Take That, Satan!

Have you ever suffered from low prayer esteem? You know, when you have no words to pray, and even if you do find words, they are a poor substitute for what’s deep down in your heart. You feel more like a prayer wimp than a prayer warrior. That’s how I feel sometimes.

I imagine that’s exactly where Satan want us to be and precisely what he wants us to feel. Satan wants us to believe our prayers have no effect, and they only go as high as our ceilings. 

Satan doesn’t want us to pray. 

The other day, I was crying out to god “Lord, I just want to be a prayer warrior for Your glory!” Immediately, God brought me to a scripture. (I love when He does things immediately, don’t you?) I looked down at my open Bible, and there it was: 

“The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” James 5:16b NASB

Effective prayers accomplish much! Others translations call them earnest prayers. The Amplified Bible says heartfelt and persistent prayers. I have no doubt that my prayers are earnest and heartfelt. The ONE WORD that causes me to doubt the power of my prayers and stumble in my prayer life is this: righteous.

Because, you know? Some days I just don’t feel righteous. 

Those are the days when my angers flares. Or maybe jealousy rages. Some days, I’m certain I don’t love others the way I should. I hardly feel righteous: good, virtuous, descent and holy. Some days I feel totally opposite.

Holy Spirit gently reminded me of Galatians 2:16, which tells me I am justified – or declared righteous – by my faith in Jesus Christ. Through faith in Jesus alone, I am holy. Nothing that I have done makes me this way. Only Jesus. Simply because of my faith in Jesus.

Uh huh. Truth right there! Through Jesus alone, we are made righteous. Because of Him, we have no reason to feel inadequate about our prayer lives. 

[tweetthis]Our prayers can accomplish much. [/tweetthis]

They have tremendous power and are dynamic (what, my prayers, dynamic?) because they have Holy Spirit power behind them. They may not seem like much to us, but we’re looking through earthly eyes. Thinking from an eternal perspective, God’s power is behind every prayer we utter, even when they are wordless groans (Romans 8:26). 

 Although I’m sure Satan will fire his darts to try and make us feel less than in our prayer life, we can push him back with a firm arm and say “My prayers ARE powerful. Take that, Satan!”

Father, May we always remember that we are made righteous by our faith in Jesus alone! Holy because of Him! And because of this, our prayers ARE effective and DO have Holy Spirit power! Keeping this in mind, we can pray continually, never giving up, and not worrying again about our wimpy words. They are made strong through You. Thank You, Lord God! In Jesus powerful name I pray, Amen!

Grace be with you,