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. 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.
-James 5:15-16
The power of prayer never ceases to amaze me. Even the simplest honest sentence spoken to God can make a difference. And praying for each other? It just multiplies the blessings that God gives us.
The Word of God tells us here in James that the Lord will raise us up if we pray faithfully. He listens. He is always listening. When I am struggling, I know I can take anything to Him in prayer. Do I pray often enough? No. But I'm trying. I want to talk to God constantly throughout my day. I hope I can get there.
I was questioning lately my tendency to ask others for prayer in times of need. I was wondering why I felt the need to ask for prayer....was I being lazy? getting them to do it for me? couldn't I just do it myself? Well yes, I can pray. And I do. But God tells us here to pray for each other, to share our sins and our struggles, and I have witnessed the power of that.
We need our friends - our brothers and sisters in Christ to lift us up and to hold us accountable. God knows just what we need, and so if we ask, He will give it to us. Sometimes it comes in the form of those friends....I firmly believe He brings people into our lives for a reason. I am thankful for the awesome ones He has blessed me with.
"The prayer of a righteous person is powerful."
And I always try to remember....Sometimes an "unanswered" prayer is just a prayer that God is answering in a different way than we expected. It doesn't mean He's not listening, it just means that He knows what we need better than we do. :)
I love this post. Prayer. So powerful, and I think its one of the most forgotten about powers we have. Its our gateway to God, our line of communication. This past week, I actually was on the phone with a new friend telling her about a day I had this week that wasn't so great. At the end of the conversation, she said, "I would love to pray for you". I couldn't even explain what I felt when I heard those words. My heart seemed to smile. I had even forgot about the power of praying for and with one another... good post, good reminder.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post. And there are time when I feel selfish asking other people for prayer-- because it makes me feel lazy!! lol! Just like you had mentioned. This is a good reminder that we are part of the BODY of Christ and we need our fellow members. :)
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