Four Weeks of Prayer
September 16,
2012
James 5:13-16
Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any
among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them
pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The
prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone
who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to
one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and
effective.
Prayer is absolutely important in the life of a
Christian. It is a primary connection
point between our lives and God. Prayer
is an instinct found in every human being.
When we face a time of trouble or suffering we often feel compelled to
pray. Yet all prayer is not created equal. It is a reflection of our relationship with
God. The stronger and more intimate our
relationship with God, the more powerful and effective our prayers. This does not mean that God doesn’t listen to
all prayers equally. It means that the
more we know and follow God, the more we connected to him we will be in our
prayers. God uses prayer to change us.
The more we allow God to change us the better we are able to pray.
So what should we pray for? James speaks clearly. If you
are suffering, pray. Simple. Suffering isn’t defined in the narrow terms
of physical or visible suffering. It can
apply to any person in any situation that feels overwhelmed, alone, hurt, in
pain, or any other form of suffering you can think of. It could be said this way…if you are hurting
you need God and prayer can get you to him.
God invites us to share our hurts with him. He can handle it. He can help.
I invite you to
spend at least 30 minutes every day for the next four weeks in prayer.
I believe this sort of concentrated effort will change our lives. This week let’s take our hurts, whatever they
might be, to God in prayer.
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