_EFFECTUAL PRAYERS_
"_The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much._"
--JAMES v. 13-20.
Or, as Weymouth translates it, "The heartfelt supplication of a righteous
man exerts a mighty influence." Prayer may be empty words, with no more
power than those empty shells which have been foisted upon the Turks in
their war with the Balkan States. Firing empty shells! That is what many
professed prayers really are; they have nothing in them, and they
accomplish nothing. They are just forged upon the lips, and they drop to
the earth as soon as they are spoken. Effectual prayers are born in the
heart; they are stocked with heart-treasure, with faith, and hope, and
desire, and holy urgency, and they go forth with power to shake the world.
What are my prayers like? _If I were God, could I listen to them?_ Are
they mere pretences at prayer, full of nothing but sound? Is there any
reasonable ground for assuming that they can accomplish anything? Or are
my prayers weighted with sincere desire? Do they comprehend my brother's
good as well as my own? Are they spoken in faith? Do they go forth in
great expectancy? Then do they surely "exert a mighty influence," and they
become fellow-labourers with all God's ministries of grace. The greatest
thing I can do is greatly to pray.