Fervent Prayer

Wednesday March 18, 2026

Fervent Prayer.  Prayer is a subject I have recently been studying.  One familiar verse comes from James, “16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).  Have you ever wondered what effectual fervent prayer looked like?  In our psalm reading today, there was a verse that stood out that I could just not get past.  It says, “In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted” (Psalm 77:2).  When you first look at this, it is obvious the psalmist is very troubled and it clearly states “I sought the Lord”.  However, the next phrase is not obvious at first; it states, “my sore ran in the night”.  The Hebrew word translated “my sore” (yāḏ) means “hand”.  So, a more modern translation states, “I sought the Lord in my day of trouble.  My hands were continually lifted up all night long” (CSB).  The hands being lifted up is a signifier of prayer.  Much like we bow our heads in prayer, Scripture describes times of lifting up holy hands in prayer.  For example, Paul writes to Timothy “I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting” (1 Timothy 2:8).  Can’t you just picture the psalmist being so troubled, and in seeking the Lord, he prays with hands raised all night long?  As I read this text, this picture reminded me of another instance in Scriptures where we see hands raised.  “Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9 And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. 10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses' hands [were] heavy; and they took a stone, and put [it] under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun” (Exodus 17:8-12).  I wonder…what was Moses doing in lifting up his hands?  Was he praying and the lifting up in hands signified that?  I believe so!  And when his hands got heavy, he had some come along side of him so that he might be steadied, so that he could continue to pray.  The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.