Everyone who has ever attended church, especially saved Christians, are familiar with John 3:16. This is the most famous verse in the Bible and the one most often memorized and quoted. I memorized John 3:16 as a child in Sunday school and it has stuck with me ever since. It’s the only Bible verse I can recite correctly to this day even though my skill at memorization has faded badly over the years. John 3:16 is so popular with everyone because it tells us exactly what we want to know and what we need to know, in clear language. John 3:16 is refreshing, like a glass of cold water to a thirsty man. It really hits the mark.
John 3:16 – (Jesus speaking) – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
As human beings we fully understand the father-son relationship laid out in John 3:16 and the love that entails. We intuitively understand that God’s greatest possession in heaven is his Son Jesus Christ, just like our children are to us. We know without having to be told that God loves Jesus more than anything else in heaven. So when God tells us he is willingly sacrificing the life of Jesus to save us God is telling us he loves us just as much as he loves Jesus. God not only tells us how much he loves us, he proves it by sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. John 3:16 proves to us, without any reservation whatsoever, that God dearly loves us. The second thing John 3:16 tells us is that we have salvation unto eternal life if we believe in Jesus Christ. To believe means we, through faith, accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. This one sentence in the Scriptures confirms to us without any shadow of doubt that God loves us dearly and we have eternal life in heaven with God if we believe in Jesus Christ. John 3:16 gives us peace with God where before there was enmity and the peace of God where before there was fear about the future.
John 10:10 – (Jesus speaking) – I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
The “they” in the above verse refers to the body of Christ; believers who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. In this verse of Scripture Jesus is letting us know that he is the beloved Son of God referenced in John 3:16, who has come down from heaven to give his life as a ransom for us. That through the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross and the shedding of his blood we have forgiveness of our sins by God the Father. By “life” Jesus means eternal life in heaven. When Jesus says we “may” have life he means eternal life is not given automatically. Man has the free will choice to accept the grace of God or not. God has graciously provided a means for fallen man to escape eternal death in hell. Men must make the choice to serve God or Satan. The second part of the verse says that our promised life “may” be had more abundantly. Abundantly means, “in large quantities; plentifully.” Jesus is promising a more abundant life not only on earth but also in heaven. Again, the word “may” means the promise is not automatic from God but is contingent on us asking for our abundance in prayers to God. Praying to God in this life allows God to bless us now while building up treasures for us in heaven before we get there. We must become prayer warriors for God in order to receive the all the blessings God has planned for us.
James 5:16 – The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
God has prescribed prayer as the way for his special creatures (us) to talk with him. In James 5:16 God explains to us how we are to pray to him. God talks to us primarily through the Bible and God uses the Holy Spirit to reveal spiritual truths to us through the pages of the Bible so that we can know God better and what we must do to please God. As believers we are children of God and if we want to please God we must read the Bible regularly (daily if possible) and obey the commandments of God contained in his word. Our minds are the conduit between the physical world and the spiritual world. We access the throne of grace through out minds. Satan and his demons cannot attack us in the physical world but they can attack us from the spiritual world through our minds because our minds are portals to the spiritual world and they can reach through to oppress us mentally. We must be prepared to resist the mental assault of the wicked one and that comes by knowing the Bible and then praying to God for his help and protection.
To me James 5:16 is the most important verse in the entire Bible because it is the key that unlocks the blessings of God contained in the Bible. James 5:16 tells us exactly how to make our prayers pleasing to God so he will answer them. The ten words of this verse say a lot so let’s break down the seven most important words in this verse and examine each word for content and meaning (prayer, man, righteous, avails, much, fervent and effective):
1.Prayer – In the dictionary prayer is defined as, “a request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God.” Prayer is how we talk to God. We know that James 5:16 is exclusively talking about believers talking to God. Only believers have access to the throne room of God in prayer. Nonbelievers do not have their prayers heard or answered.
