James 5:16b puts it this way, "The Prayer of a Righteous Man is powerful and effective". Let me put it a different way, The Prayer of a Righteous Man, who has professed Christ as his personal Savior and has made him Lord over all is powerful and effective. To put it another way, any prayer that is not centered with Christ, would therefore be a sin, because it would not constitute as being in God's Will because we would not be using the one Advocate who is testifying on our behalf: None other than Jesus Christ who is/was and forever will be the perfect Lamb of God. When Jesus, who was the perfect lamb and who came to save you and me, died on a tree (a cross) he fulfilled every prophecy about him and he now acts as our intercessor with God. Because of His sacrifice and victory over death, we can approach the very throne room of God with effective prayer.
Here is the key to effective prayer, it has to be done in a way that is truly from the heart. It has to be prayer that does not contradict God's will. When/Where two or three are gathered in His Name we are told in Scripture that God is there and hears our prayers. When a Righteous man prays, his prayers are powerful effective because he is praying: "Not my will be done, but God's will be done." We are not righteous on what we have done, what we could do, or what we could potentially do, however, we are made righteous by God the Father through Jesus Christ His Son, who has given us a great and powerful Mediator (who is the Holy Spirit - Read Romans 8:16). This process of righteousness is given to us who are called by God to be engrafted sons and daughters into his Kingdom by the process of Justification, Regeneration and Sanctification - not by our will or righteousness, but through God the Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit can this process only be completed. Note: We will only be fully Sanctified upon the return of Jesus Christ. When we pray, through the righteousness and holiness of the Trinity, we can be bold and confident in our prayers - Through Obedience, Humility, prayers from the Heart and prayers that our God's will - we can be effective - we can have assurance - For if God is for us - who can truly be against us.
Repentance + Obedience + Humility + Spiritual Growth = the elements to the prayer of a Righteous Man.
Where are you today? God loves you and wants the best for his adopted children - he loves us as his very own because of his gift of Jesus Christ. Humble yourselves and obey!
To God be the Glory Forever and Ever, Amen.
Dante