James 5:13-18
Prayer. What a beautiful thing it is. Prayer is a gift from God to us. He welcomes us to communicate with Him directly and personally. Jesus and the Holy Spirit also pray on behalf of us. Take a moment and think about the last time you had a long conversation with our Heavenly Father. How did you feel while you were praying? How did you feel after?
James encourages us to pray about everything.
13 Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. 14 Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.
James 5:13-18 (NLT)
James is telling us that no matter where we are in our lives or what we are experiencing, to pray. How often do we only pray when we are in times of struggle? Or when we want something from God? It is so important to pray, and praise God at all times – in sorrow, in joy, in sickness, in health.
God wants to be connected with us in everything, not just when things are falling apart. Think of the close relationships in your life, whether they are family, friends or both. Don’t you share everything with them? Don’t you tell them about the good and the bad?
God wants us to share everything with Him, even more than we share with our closest friends and family. He knows our every thought and what is in our hearts, but He still wants us to come to Him in prayer.
In verse 16, James tells us to confess our sins to one another and pray for each other.
16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. (NLT)
How often do you ask someone to pray for you? Asking for prayer and praying for each other is a beautiful experience. It brings us closer together as brothers and sisters in Christ. It creates vulnerability, deep relationship, and intimacy among our Christian family.
In my ministry with Czech youth, I have questioned the teens about how often they ask others to pray for them. The majority of them said they don’t ask others for prayer. They were either too shy or didn’t want to trouble people with their prayer requests.
Do you ask others to pray for you? Are you ever afraid to ask for prayer?
Praying for each other is a joy and a privilege. I can honestly tell you that I love when people ask me to pray for them. I am honoured to pray for others and I sincerely enjoy it. Most Christians feel the same way I do. Never be afraid to ask someone to pray for you.
In this verse, James also instructs us to confess our sins to one another. I think that is much harder than asking for prayer. No one wants to admit to the shameful things they have said, done or thought. Confessing to God is hard enough, but to each other? That seems beyond difficult.
Why is confessing our sins to each other so hard?
Because we fear judgement. We fear that people will look at us differently. We fear we will lose respect. We fear we will lose relationships. We are ashamed.
We’d rather keep our secrets buried and deal with our shame privately. But we need to confess our sins and release the weight of the burden of our guilt and shame. We need to share honestly with each and experience in return, not judgement, but love and compassion. We need others to pray for us, especially when we are not sure how to pray for ourselves.
Confess your sins to each other and let your fellow Christians give you a glimpse of the incredible compassion, love and forgiveness that God offers us all.
Since James is so practical, he gives us an example of the power of prayer from a faithful person in verses 17-18:
17 Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! 18 Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops. (NLT)
What faith Elijah had in our Lord! He prayed earnestly and God answered His prayers.
God hears every one of our prayers, and He does answer all of them. Some He takes longer to answer than others, but He does answer every single one. However, we often think that God does not hear us when we don’t get what we prayed for. We assume He hasn’t answered our prayer.
This is not true. God hears and answers every prayer, but He responds in His wisdom, not in our desires. God is not here to give us everything we ask for. We often think we know best, but God knows better. He knows the past and the future, and He answers our prayers according to His plan, not ours.
Prayer is incredibly powerful. It is also beautiful. It is our personal connection with our Heavenly Father. I encourage you to turn to God in prayer with all things. There is no bad prayer, no prayer too short, no prayer unheard. Pray often. Seek out others to pray for you. Witness the power and love of our amazing Lord.
Our song for today is Battle Belongs by Phil Wickham.