Why Prayer Is Effective (2 Kin. 4:25b-37) (Part 1)

Introduction:

As you find 2 Kings chapter 4 in your Bible, what comes to mind when I say the words “effective prayer”? Some might think, “I pray, but I wouldn't say I pray effectively.” Others might recall James 5:16, where it says, “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

In the next two verses James tells us about a man named Elijah.

James 5:17-18 > “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.”

Is it hard for you believe that you can pray effectively? Most wouldn't dare to put themselves in the same category as Elijah. It isn't that we don't pray; it's that we don't think our prayers accomplish much when we do pray.

Today's verses from 2 Kings chapter 4 reveal four things that are necessary in order to pray

effectively.  The climax of the story is when Elisha, who is God's spokesman and representative, raises a boy from the dead. Now that's effective praying!

(Tomorrow's post:  Effective prayer requires urgency.)