Bulletin

The Effective, Fervent Prayer

by Warren Berkley

Pause and reflect on all the influences that lead you to worship God in spirit and in truth.

  • There is our faith in Jesus Christ who died for us
  • Add to this our knowledge of all that should be done before God, revealed to us in His Word
  • Don’t leave out the encouragement of association with God’s people

These are just some of the influences that can bring us to assemblies of worship with good motives, reverent attitudes, and sincere desires to worship God as He has directed.

But when I look back over my life, there’s something else that greatly contributed to my present interests in worshipping God. One of the earliest memories I have is hearing my father pray. When a child hears his father pray to “Almighty God” day after day after day, it makes a lasting impression and helps form the child’s concept of reverence for our Creator.

Fathers, do you still have children growing up in your house? If so, let me challenge you to take full-advantage of this awesome opportunity. As God’s people were instructed in Deuteronomy 6, “These words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” When you lead your children in prayer, hearts beyond your own are being impacted. “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:17).