Prayers

James 5:15-16 NIV

And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

1 Kings 18:36-39 NLT

At the usual time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. O LORD, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.”
Immediately the fire of the LORD flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench! And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The LORD—he is God! Yes, the LORD is God!”

Romans 5:19 NIV

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

We often underestimate the power of the blood, Jesus' blood that's been shed for our sins have made us righteous before God almighty. James 5:16 says "the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective", so our prayers are powerful and effective because we have been made righteous by the blood. We have to simply believe and receive.

Elijah prayed, and God answered His prayer. Why? Because it brings glory to His name.
When we pray, we need to make sure that God gets the glory, when He answers our prayer.
God is in our everyday lives. We don't have to be afraid to mention to our non believer friends that we'll pray for their situation, sickness, etc. Why? Because God will answer our prayers and His name will be glorified, and that way we are sowing seeds of faith into their lives.
We don't have to be ashamed or afraid to tell others what we are praying for. Why?
Because when God answers our prayers, His name will be glorified.
So make sure when we pray, our heart's intention is that God will be glorified in our lives, in our prayers, and in all things.

At the end of the day, we are all here for one common goal... and the heart of the Father only cares about one thing... for all His children to come into the knowledge of Him, and receives salvation through His son, Jesus.

Let us not be afraid to make our prayers and petitions be known to others and to God, for the glory of His name.