The Power of Prayer

“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” – James 5:16

Back in the 1950s and ’60s, Dr. Helen Roseveare served as a missionary to The Congo, Africa. She told this true story. "A mother at our mission station died after giving birth to a premature baby. We tried to improvise an incubator to keep the infant alive, but the only hot water bottle we had was beyond repair. So, we asked the children to pray for the baby and for her sister.

“One of the girls responded. 'Dear God, please send a hot water bottle today. Tomorrow will be too late because by then the baby will be dead. And dear Lord, send a doll for the sister so she won't feel so lonely.' That afternoon a large package arrived from England. The children watched eagerly as we opened it. Much to their surprise, under some clothing was a hot water bottle! Immediately the girl who had prayed so boldly started to dig deeper, exclaiming, 'If God sent that, I'm sure He also sent a doll!' And she was right! The heavenly Father knew in advance of that child's sincere requests, and five months earlier He had led a ladies' group to include both of those specific articles.”

Our God hears and answers prayer. As the Book of James tells us in chapter 5, “Is anyone among you in trouble? He should pray” (v. 13). From the very beginning of his message to Christians, James made it clear that much of our spiritual growth comes through trials. In the first chapter, he wrote: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4). Now, as he closes his letter, James once again shines the spotlight on our trials.

James doesn’t tell us what kinds of trials and hardships he has in mind. It really doesn’t matter, because this principle applies to all troubles and all hardships that Christians face. Regardless of what trouble comes our way, we need to pray. If your marriage is falling apart, you need to pray. If your kids are driving your crazy, you need to pray. If your boss or coworkers are acting like jerks, you need to pray. If your bills are due and you have no money, you REALLY need to pray. If your doctor says he doesn’t like the results of your blood work, you need to pray. If you are a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, when you are in trouble—no matter what kind of trouble you are in—you should pray.

Now, you may have heard that God answers our prayers in one of three ways: He answers with a “Yes,” a “No” or a “Wait.” But when does God give us each of these three answers? Pastor Pastor Bill Hybels answers that question this way: If the request is wrong, God says, "No." If the timing is wrong, God says, "Slow." If you are wrong, God says, "Grow." But if the request is right, the timing is right and you are right, God says, "Go!"

At the end of verse 16, we read these life-changing words: “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” It goes without saying that this verse doesn’t just apply to men. After all, most of us have known God-fearing women whose prayers were powerful and effective. James points to Elijah in verses 17-18 as an example of a godly man whose prayers were powerful and effective. He prayed that it wouldn’t rain in Northern Israel, and it didn’t rain. Three and a half years later, he prayed for rain, and guess what happened? Surprise, surprise! It started raining again.

Can prayer be just as powerful and effective today? Your answer to that question will largely determine whether or not your own prayers will be powerful and effective. We’re told in Hebrews 11:6 that without faith it is impossible to please God. That being the case, without faith it is impossible for your prayers to be powerful and effective. But with faith…the prayers of a righteous man or woman, or teenager or child, are powerful and effective.

James ends his message to Christians with this final thought in verses 19-20: “My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.” When we lead a backsliding Christian back to Christ, it could literally save their life here on earth. And when we lead a nonChristian to Christ, it will literally save their life in eternity.

The greatest mission ever given to men by God was our mission to lead lost and dying sinners to Christ. But James reminds us that it’s not just about winning the lost. God also calls us to win the saved. There are millions of backsliding Christians out there who need to return to Christ. If you’re one of them, I urge you to return to Christ with your whole heart. Or, if you have a backsliding Christian in your life, God is calling you to urge him or her to return to Christ with their whole heart.

It’s been over six months since the start of the COVID-19 stay-at-home order. So, don’t you agree that—one way or another—it’s time to get back to church? This Sunday at Impact Christian Church, we’re celebrating Back to Church Sunday. So, it’s the perfect time for you and your family and friends to return to the house of the Lord. Join us for our Live Outdoor Service at 9 a.m., or for our Online Service at 10 a.m. If my prayer for you is “powerful and effective,” I’ll see you at church Sunday.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our live outdoor worship service this week, on Back to Church Sunday, at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on our YouTube channel (Impact Christian Church) or on Facebook.

How Do I Hear God’s Voice?

