Prayer 2021 - August 16 - What James Had to Say About Prayer pt 11

Scripture For Today:

 Psalm 5:2

 “Hear my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray.”

What James Had to Say About Prayer pt 11

We have been studying what the Apostle James had to say about prayer. We have been studying the verses from James 5:13-18:

“Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any Merry? Let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

 Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it did not rain on the earth by the space of three years and six months! And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit.”

Yesterday, we left off by pointing out that James emphasized to us that “Elijah was a man who was subject to like passions” – just like us!  He faced temptations, trials and things that would go wrong when they were supposed to go right. He had bad days and good days. He caught the flu and would stub his toes and get rocks stuck in his sandals – all the things that happen to us. Amen!

James did NOT say, “Elijah was a prophet and that’s why God would answer him!”  

No!  He said, “Elijah was a man who prayed!”  Glory to God!

God will not hear a prophet pray any more quickly than He will hear any other believer pray.

Remember, it’s not the one praying who gets the job done anyway!  The James clearly says, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.  Right?

The Amplified Bible explains it even better. Listen to this:  “The earnest, heartfelt, continued prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available – dynamic in its working!”  Praise God!  That’s what I want in my prayer life? How about you?

I can hear someone right now, “Well, brother Bob, if I was as righteous as Elijah, I could pray that way and get results, too. But I’m not!”

Wait a minute, now!  If you are born again, you’ve been given the Righteousness of Christ!  He took your sins and gave you His Righteousness!  Are you saying the Righteousness of Christ IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH? 

Please tell me that is not what you are saying or believing!

2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “YOU are the righteousness of God!”

Surely you are not saying the “Righteousness of God” is not enough?

GOD, your Heavenly Father, MADE you righteous through Christ!

Surely you are not saying that is not enough! Are you?

It is IMPOSSIBLE to make yourself righteous…that’s why Jesus had to go to the Cross!

When I first started studying Faith – that was so difficult for me to understand. But when I started to see various scripture in the Bible, which is what? The TRUTH!  Right? “They Word is Truth!”  So that means the Bible does not lie, right?

When I started to see all of these scriptures saying “I’ve been made the righteousness of God” – it finally dawned on me… “I’ve been MADE the righteousness of God!”  Praise God!

I pray you are getting that, too! Amen!

I want to pray for you, right now, that you understand this part of what we’ve been studying that James made it a point to share with us.

Let’s Pray!

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