prayer changes things lyrics williams brothers

Elijah’s powerful prayer was answered by God according to His will, and His character. He was chosen by God to deliver a convicting message to the people of Israel concerning their idolatry to false gods.Įverything God does and allows is meant to draw His people, and us, closer to Him. “Elijah had agonized over the sin of his people and had prayed to the Lord for corrective measures to be levied on his people,” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary explains. Elijah’s prayer, recorded in 1 Kings 17-18, reveals a powerful example of the prayers of the righteous. God hears our prayers through the Way He made for us, out of the love He has for us, because of who He is. Yahweh is the source of all righteousness. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.” ( James 5:17-18)Įlijah was an ordinary man with great faith in God. “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Prayer, individually and corporately, is powerful. “ Healed is sometimes used for physical healing, but it is also used metaphorically for spiritual restoration,” Moody Bible Commentary explains, “the metaphorical sense being preferred in light of James’s apparent emphasis on spiritual strengthening.” God places us purposefully in each others lives, for accountability, intercession in prayer, conviction, encouragement, and ways we may never know were His until we look back to see His hand in our every situation and conversation. He implored them, applicable to our present hearts, to remember and embrace the power of prayer. James implored early Jewish Christians in his letter, who were scattered and facing difficulty, to confess their sins to and pray for one another. “Prayer has to come from the right heart,” Stormie Omartian explains, “because when you’re praying for someone else, you can’t be praying manipulative prayers or angry prayers or prayers with unforgiveness in your heart.” Strongholds of sin can deceitfully develop inwardly, restricting our reliance on the power of God to reveal, convict, heal and restore. Scripture records many prayers to God, asking Him to search the heart, cleanse hidden sin, renew and restore.

“Prayer is effective,” Jonathan Parnell explains, “not because of great men who pray, but because of a great God who in Christ graciously hears his people.” Jesus is the living word of God, and He is always with us! We are ordinary people, whom God hears because of who He is. It is this power of the living God in us which makes prayers of the righteous powerful. Jesus’ powerful sacrifice on the cross made a way for the Holy Spirit to abide in every Christ follower.Ĭounselor and Comforter, He intercedes on our behalf and translates our prayers. The Holy Spirit, living in every Christ follower, intercedes for us through prayer and in prayer with the Father in heaven. The power of prayer reaches beyond our human ability to properly express and understand what our souls need from God. “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” ( James 5:16) What the Bible Says about How Prayer Changes Things “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,” Paul wrote, “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” ( Philippians 1:9-11). Through Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit living in us prays our prayers to God, rendered to accurately express what we actually need, according to God’s will for our lives.

Prayer changes things lyrics williams brothers