RIGHTEOUS PRAYER

James 5:16 (NIV) “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

Ever wonder if your prayers accomplish anything? Many years ago I used to wonder why I bothered praying at all. God knew the beginning from the end. He knew what was going to go down before it happened, so why pray for anything at all. Just let it happen as God had it planned. Obviously, I had some spiritual growing to do.

Let’s see … we know that no one is righteous, not even one person. We know that Christ was the only perfect individual who ever existed. We also know that it was through His death, burial and resurrection that the righteousness of God was made available to those who would embrace the cross and receive forgiveness for their sins. So, while we are NOT, in and of ourselves, righteous, we ARE righteous in the sight of God by virtue of Christ’s sacrificial blood. It’s as if God sees us through Jesus glasses. We have been justified (seen by God ‘just as if I never sinned’) and made righteous. Therefore, when James 5:16 refers to the prayer of a righteous person, it is speaking of you. Your righteousness has nothing to do with anything you have done except receive the gift of God’s forgiveness.

When we pray, we should expect not only that we will be heard, but that our prayer will accomplish what it was intended to do. It stands to reason that God knows all things, so what we pray isn’t surprising to Him. We don’t pray for God’s edification. We actually pray for our benefit. We pray and that prayer gives hope to the hearer and the prayer at the same time. And once it is answered, our faith is bolstered and grows. Our confidence in God becomes increased. Yet it is nothing that we have done other than to be obedient to the directives of God. Speak His word back to Him as a prayer … pray from your heart … let your desires, hopes and dreams be known. God knows you intimately … through prayer, we become more intimately aware of ourselves down deep in our core. It’s all a matter of shedding our humanity and diving head long into abyss of spirituality. Swim there for a while and you will become acutely aware of all that you are as a person and what alterations need to be made to be more like Christ.

So there you have it. Confess and pray. Hold nothing back. Allow God to be God in your life and in the world that touches you. He wants you to be more like Him each day and prayer is one vehicle He uses to mature and grow your faith and trust.

Shalom.

WALK WITH THE KING TODAY AND BE A BLESSING!!