“You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.” 
- Jeremiah 29:13

I’m a big fan of nature documentaries. There have been some really good ones released in the last several years: African Cats, Dolphin Reef, Born in China (which, contrary to what you m­ight think, is not about the coronavirus … it’s about pandas and snow leopards). But my absolute favorite nature documentary is March of the Penguins. This film records the amazing story of the way Emperor Penguins migrate in order to breed. Every year, several thousand of these tenacious birds walk—or, actually, waddle—70 miles from the ocean to their breeding grounds.

When the penguins arrive, they pair up into couples, and the female lays one egg. She then passes her egg off to her hubby, who carefully places the egg on top of his feet underneath his abdominal feathers. And Dad holds that egg on his feet for two months while his Mrs. and the other ladies walk 70 miles back to the ocean to find food. During those two months, the male emperor penguin waits through temperatures as low as 70 degrees below zero, and he loses around one-third of his total body weight.

Eventually the egg hatches, and the females returns. And each male penguin calls for his mate. As over a thousand penguins call for their wives at the same time, to us it just sounds like a bunch of racket. But somehow, every female penguin is able to distinguish the call of her hubby and go to him. Isn’t that cool?

As humans, our ears aren’t nearly so fine-tuned. Every day we hear hundreds of voices vying for our attention: the voices of our spouses, our kids and our parents … our friends, neighbors, coworkers and bosses. We hear hundreds of voices on TV, on the radio and at WalMart, and sometimes it just sounds like a whole lot of noise. All these voices are fighting for our attention, and as followers of Jesus Christ we want to know: “With hundreds of different voices rattling in my ears, how can I single out the one voice I want to hear? How do I hear God’s voice?”

Let’s take a look at Elijah. In 1 Kings 19:11, the Lord tells Elijah that He is about to pass by. Right after He says that, a “great and powerful wind” rips through the mountains. But somehow, Elijah knows that God is not in the wind. Then a great earthquake rattles the mountain. But somehow, Elijah knows that God is not in the earthquake. Then a raging fire torches the mountainside. But once again, Elijah knows that God is not in the fire. Finally, at the end of verse 12, Elijah hears a “gentle whisper.” And Elijah immediately recognizes that God is in the gentle whisper. Amidst the earth-shaking noise of the wind and the earthquake and the fire, Elijah recognizes the voice of God. Wouldn’t you love to be able to do that? Let me share a few insights about how you can hear God’s voice.

Insight #1: The problem isn’t that God’s not TALKING. The problem is that you’re not LISTENING. The truth is, God speaks to us in a hundred different ways every day. He speaks to us through prayer. He speaks to us through people. He speaks to us through our triumphs, and He even speaks to us through our failures and pain. And the number one way that God speaks to us is through His Word. If you want to hear God’s voice, just start reading. You’ll hear it---for sure!! There’s a reason we call the Bible “God’s word.” Remember that the God of heaven and earth is a very personal God, and He speaks to us in a very personal way. It’s amazing how a Bible verse that you’ve read a hundred times can come alive for the first time on a certain day and you just know in your heart of hearts, “God is speaking to me right now.”

Insight #2: God speaks to us more often than we realize, but we don’t hear Him because there’s too much noise drowning Him out. We live in a very noisy world. For many of us the radio is always on in our cars and the TV is always on in our homes. In order to hear God’s whisper, you must strive to eliminate at least some of the background noise. To do this, you need to practice a little self-discipline. Turn off the TV and radio. Get out in nature if you’re able to. Wake up early and get into God’s Word before everyone else in the house wakes up and starts making noise. In order to hear God’s voice, you have to be able to HEAR God’s voice. Make sense?

Insight #3: You’ve gotta want it—really, really want it. It’s easy to say, “I want to hear God’s voice.” But do you really, really, REALLY want to hear God’s voice? In Jeremiah 29:13, God says, “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.” Do you seek God with “all your heart”? Just as Mama Penguin’s heart’s desire is to hear Daddy’s voice, our heart’s desire should be to hear our Daddy’s voice. We must have hearts that love God and want to spend time with God and long to hear the voice of God. There are no shortcuts. It takes time. It takes effort. It takes practice. But you will seek God and find God and hear God, when you seek Him and listen with all your heart.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our online worship service Sundays at

10 a.m. at Live.GreaterImpact.cc or on our YouTube channel (Impact Christian Church) or on Facebook.

