Pray Right.
Just Do It, Part 18
Prayer has the power to do amazing things in our lives and the lives of others. Even miraculous things. Maybe you have prayed before for sick loved ones to get well, but those prayers just didn’t seem to yield the results you were hoping. Is there a correct way to pray? In short, yes...at least James seemed to think so.
“God’s healing often comes when the right people pray in the right way.”
Scripture:
James 5:13-18
Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 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. 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. 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.
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. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
Highlights:
• To offer effective prayers for the sick, you must follow the right procedures.
• Procedure #1: You have to have the right kind of prayer.
• It is untrue that God heals, or doesn’t heal, according to the strength, or lack thereof, of our faith.
• What is the right kind of prayer? It is a prayer of faith.
• Procedure #2: You have the right kind of partnership.
• God’s grace is not only displayed in miraculous healings. It is displayed in the knowledge he has given to us.
• We must stop simply going to church and learn to become the church among our communities.
• Procedure #3: You have the right kind of position.
• In times of illness, we often go deeper; we draw closer to God.
• Sometimes our physical infirmities reveal sin that not only has a part in bringing about the illness, but has been keeping us from the heart of God.
• Sometimes when a spiritual healing takes place, a physical healing takes place. And sometimes physical sickness is the trigger that brings about the spiritual healing we need.
• To offer effective prayers for the sick, you must be the right kind of person.
• What kind of over-the-top gracious God would take notice of me? One who is literally more attracted to me because of the greatness of my sin, not less attracted.
• “Prayer before it is a petition, is a stance of the heart.” - Tim Keller
• People who have entered into a true relationship with God, have a relationship that is continually progressing, not perfectly, but progressively.
• God’s healing often comes when the right people pray in the right way.
More From This Series:
Prayer has the power to do amazing things in our lives and the lives of others. Even miraculous things. Maybe you have prayed before for sick loved ones to get well, but those prayers just didn’t seem to yield the results you were hoping. Is there a correct way to pray? In short, yes...at least James seemed to think so.
People love money. Now, there's nothing particularly wrong with money. It can be a great and necessary resource. The problem arises when we become obsessed with it. Money doesn't last forever, and it can't actually fulfill us. But we can use money to make an eternal difference.
Jesus promised that one day he would return to once-and-for-all renew and repair our broken world. In the meantime, we wait and continue to endure the hardships of life. And only one thing can get us through it...patience. But how does the hope of Jesus' return help us gain a new perspective on life, and give us the ability to react to extreme trials with patience?
Life is one decision after another. Most decisions will have very little long term effect on our lives. But some decisions chart the very course of our future and impact the lives of others. No one wants to make bad decisions. So, how do we make good ones?
In nature, you plant a seed, you care for it, and then it grows. The same is true when growing healthy relationships and a healthy life. Whatever you plant and care for, that is what will grow. How can we begin sowing the kind of seed that will result in a harvest of good, close and loving relationships?
Wisdom is putting God’s truths into action. But because of our ongoing struggle with sin, there’s a battle between two wisdoms within us. One is from heaven and the other from earth. The challenge is, we can’t always tell which one is leading us.
People love to talk. Our words are a dead giveaway as to who we are. But more than just revealing what’s inside, our speech determines where we go. It sets a course of life for us. The tongue, perhaps more than any other part of our body, reveals what our spiritual condition is.
True faith always produces good works. Works of self-sacrifice, charity, and kindness. True faith is right belief, coupled with right action. Few people have enacted truer faith in their lives than Abraham, a man whose journey helped him discover that it is not faith and works; it is not faith or works; it is faith that works.
It's one thing to say you believe something on an intellectual or emotional level. It's another to let your beliefs actually change you. As people we can make a great profession about what we believe, even about Jesus, without it making much practical difference in the way we live.
Whether we admit it or not, our hearts are plagued by favoritism. We’re all guilty of discriminating against others based on outward appearance or social status. It’s only when we learn to see other people as God sees them that we’ll be able to truly change. Love is the only cure.
We all want happiness. We all want blessing. But a life filled with happiness and blessing is only available to those that actually put God's words into action in their daily living. The Word of God is not just meant to be heard. It’s meant to be responded to and reflected in our lives.
Many who come to faith in Christ think that the richness, satisfaction, sense of well-being and, peace in life come just by signing on the dotted line. Just by proclaiming Christ as Savior. Just by being a Christian. But just because the word has been planted in our souls, doesn't mean that it will just sprout up into this thing of great beauty effortlessly. We must actually accept the Word that is in us. But how?
When temptations come our way, they do not promise to pollute or hurt us. In fact, they never even hint about the consequences. They merely promise to fill all the desires of our hearts. In Part 6 of our series, we examine the words of James on how to deal with and overcome temptation.
Perseverance is the road. It is the path to maturity, and the backbone which lets us stand against the trials and brutalities that life throws at us. To all those who persevere, God has promised to make it worth their while. In Part 5 of our series, Just Do It, we examine what it takes to stand firm through our trials and the outcome (or reward) of persevering through life’s hardships.
We live in a world where people are valued based on how much they make, what they do for a living, or how successful they are. The battle with money, is one of the most demanding trials we face on a daily basis. But, trials give us an opportunity to exercise our faith. And from time to time, we need to be reminded that money is not the measuring stick of our self-worth, Christ is! James reminds us that it’s when we treasure Christ that we’re able to see who we truly are.
How is it possible to look upon the trials of life not as enemies, but as vehicles to get me where God wants me to be? The key is wisdom. Wisdom equips us with the skill for living and in this context, living through, and rising above life’s trials. Wisdom in the context of the trials of life, is knowing, and then carrying out God’s will in the midst of trials.
It's interesting that James begins his letter with the subject of life’s difficulties, writing: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers whenever you face trials of many kinds.” How can, and for what reason would anyone face their trials...with joy?
We begin our series with the first verse of the book of James. We’re introduced to James, a skeptic turned saint, turned servant of God who saw the importance of putting God’s words into action. The strength of a life, a family, a community and a nation rests on the shoulders of God’s people who know, embrace and live out God’s truth, and Just Do It.