“What things so ever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them”
Mark 11:24
Prevailing prayer is not dependent upon time or place, though, as David tells us in Psalm 55:17, it is good to have a definite time and place for prayer: “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice”. Daniel, too, allows us insight of one who would be godly and have effective prayer in the tenth verse of chapter six:'[Daniel] kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before God, as he did aforetime.”
Prevailing prayer is not dependent upon bodily posture, as we see in several examples of God’s Word: some kneeled, “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our Maker” (Ps 95:6); others bowed, ‘And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped”; some stood, as in Luke 18:13, “And the publican, standing afar off… smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner”; and still others, like the Master in Matthew 26:39, “And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
Though it may not be dependent on outward position, there are certain things which prevailing prayer does depend on. Some of them are: faith, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth’ (Mk 9:23); humility, “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” (Ja 4:6); constancy, “Praying always with all prayer… in the Spirit, and watching thereunto” (Eph 6:18); dependence, “O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we
what to do: but our eyes are upon thee” (2Chr 20:12); definiteness, “And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto Him, Lord, that I might receive my sight”
(Mk 10:51); persistence: “And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?” (Lk 18:7); and purity, for Psalm 66:18 warns us that, “If I regard iniquity in my heart,
the Lord will not hear me”.
Jas 5:13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.
Jas 5:14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.
Jas 5:15 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.
Jas 5:16 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.
Jas 5:17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
Jas 5:18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
Jas 5:19 My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back,
Jas 5:20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.