2.Man – In the dictionary man is defined as, “human beings in general”. Angels have no need for prayer because they’re always in the presence of God. Demons serve Satan and they could not and would not be praying to God. Prayer is the exclusive province of believers as God’s prescribed way for us to communicate with him one on one.
3.Righteous – The dictionary defines “righteous” as, “morally right or justifiable” or “morally good.” When man, by faith, repents of their sins and accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior unto salvation and eternal life then God forgives their sins. God then sees believers as righteous which means God sees them as morally right or good. God sees believers as justified, which is the same thing as saved unto eternal life. When believers are saved Jesus takes away our sins and gives us the righteousness of Christ. When God looks upon the believer all he sees is the righteousness of Jesus, his dearly beloved Son. To be saved is to be righteous before God. A righteous man is a man who has been saved unto eternal life.
4.Avails – In the dictionary “avails” means “to help or benefit someone.” In prayer we can pray for ourselves, someone else or both. Prayers are always positive, never negative. God is holy and good and any help from Almighty God is always for our benefit or the benefit of others. Only blessings come from God because the Spirit of God can only produce good fruit.
5.Much – The dictionary defines “much” as, “a large amount, to a great extent, a great deal, often.” With an open-ended word like much I can imagine a lot. God is generous to a fault and we know he loves us. God dotes on us like a favorite grandchild. We can’t begin to imagine the magnitude of the blessings God has in store for us if only we’ll ask for them in prayer.
6.Fervent – In the dictionary “fervent” is defined as, “intensely passionate.” When we pray it must be from the heart with great emotion. That tells me it’s not the words that are important, it’s what we feel in our heart that counts. That means canned prayers and rote incantations will not work if we want God to answer our prayers.
7.Effective – The dictionary defines “effective” as, “producing a desired or intended result.” Everyone who calls themselves a Christian has at one time or another prayed to God. I’ll bet not many of those prayers were answered. Why? They were not effective prayers. Why was that? The Bible tells us explicitly that if you’re not praying and reading God’s Word on a regular basis (i.e. daily) or studying God’s Word for knowledge, understanding and wisdom you are not in fellowship with God. You may be saved but you have no intimacy with God. When you pray to God you must believe that God will answer those prayers. If you’re not in close contact with God you may pray hoping they’ll be answered but you don’t have any confidence that they will be. Deep down you know you haven’t done anything that would warrant God answering your prayers. When you’re in fellowship with God you have no such doubts. When you know your Bible you know your prayers will be answered. Prayers must be repeated over and over until God answers them. God doesn’t respond to selfish prayers. Pray for a million bucks and see where that gets you. Prayers to God must be unselfish and according to his will. God never grants prayers that are detrimental to yourself or others. Prayers are just help from God because God is good, generous, kind, and gentle and he loves us. God loves to answer the prayers of his saints.
Mark 10:45 – (Jesus speaking) – For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
Matthew 20:28 – (Jesus speaking) – Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
1 Timothy 2:5-6 – For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
Philippians 4:6 – Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
Based on the definitions of the words in James 5:16 it’s abundantly clear that prayer to God is the way he intended for us to access the blessings of God, both here on earth and in heaven. Prayers must be made by believers speaking unselfishly from the heart according to God’s will and then repeated over and over to God knowing they will get an answer eventually. Prayers must be to help a believer or someone else; never to harm or hurt another person. Finally, effective prayer by a man of God will produce more fruit than we ever dreamed of. The Bible talks in terms of up to a hundredfold return when discussing the blessings of a righteous man. We must become prayer warriors for God if we want to receive the greatest blessings from the Lord our God. Write down John 3:16, John 10:10 and James 5:16 on index cards so you can review these three very important Bible verses often. They will remind you of your potential to do great things as a believer in the kingdom of God and they will show how it can be done.
Colossians 4:2 – Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.
John 9:31 – Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshipper of God and does His will, He hears him.
Mark 11:24 – (Jesus speaking) – Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask for when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Proverbs 28:9 – One who turns away his ear from hearing the law (the Bible), even his prayer is an abomination.