Four Weeks of Prayer
October 7,
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 a community effort. It can be done
when a collection of individuals pray for the same thing. It can be done when the whole church gathers
together to anoint those who need healing and/or forgiveness. It can be done when a small group of people
gather to pray for each other in an atmosphere of confidence and
confidentiality. All are needed for us
to live well round lives of prayer.
Confessing our sins to another is often more difficult
than confessing our sins to God. It
requires us to open up the doors of our hearts and become vulnerable to
another. It requires trust in another
person. This trust is not to be given
lightly or casually. This trust must not
be betrayed. When this trust exists
everyone is strengthened. God did not
create us to go through life alone. We
are greater when we have deep personal relationships with other people. This is God’s design for the church. How many of us have a group of people like
this? How often do we admit our failings
and our sins to others or even to ourselves?
What stops us? Healing is found
in the prayers of the faithful and in the atmosphere of trust.
This week, let’s each make an effort to seek out a
trustworthy believing friend. Let’s be
open with and pray with that person. Let’s
use our 30 minutes of prayer each day to help us make this happen.
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