By Larry W. King
Volume II, Number XXVII
October 9, 2009
The Power of Prayer!
“The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” – James 5:16 (New Living Translation)
The general epistle of James is among my favorite books in the New Testament. James’ writing style is direct and economical. Yet he never minces words. Indeed, in five short chapters, he consistently drops anvils on the collective heads of the faithful when it comes to proper Christian behavior and conduct. His book covers faith, good works, controlling one’s speech (i.e. “the tongue”), and temptation’s origin in our sinful nature - which causes most of us to struggle from time-to-time. Finally, he closes his letter with a powerful discussion of prayer.
The context surrounding today’s text, deals specifically with healing prayer given by the elders of the church, confessing our sins to fellow believers and with Christians praying for one another. I will dedicate a future Clarion to that most fertile passage of scripture. In the meantime, however, here are some general thoughts on prayer for your consideration:
1) At its very essence, prayer is a private, candid conversation between you and God. Jesus told the disciples, “but when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you … for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” – Matthew 6:6,8b (NIV). Most earthly fathers have a pretty good idea of their childrens’ needs. How much more so does our heavenly Father? It’s surely not about letting God know what you need. He already knows. Certainly, too many of us are guilty of talking to God only during serious personal troubles or crises. Yet more than anything else, our Lord simply wants to hear from us, anytime. So, talk to Him – early and often – and listen for the candid reply. When it comes to our prayers, God is open like 7-11… 24/7!
2) Believers must pray constantly. The apostle Paul admonishes the church at Thessalonica: “Be happy [in your faith] and rejoice and be glad-hearted continually (always); Be unceasing in prayer [praying perseveringly]; Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will]” – I Thessalonians 5:16-18 (AMP). Does Paul mean constantly stay on your knees with eyes closed and head bowed? Absolutely not! That would make one’s drive to work quite perilous, indeed. But what he does mean is, in the back of your mind (your subconscious), you can be steadfastly meditating on the Lord. Your mental iPod can be repeating, “Thank You, Jesus”, “Lord, You are so good to me”, “I am enveloped by Your everlasting peace”, “Father, protect me from all harm”, etc. That kind of mental focus and concentration on the Supreme will make a remarkable difference in your attitude and your behavior.
3) The Holy Spirit prays for us when we don’t know how. God loves us so much that He lives inside every believer. The Holy Spirit – the comforter, counselor and conscience - is our lifeline to the Creator. As such, even when we don’t know how to pray or what to pray for, His Spirit comes to our rescue. Paul makes this clear in his letter to the 1st-century church at Rome: “in the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express … because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will” – Romans 8:26, 27b (NIV). So, everyone who confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and savior has a built-in prayer partner – the Holy Ghost, who knows God’s perfect will. What an unfathomable assurance. When we truly pray in the Spirit, the adversary doesn’t have a “ghost” of a chance!
4) Prayer is the catalyst which energizes our spiritual armor. In the book of Ephesians, Paul instructs us to “put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground …” – Ephesians 6:13 (NIV). He goes on to outline our entire spiritual arsenal from head to toe – the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the footwear of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. However, note well Paul’s final word on the matter: “and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints” – Ephesians 6:18 (NIV). Prayer is the awesome force which gives courage and vitality to the armor-clad Spiritual warrior. As someone once said, “it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.”
The final words in James’ epistle are these: “my dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins” – James 5:19-20 (NLT).
Dear reader, know beyond any shadow of doubt that nobody is reconciled to the God, forgiven of sin, saved from death – or any other wonderful result - except by … the power of prayer!
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Larry W. King is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (Magna cum Laude) and heads the Denver-based music group, Kingdom Kru. He serves as Minister of Music at Faith Community Baptist Church under the leadership of co-pastors Rev. Douglas and Katherine Farley.
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