And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
James 5:15
If you want to see the sick healed, pray; if you want to see the one in the midst of adversity lifted up, pray; if you want to have sins forgiven and blotted out, pray… This is not to suggest that every healing sought through prayer will always be granted (as God has a perfect plan which at times we may not understand; this passage just teaches us that the most powerful tool that we have is the ability to go directly to the Father in prayer casting all our cares upon Him knowing that He cares for us... The very next verse in this chapter says that the prayers of the righteous availeth much… Understand that when we pray, the key is not the words that you uttered, but the foundation of faith that your prayers stand on… James says the prayer of faith, when we pray in faith we leave it with God, we don’t get consumed with the outcome or results, we simply pray knowing that God has the authority and power to change and transform situations… This passage today focuses on the importance of Prayer, not in the since of closing your eyes and speaking to God, but that we must believe in what we are doing… So many of us pray every day of our lives, but we don’t feel or see God moving because we haven’t trusted in His word…
The bible says that we are able to go “boldly before the Lord…” Through the Holy Spirit we cast all our cares upon the Lord, we don’t hold on to them and we don’t simply go to God just to vent… Let your prayers be prayers of faith; knowing, trusting, believing and focusing on the power of God! Notice that James says that the prayer of faith shall save the sick, so many aren’t being saved because we aren’t really praying… We close our eyes and lift up their names, but do we really believe God will supply all our needs as His word tells us? Do we really trust that the Lord will raise up a standard against the devil and that no weapon formed against you shall prosper? The word of God says that we are not to pray as those in the synagogues do, using elaborate words and putting on a show; God says they have already received their reward… Prayer is about humility, acknowledgement and faith… We go humbly before the Lord because He is the creator, we acknowledge that all power resides within His hands and we have faith that He can transform and exalt… God hasn’t moved because we haven’t believed that He will… How often do you pray to the Lord and then try to take care of the situation on your own?
This probably sounds real familiar and then we wonder why the sick continue to suffer and the poor continue to perish… James tells us in the passage, that the Lord will raise up the sick (heal them) after we have prayed; if He has committed sins they will be forgiven. This is an awesome revelation that we can have a clean-slate presented unto us through our Lord and Savior by praying and believing. But notice the beginning of this passage and the rule to which these blessing will occur. The prayer of faith shall save the sick; we all have to be in prayer for one another believing that “nothing is too hard for God…” Instead of gossiping and causing harm to each other, let us learn to pray for each other so that we all may be blessed by our God. James tells us that the best weapon we have on this earth is prayer. We need to seek the Lord on behalf of our brothers and sisters. If your boss is riding you and stressing you out, PRAY; if your children have seem to lost focus in their Christian walk, PRAY; and if you feel like all hope is lost and you want to give up, PRAY and not only that, but have FAITH the size of a mustard seed and that mountain will move... This saying is indeed true and we see it in this passage; PRAYER CHANGES THINGS!!!!!!!”
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