Effective Prayer

Earlier this year I was challenged to pray with faith for healing.  I have heaps of faith, but two things I did not have faith to pray for were healing and money.  Well, we've certainly sorted the issue of praying for money, though it never works quite the way I expect.  Praying for healing was much harder.  Not just praying for myself, but praying for others (in person) - and expecting a quick result.  The first four times I don't know if anything changed or not.  I prayed for two different people on four separate occasions, each time because I felt an urging in my spirit to do so.  It didn't really matter to me whether anything happened or not - what I was learning was to obey the prompting and pray for them.  Each time it was easier.  I began to realize that my first source of help for any injury or sickness should be the Great Physician, Jesus Christ.  When someone complains of an ache or pain, my response should be, "May I pray for you?" and then pray for it there on the spot.  However, I am still training my reactions, so I can still be slow off the mark, or it can take me a while to get up the courage to say something.  I missed an opportunity when I noticed one of the missionaries here had a sore neck, but more opportunities arose.  First was when I myself got sick.  As I sat shivering with fever in the car in Nanga Pinoh, I kept thinking, "I should ask them to pray for me," but I never quite managed it, until I we had returned.  When Mary came to check on me after dinner, I suggested that she bring a couple of others and that they pray for me.  To my delight, she had been just about to suggest the same thing.  I ended up going to the Clinic to have the nurses check my temperature, etc, and they prayed for me before sending me back to bed.  Along with the prayers of folk back home (Mary let my church family know that night that I wasn't well), I improved rapidly.
The next opportunity was when Mary complained of a sore hip.  She couldn't lie on that side because it hurt too much, and it was affecting her whole leg.  I promptly offered to pray for it, and did so right there and then.  I thought no more about it, but the next morning, Mary said the leg was not only better, but she had slept on that side and had a really good sleep!  Yay!  I prayed for healing and she was healed!  It gave my faith in that area quite a boost.  The important thing, though, was that I knew I should pray, and I obeyed.  The rest was up to God.  Even if nothing had happened, I would still continue to obey and pray as I am prompted, because that's really all that's required of me.  God can't act on a prayer of faith if we don't pray!
I'm still training my brain to immediately respond (aloud), "Let's pray for/about it...!" but progress is being made.  It's wonderful to see the "effectual fervent prayer" in action, particularly from one's own lips!