Prayer of a Righteous Man

John 15:12-17 says, “12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. 17 This I command you, that you love one another.”

The verse I would like to focus on is verse sixteen, which says, “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”

James affirms this message by saying in 5:16b, “.... The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” God is calling us to righteousness (Leviticus 20:26, “Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.”). He desires us to be holy as He is holy, but we often have a misconception about holiness.

When we think of holiness, we think of the walk of sanctification. This is the constant pursuit of Christ, after salvation or through salvation. In this walk we run to God and what His word has to say about who He is. However, the popular belief is that we can never be holy here on earth, because it is only possible to be holy in heaven. Well, obviously, Jesus was holy, thus one can be holy outside of heaven. Anyways, we often believe that since man can’t completely be holy. The race of sanctification is just a race that will finish when we are in heaven. Until then, we must endure the pain that it brings.

However, we must understand that there are effects on earth that we can see clearly. When you are chasing after God with everything you are, the people around you understand that something is, indeed, different. However, the most important aspect is the one seen above, specifically in James 5:16b. When we become righteous, and clean in the sight of God, our prayers can do a lot, then just praying while in a “so-so” relationship with God. As the earlier verses said, we grow in Christ when we are connected to Him, it’s not a long distance relationship. Why? Because He is our source of food, and we are completely dependant on Him.

The point here is, when you draw closer to God, your desire becomes His. If you then pray for the things you desire, you pray for things God desires. When Jesus prayed, He prayed the will of the Father, because He was in bondage with God, while in fact God Himself. Draw closer to God, so that when you pray, He will hear you, and the two desires will be united. – Forsake All