurrection which changed prayer for everyone. We not only pray TO God, but we pray THROUGH God. God praying the will of God to God to do good just as He has purposed (Romans 8:27-28).

He understands you. He understands me. And has provided the means to pray, the fervency of it, and the presence of God to make it effective.

James 5:16
(ERV) “Anyone who lives the way God wants can pray, and great things will happen.”
(SLT) “The prayer of the just, being energetic is very powerful.”
(UDB) “If righteous people pray and ask fervently for God to do something, God will act powerfully and will certainly do it.”
(WMTH) “The heartfelt supplication of a righteous man exerts a mighty influence.”

Image by Wolfgang Eckert from Pixabay


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com