Daily Manna: Effectual, Fervent Prayer Please!

Saturday 30, November 2013

TEXT: ACTS 4:23-37

KEY VERSE: “And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God…And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness” (Acts. 4:24a,31).

A Professor once remarked that there are elements that will always stand against success in life. “When one starts a project,” he said, “they (elements) want to truncate it; when one has a goal or vision in life, they threaten to obliterate it.” “Therefore,” he concludes, “those in quest of excellence, must take appropriate action, buckle up and be determined to achieve success at all costs.”

The devil knew quite well that Jesus Christ had commissioned His disciples, before His ascension, to “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature”, and that this must begin from Jerusalem (Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8 ) . Therefore, he wanted to truncate that move which had rightly begun in Jerusalem by the disciples.

As soon as the disciples performed their first notable miracle, it facilitated the preaching of the gospel by attracting many to the Lord. The enemies of the gospel moved swiftly to stop it. They arrested Peter and John and locked them up.Their intention was to instill fear in the hearts of the disciples thus preventing them from fulfilling Jesus’ mandate. Thank God the disciples knew the appropriate action to take. They were determined to be successful in ministry and that they did! They employed the appropriate instrument of prayer and God came to their rescue.

It is good to know that the only solution when confronted with any problem is to seek the face of God in prayer. A mindless resort to complaining, grumbling and despondency is unhelpful. The prayer that will cause the Holy Ghost to come down will be the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous (James 5:16). This prayer cannot be ignored by heaven; a prayer that causes things to happen!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Importunate, fervent prayer is key to overcoming the challenges of life.

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