James 5:16-18 (ESV)
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for
one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great
power as it is working. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he
prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it
did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and
the earth bore its fruit.
Why we don’t pray more? I can only speak for myself, but I
sometimes don’t pray more because I think I can get more done if I actually
“do” it than if I pray about it first. I think that my thinking, my working, my
worrying, and my planning are more powerful than actually praying about it.
When I write it down it sounds pretty foolish, doesn’t it?
But our lack of prayer says just that. Our lack of praying says to God that our
activity and our working is more important than asking him to act and work and
do.
James inspires us to believe that prayer is a powerful
thing. He tells us that our prayers are powerful and effective. Our prayers
matter. Our prayers change things. Our prayers make a difference.
If you believed that something was powerful, would you do
it? Of course. If you thought something would make all the difference in the
world, you would make sure it happened. If you thought something mattered, you
would make time for it, intentionally, purposefully, regularly. That’s what we
do for things that make a difference and matter to us.
James gives an example of an effective prayer. He reminds
us of the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 17 and 18. Elijah prayed that it would not
rain—and it didn’t rain. God withheld rain for three and a half years because
of Elijah’s prayer. Then Elijah prayed again that it would rain—and God sent
rain.
Prayer works. Prayer matters. It is powerful and effective,
not because of the person who is praying, but because the person praying
invokes God’s powerful name and humbly relies on God’s gracious promises and
saving will. The story of Elijah—and many other stories throughout the Bible—show
us that this is true.
So pray. Make a habit of it. Your Father in heaven loves
you. He has forgiven all your sins, and he now invites you to call on him in
prayer. In his love for you, he hears your prayers and works powerfully for you
and for the world.
Dear Lord, You teach us that prayer is a powerful thing. In
Your grace, Father, you invite us to pray. Help us to understand how powerful
prayer is so that we make it a part of the very fiber of our life. In the Name
of Jesus, Amen.
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