Hearing God’s Whisper Over the Noise

“And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” – 1 Kings 19:12b

Recently I was on a trip with our church’s Youth Mission Team to Texas to help with Houston’s ongoing recovery efforts after Hurricane Harvey. When we arrived, we stopped for breakfast at a Texas favorite: The Waffle House. We walked in the front door of the restaurant, and the smell of fresh waffles was amazing. But the restaurant was very, very loud. The music was blasting, and there were no interior walls to buffer all the noise from the kitchen. And we ended up at a table right beside the kitchen.

Now, I have a certain amount of fluency in three languages: English, Spanish and Southern. But when our waitress was talking to us in her super-thick southern accent, with the dishes clanking and music blaring, I couldn’t understand half of what she was saying. Let me ask you: Do you ever feel that way about God? Would you agree that sometimes with all of the noise around us, it’s hard to hear the still small voice of God? You’re not alone. The same thing happened right before a life-changing moment in the life of the man who never died: the prophet Elijah.

At the beginning of 1 Kings 19, Elijah had just experienced a great triumph over the 450 prophets of Baal. He prayed to the LORD, and God sent down fire that consumed the water-drenched altar Elijah had set up. So he should have been riding high, right? But instead, he was down in the dumps. Why? Simply put, he was exhausted and depressed. Consider these three lessons:

Lesson #1: When we have a spiritual mountaintop experience, we must brace ourselves for the valley of testing on the other side of it. We all know that in nature mountaintops don’t connect to other mountaintops. Mountaintops are separated by valleys. This is also true when it comes to our emotions and our spiritual lives. No one can experience a permanent emotional high. I think deep down, we all know this. But for some reason we’re still caught off guard when our spiritual highs don’t last. We’re surprised when we get back from Christian camp and the next day we’re grumpy and everybody’s pushing our buttons and the dog gives us attitude. We wonder why, after a great Sunday morning worship service, we have some of the biggest arguments with our spouses on the drive home. It’s just a reality of life here on Earth: When we’re coming down off the mountain, we’re bound to enter a valley.

So, when Elijah got word that King Ahab’s wife Jezebel was threatening to kill him – again – we read that “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life” (I Kings 19:3). Now, this isn’t the first time Jezebel threatened Elijah’s life. But because he was exhausted, he wasn’t thinking straight. He ran off to the wilderness, sat down under a broom bush, and basically prayed to die. Thankfully, Elijah didn’t take matters into his own hands and end his life. Thankfully, he took a nap.

Which brings us to Lesson #2: Sometimes the best remedy for a pessimistic outlook is sleep. After he got some sleep, an angel of the Lord woke him up and gave him some food and water. Then he let Elijah sleep some more. Notice what happens next: “Strengthened by that food, he traveled 40 days and 40 nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God” (v. 8). After getting some much-needed sleep and nourishment, Elijah wasn’t out of the woods, but he was in a much better place to hear God’s voice. Sometimes when we’re depressed, it’s partly because we are not providing these basic things to care for our bodies: sleep, food and drink. And it’s worth mentioning that in some cases, if clinical depression continues to linger, medication may be needed in the short term.

After his 40-day journey, Elijah spent the night in a cave on Mt. Horeb (also known as Mt. Sinai). And that’s where, at last, Elijah heard from the LORD. But first God sent a little fanfare: “A great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper” (vs. 11b-12).

Lesson #3: “The whispers from Calvary are infinitely more potent than the thunder of Sinai in bringing men to repentance.” Those words are from the Christian scholar, Oswald Sanders, and they are so true. I believe God sent the wind, earthquake and fire as a wake-up call to Elijah. But when it came time to speak to Elijah, God didn’t speak to him in a big, thunderous voice. He spoke to him in a gentle whisper. The same is true today. Sometimes we expect God to speak to us as the worship music is blaring or the preacher is screaming or the ground is shaking. But more times than not, God speaks to us in a still, small voice. And we need to be still to hear it.

One final takeaway: When our mourning drags on, it becomes a pity party – and God will not endorse our pity parties. He calls us to get up and do what he’s called us to do. You’ll notice that 1 Kings 19 ends with Elijah leaving the cave and heading back to Israel to carry out God’s marching orders. And when Elijah left the cave, he left his pity party behind. Some of us need to do the same today. If you’ve been walking in defeat for too long, get some sleep, give your body some nourishment and listen for the voice of your great and awesome God. Then get up, brush yourself off and start doing what God has called you to do.

Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of First Christian Church in Victorville. For more information,

visit www.YourVictorvilleChurch.com  and join us for worship Sundays at 10 a.m.