James 5:16-18..."Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (17) Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. (18) And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit."Do you carry around baggage that weighs you down emotionally? Do you wish you could drop some or have someone help carry it? Maybe you've prayed and asked forgiveness, but have you ever shared your inner secrets with another?
Sometimes, what you need is a chance to open up and let it pour out, right? A counselor isn't the only person you can talk to, either. Do you have someone you can open up to? The Bible is teaching here to open up to a brother or sister in Christ. We all have our faults and part of growing together corporately is sharing our faults with one another that we may pray for one another. Not just praying for the back pain, the arthritis, or the in-law situations, but also the "inner demons" they face. It says for us to pray like that so we might be healed. Did you realize you needed healing? Listen up...you do!!!
Continuing in verse 17, it mentions that Elias was a man with passions like we have. He prayed earnestly...not grudgingly, not because he had to. He prayed for it to not rain, and you know what? It didn't...for three years and six months. For those of us in the Great Plains of the U.S. it sometimes seems like it's been that long, but not even close.
The amazing thing comes in verse 18...he prayed again, and it rained, and the earth brought forth her fruit. Here is a man like us, who prayed and asked God to stop the rain first, then asked to rain again and it happened. The key to having a prayer life that gets heard by God is??? At the end of verse 16..."The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
Pray with boldness, confess to one another, pray for one another (deeply), and have faith. The God who halted the rain for Elias, can calm any storm in your life today. Please let me know how I can word a prayer for you today...
1 comment:
Great post, and right on the mark.
I have to note that this "works" if the whole Church is being the Church. I have known people (and probably deep down inside I may still do this to some degree, though I hope not) who are deathly afraid to talk about their struggles to other Christ-followers because Christ-followers have a really bad tendency to gossip.
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