Prayer 2021 - August 7 - What James Had to Say About Prayer pt 2

Scripture For Today:

 Luke 22:41

 “He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down, and prayed.”

What James Had to Say About Prayer pt 2

Yesterday, we started to look at what the Apostle James, the Lord’s brother, had to say about prayer. We looked specifically at James 5:13-18, which reads:

“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 on for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous 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.”

We left off discussing one of the big areas Christians today fail to do, not all Christians, but enough that we can clearly see some are lagging behind in their Faith. That area was the first one James discussed, “If any among you are afflicted? Let him pray!”

We learned that many Christians today do not do that! They would rather pick up the phone and have someone else do their praying for them!  But according to James, if you are going through a test or trial – which is what we discovered that word “afflicted” means (it does not mean a sickness or disease), WE – YOU – are the one who is supposed to pray for yourself. PERIOD! 

That does not mean we are not supposed to pray for one another! I am not saying that at all. But God clearly wants us to be Spiritually mature enough to pray for ourselves FIRST! 

When you learn to do your own praying, you will begin to experience greater and greater victories in life! Why? Because you are building and strengthening YOUR FAITH.

When you have to depend on others to do the praying for you, you are putting your faith in THEM – not God!

And when you habitually become accustomed to asking others to pray for you, you actually weaken your faith and become an easier target for other attacks from the devil. You will continue to need the assistance of someone – a person – to do your praying for you. 

And there will come a time, when nobody will be immediately available and you will not be able to pray yourself out of a wet paper bag!  Something as simple as sneeze could end up having you fall down stairs and break your leg or your neck!  That may be an extreme example, but you understand the importance of what I’m sharing here, right?

God wants YOU to triumph in EVERY situation and circumstance you could find yourself in throughout your life. He did not design you to fail. Far from it!  He designed you to be the VICTOR!  To have VICTORY in, by and through Christ Jesus!

And just as Salvation is between YOU and the LORD, so is your prayer life! 

So when you find yourself facing a test or trial, no matter what it is, an ingrown toenail to something absolutely horrific and dangerous, do not, let me repeat – DO NOT – go to others for prayer first.

YOU do YOUR PRAYING – FIRST!  Start to exercise that Spiritual authority YOU have – FIRST!  You may be surprised how powerful your prayer life will be!  So much so – others will start calling YOU!

Amen!

Let’s Pray!

Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com. And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, “How to Start a Christian Podcast.” It will bless you – go and download it today.

You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2