The Man and His Prayer :: James 5:13-18

By


Sometimes we have to wonder, “Will it ever end?” In the Church there are trials and temptations. We see other faiths seem to prosper. We face opposition, torment, and even outright persecution. So what shall we do? Pray!

The members of the Early Christian Church lived in perilous times. It was dangerous to be a follower of Christ. However, they still believed. The Epistle of James was written to people whose faith was challenged. He urged them to focus on the returning Christ. “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord” (v 7). He’s coming! This was great news for their weary ears. Jesus will return, and when he does, our troubles end. 

What shall we do as we patiently endure keeping our eyes focused on the return of Christ? Respond appropriately! James writes: “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise” (v 13). Looking for the returning Christ, we will have difficulties. We will have challenges and temptation, testing and persecution. We may feel that we are all alone, the only ones having difficulty. In such a situation, we seek God’s help and guidance at all times. Through good and bad, we seek his power and strength to face those things that oppose us. Likewise, when things are going extremely well. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Mt 7:7).

Don’t suffer alone; seek the prayers of your church, your pastor, and others. Sometimes we feel independent, and we lose sight of Christ. But we need help! And so we have the opportunity to call out in faith to God for strength and healing. The promise: “And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven” (v 15). We pray, not just when we are sick, not just for life-threatening issues, but for the whole life. 

Prayer is powerful, but it is not from us that prayer draws its power. The prayer of faith is God working in the believer. He has made us his own people. He creates faith in us and enables us to live in that faith, turning everything over to him. We have a mighty God, who has done miraculous and marvelous things for us. 

Keep the faith! Hold on, it won’t be long. He’s at the door! 

THE MAN AND HIS PRAYER WILL BE ANSWERED

Popular posts from this blog

The Good Shepherd Comes to Rescue and Restore - Ezekiel 34:11-16

By
  For thus says the Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I myself will search diligently for my sheep and I will seek them. As a shepherd seeks out to care for His flock in the day he is among His scattered sheep, so I will seek out to care for my sheep, and I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on the day of cloud and thick darkness. 500 years ago today, Martin Luther answered the Roman Catholic Church and the Roman Emperor who questioned his teachings. If he were to recant and take it all back, the Diet of Worms would barely be a blip in history. If he did not recant, he would be putting his own life in absolute, mortal danger. Being held captive by the clear Word of God as found in Holy Scripture, Luther stood up before the authorities of the church and the of world and gave his famous “Here I Stand” confession. He rested his case on Jesus as his only Shepherd - not the leaders of the Church or the Government. He relied solely on the Good Shepherd who promised neve...
Read more

The Mind of Christ :: Philippians 2:5-11

By
The next day, the large crowd that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem, took the branches of palms and went out to meet him and began crying out: Hosanna! Blessed is the one coming in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel (Jn 12:12-13). No story has ever had a bigger buildup to a greater letdown than this one. The Jews were all of the same mind: They had been looking forward to this day for more than a millennia. And here he came! Jesus of Nazareth in Galilee (Mi 5:2)! The prophet like Moses (Dt 18:15)! The son of David (2 Sm 7:12)! Our Messiah (Is 61:1) ... Here he came, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey (Zec 9:9), fulfilling the scriptures. Zechariah, Micah, Isaiah, Deuteronomy, Samuel, the Psalms. This is the day the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it (Ps 118:24). ... These things are written so that you will believe Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Living God and that by believing you will have life in his name (Jn 20:31...
Read more

The Eyes Have It :: Luke 10:23-24

By
What do you see? What do you hear? These are the questions of the day on this Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity. What do you see? And what do you hear?  Before we get ahead of ourselves by jumping to conclusions and declaring you can see and hear just fine ... you need to know ... not everybody sees what you see or hears what you hear. Every week your pastor gives three sermons: the one I write, the one I preach, and the one you hear. And each of you might be hearing a different sermon than the person next to you. More than that, some of you may be seeing one thing and others may be seeing something completely different. And some of us will just fall asleep not seeing or hearing anything at all.  As Jesus tells the disciples ... For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to witness what y’all see and they didn’t witness it, and to hear what y’all hear and they didn’t hear it (v. 23-24). That is to say they longed to see Jesus, living, dying, rising, ascending. They long...
Read more