Set Apart to Serve God

08/06/21 – 08/22/21

A Righteous Person’s Prayer

By Michael Youssef, Ph D.  08/19/21

Many people seem to think that their prayers don’t matter. Even people who believe in the power of prayer don’t always think of themselves as effective in this area. If being effective means getting results and making things happen, how do we pray effective prayers?

The Bible tells us, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). A righteous person is a person who is in right standing with God. A righteous person has a personal relationship with Jesus as his or her Savior. A righteous person seeks to obey God and yield to the direction of the Holy Spirit. Righteousness means a person wants what is right according to the Word of God—he or she wants to see God’s Truth and God’s will established on this earth.

We see effective prayer modeled for us in the life of the Old Testament prophet Daniel. His prayers are valuable for study so we can emulate them for God’s glory. Over the next several days we will look at the key components of Daniel’s prayer. In preparation, read through Daniel 9:4-19.

Prayer: Father, help me to be a righteous person who seeks Your will above all else. Help me to trust Your Word, which tells me that, as a righteous person, my prayers are powerful and effective. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).