We are righteous by the blood of Jesus. So we can all pray. However, it is true, that when you are secretly approving of iniquity in your heart, it will affect your prayers. Look at Psalm 66:18. So we need to ask God to cleanse our heart before we pray.
Look at Elijah. He was not a perfect man. It says here that he was a man with a nature like ours that was full of the same desires. But he must have kept short accounts with God because it says here in James 5 that he prayed earnestly for no rain to come and God held back the rain. And then he prayed for it to start raining again, three years and six months later. And it started to rain again!
We also need to pray with passion. The King James Version of James 5:16 says the “effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Elijah put his head on the ground between his knees and prayed seven times until a cloud appeared in the sky. And then it started to rain!
James is giving us this example to believe big! Pray for God’s will to be done. Pray with the right heart. And pray with passion. See what God will do.
1 Kings 17-18, Luke 4:25, James 5:13-18