Today, I woke up with Holy Spirit giving me James 5:16: “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” When I read the entire chapter in The Passion Translation, I discovered some amazing things…. Verse 9 says, “Since each of you are part of God’s family never complain or grumble about each other so that judgment will not come on you, for the true Judge is near and very ready to appear!” The commentary notes state that “ready to appear” literally means “at the gate!” Wow! Then, when I looked verse 16 up in Strong’s Concordance, I discovered that “effectual fervent” means “to be active, be operative, be at work, put forth power.” Prayer is referring to petition, requesting something and supplication. “Availeth” means “to be strong, to have power, to exert or wield power, to have strength to overcome.” Then the passage goes on to talk about Elijah. Verses 17-18 says, “Elijah was a man with human frailties, just like all of us, but he prayed and received supernatural answers. He actually shut the heavens over the land so there would be no rain for three and a half years! Then he prayed again and the skies opened up over the land so that the rain came again and produced the harvest.”
So… He is ready to appear – at the gate! And we, by being proactive in prayer, wield our power, opening or closing earthly gates according to the will and the ways of the Father.
Never saw that before! Wow! And AMEN!
Opening and Closing Gates
