The abundant life is filled with answered prayers. As believers engage with God to bring forth his purpose, their prayers are powerful and consistently answered. Tremendous power is released through the fervent or passionate prayer of a righteous person (James 5:16). Elijah’s fervent prayers controlled the weather over Israel for three and a half years (1 Kings 17-18; James 5:17). Fervently praying under the influence of the Holy Spirit empowers believers to ask God for their earnest desires and receive what they ask. In this study, you will learn how to experience breakthroughs with fervent prayers.
Introducing Fervent Prayers
Pray from the perspective of the finished work of the cross and victory. For those of us who are being saved, the message of the cross is the mighty power of God released within us (1 Corinthians 1:18). Through the cross, believers become part of the family of God and live under the new covenant. Answers to prayers come consistently from fervent prayers in which God’s will and the will of the believer match. The ultimate fervent prayer was prayed by Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane as he submitted to the will of the Father (Luke 22:39-44). “Being in agony, he was praying very fervently; and his sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground” (Luke 22:44). Fervent prayers are passionate, intensive prayers carrying enough energy to manifest God’s purpose. The power of prayer comes from engaging God as a co-laborer by speaking to him and hearing his voice that is filled with energy. It is the energy in God’s voice that changes a situation and brings a promise to pass.
Some things come to pass quickly, while others require a process of labored prayer. Quick answers build faith, but delayed answers build both character and faith. Moses had enduring faith to lead God’s people through the wilderness for forty years (Hebrews 11:27). The Apostle Paul labored in prayer for believers in Galatia: “I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you” (Galatians 4:19).
Prayer is critical in every aspect of God’s kingdom, including personal finances. There are no limitations on prayers, but all prayers are not equal. Some carry faith, while others carry doubt and unbelief. Prayers with doubt and unbelief are ineffective. Ask for the Lord’s guidance on how to pray. “When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth (John 16:13). The guidance of the Spirit will energize your prayers, making them effective.
Many people are just barely getting by in the financial area. They are living from paycheck to paycheck. They are continually in need of God’s help to survive and pray for financial miracles. Regardless of how many miracles God provides, these people are not being transformed by the miracles. Lives are transformed by encountering with God.
A young man we know was in trouble with his finances. He was behind with his house payments and was about to lose the family home in foreclosure. He began praying for the finances of the congregation he attended and the individual contributors to that congregation. He also began teaching a class about personal finances. He got involved with helping other people improve their financial situation. In a few weeks, his situation improved to the point that he was no longer facing foreclosure. He was transformed from being self-centered and a poor steward of finances to seeking God’s will, hearing his voice, and obeying him.
Biblical Applications
God’s word is filled with many powerful prayers that accomplished great things. By studying these prayers, believers can learn how to pray effectively to have their requests answered by God. From the prayers discussed below, you can understand how to pray for yourself, for your loved ones, and for your enemies.
Jabez Prayed for Himself
Jabez is mentioned once in the word of God as praying a brief but powerful prayer that God granted. “Oh, that you would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm that it may not pain me” (1 Chronicles 4:10). First, Jabez wanted a big blessing. This request might seem selfish, but you have to ask for what you want before you can expect to receive it. “You do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:2). Second, Jabez wanted influence over a larger territory. Asking God for more territory means you can have more opportunities to influence lives for the sake of Jesus. Third, Jabez wanted God’s hand to be with him. God’s hand represents his presence and power. When the disciples were facing severe opposition, they asked for God’s healing hand to be with them (Acts 4:29-30). Fourth, Jabez wanted God’s protection. In these perilous times, you can activate God’s promise of protection. “The Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one” (2 Thessalonians 3:3).
Everyone has access to God’s blessings through Jesus Christ, but not everyone asks for his blessings. Jabez pressed into God, asked for his blessings, and received them. What God did for Jabez he can do for you.
Job Prayed for His Persecutors
Jesus demonstrated the greatest possible love by dying on the cross for people who hated him. He wants all believers to love like he loves. He told his disciples to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:44-45). Prayer for your enemies and those who persecute you is an expression of the highest form of love.
