Saturday Reading: James 5:16
Key Verse: James 5:16
16 Confess faults to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous one avails much.
Devotion:
I was about to cut this verse in half and just teach on “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous one avails much.” Today – which would have been fine... but then I re-read the first part of this verse and realised another point which causes us doubt. Not so much the fact that we think that our prayers are not being answered but rather that we need to straighten ourselves out before we start getting serious with prayer. How can we expect our prayers to be effectual if we are the ones that are casting doubt even before we start praying?
God does not want us to be walking away from Him as we lift up our prayers but rather that we should be seeking Him and walking with Him before we start lifting up our requests to Him. God wants us to take that first step and show that we are willing to change our lives so that He can work in our lives! Why should we expect Him to work in our lives if we are not going to work in His shadow first of all?
I can always look back and see parts in my life when prayers did not seem to be being answered – and most of the time when I can do that I can also look at my walk with Christ and realise that I was not being that sincere with Christ when I started to see that just maybe my prayers were not being answered! Why should we expect God to do all the work and sit back and reap all the rewards even before we lift a finger? Yes God teaches us that we do need to cast our doubts and fear upon His shoulders, but it does not mean that we need to carry them away again! God wants us to straighten up, leave our problems with Him and walk a new way with Him so that we can not only identify the right prayers but can then fully expect that they will be answered!
Points to Ponder:
Do you expect others to do as you say and not as you do?
God always leads by example. Will you?