James 5:16-20

Prayer and Conversion

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much The words "effectual fervent" represent a single participle (energumenè), which is commonly rendered (as in 2 Corinthians 1:6; Galatians 5:6; 1 Thessalonians 2:13) by "working." That accordingly may be its meaning here: A righteous man's supplication is of great might in its working. The later ecclesiastical use of the word, however, suggests another explanation. The Energumeniwere those who were acted, or worked, on by an evil spirit, and the word became a synonym for the "demoniacs" of the New Testament. It is possible that a like passive meaning may be intended here, and that the participle describes the character of a prayer which is more than the utterance of mere human feeling, in which the Spirit itself is making intercession with us (Romans 8:26).