A good example of this type of prayer can be found in the story of a man called Job who had terrible troubles. His children and possessions were destroyed. Several so-called friends thought that Job was responsible for these tragedies. They appeared to be his friends, but they gave him bad advice. They thought that Job had done many wicked things to experience such destruction (Job 22:4-11). Job prayed for his so-called friends who persecuted him, and his fortunes were restored. “The Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord increased all that Job had twofold” (Job 42:10). Even when your enemies will not accept your natural efforts to help them, you can effectively pray that they will be delivered from evil. Such prayers imitate Jesus and make you more like him.
Paul Prayed for Loved Ones
Believers can pray effectively for those whom they love and whose welfare they seek. The Apostle Paul prayed for the Philippians whom he called his joy and crown (Philippians 4:1). He prayed for spiritual blessings for the Philippians, as he did for others in all his epistles. Spiritual blessings are the highest form of God’s blessings.
Paul prayed that the Philippians’ love would grow and overflow, bringing spiritual insight on what was important (Philippians 1:9-11). There is nothing better to pray for loved ones than they abound in love. He did not pray for riches for the Philippians. He knew that God would grant them riches because of their generosity. They sent financial gifts to support him while he ministered to others and while he was imprisoned by the Romans (Philippians 4:15-18). He ended the letter to the Philippians by declaring “My God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). The gifts of the Philippians were a sweet-smelling aroma to the Lord that produced fruit in their heavenly account. They could draw God’s blessings from their account as needed.
Lessons from These Fervent Prayers
Each of these prayers came out of the heart of a dreamer and visionary who drew life from the heart of the extravagant heavenly Father. These three prayers were fervent prayers offered under difficult circumstances. Jabez wanted to burst out of his human nature and natural borders. People saw him as a pain, but he wanted that to be reversed. Job had everything stripped away and yet prayed for others. Paul was in prison and still prayed for the Philippians rather than himself.
1. Dream big!
The Jabez prayer was based on the desires in his heart not on his needs. He wanted his territory to be expanded and blessed. Job came to the end of himself for everything belonging to him had been lost. The prayer by Job came from an encounter with God and was motivated by the highest form of love, which involves loving a person’s enemies. Paul prayed for spiritual blessings for the Philippians. None of these prayers are based on the physical needs of the men praying, even though their needs were numerous.
2. Agree with the Father’s heart.
Prayers that are consistent with the Father’s will and his ways will be answered by him. The mother of Jabez called him a pain but his heavenly Father brought redemption and kept him from pain. Job said, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will take his stand on the earth” (Job 19:25). Paul wanted to know Jesus Christ and experience the resurrection power working within him (Philippians 3:10). These three men and their fervent prayers agreed with the Father’s heart.
3. Glorify the Father.
The true reason to pray is to glorify the Father. “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). The Father is glorified as believers speak his anointed words and serve others with the strength that he provides (1 Peter 4:10-11). It is the Father’s pleasure to give believers all he has (Luke 12:32). The Father glorifies himself by answering prayers that only he can answer.
Personal Story on Fervent Prayers
Forty years ago, as I was fasting and fervently praying about my purpose, the Lord told me to teach his people how to be rich. At that time, Sherry and I began a lifelong quest in search of his true riches. “God conceals the revelation of his word in the hiding place of his glory, but the honor of kings is revealed by how they thoroughly search out the deeper meaning of all that God says” (Proverbs 25:2 TPT). As we spent time in fervent prayer and searched God’s word, the Holy Spirit began to reveal the mysteries of the true riches. Praying with understanding and praying in the Spirit unlock God’s truths and give valuable insight into his word. His true riches relate to each believer’s union with Christ. The Spirit works deeply inside of believers to change them to be like Christ. Being united with Christ opens up channels of blessings from heaven to flow through the spirit man and spill over onto every area of life. While much has been revealed to us, the depths of his riches have no end.
Conclusions
Abundance comes out of a vibrant prayer life that fulfills God’s purpose. The Holy Spirit searches the heart of God to show believers how to pray effective fervent prayers. These prayers contain enough energy within them to bring forth God’s purposes. This energy comes from hearing God’s voice. When you hear God’s voice and pray what you hear him speak, you will walk in God’s abundance.
Deborah Smith