Jump Start # 1594

James 5:16 “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

  We continue our look at the subject of prayer. Our verse today is one that is found in most studies on prayer. There are three components within this verse.

First, confessing sins and praying for one another. That’s tough. We have too much pride to really tell what is going on in our hearts. We confess “safe” sins. We confess the things that everyone goes through, such as, attitude issues, discouragement and not praying much. You’ll find others agreeing with you. But the really big stuff, the dark sins, we keep under lock and key and no one knows about them. We are afraid of what others might think if they knew. So there isn’t much confessing and praying for one another except for superficial and physical things. We’ll reveal that we are having a surgery, pray for us, we say. We may say that we are looking for another job, pray for us. But the sins, we haven’t done well with handling those. As a result, there isn’t much healing going on. Healing isn’t from knee replacement surgery, it’s healing from sins. Sin leaves us broken and confessing and praying brings the healing. The healing of a broken marriage. The healing of broken trusts. The healing of forgiveness.

Second, prayer can accomplish much. This is why we pray. It’s not a mental or an emotional exercise as Freud taught. He never got it. It’s not a mechanism to deal with the misery in our lives. We are talking to the living God. He can and has done things. He can change things. God was so mad at Israel that He was ready to wipe them out and start over. Moses interceded. Moses prayed. God changed His mind. Elijah prayed and it didn’t rain. He prayed later on, and it rained. When teaching about prayer, Jesus told the disciples to ask “Give us this day our daily bread.” God does that. He does that every day. Most of us have our daily bread whether we ask God or not. Long before that prayer is uttered, God is at work. He has farmers planting seed in the fields. He has that seed nourished by spring rains. He has the sun shining on the fields as the grain grows. At harvest, God has the farmers out bringing in the grain. Then it is processed.  In our times, it goes to the bakers. Then to the stores. Then we buy it and bring it home. There has been months and months of care getting that bread to you. God was aware of that. God was working even before we were asking. He knew.

Prayer works. Prayer can bring spiritual wisdom. Prayer can open doors. Prayer can change hearts. Maybe we are not praying big enough prayers. Maybe our prayers are kept too close to the shore. Maybe our prayers surround the physical side of things more than the spiritual side. A healed body but a lost soul doesn’t impress God. A nice church building but empty hearts doesn’t move God. Faith is what has always caught the eye of our Savior. Maybe we ought to be praying more for growing and powerful faith. Maybe we need to pray that some will go to the pig pen, like the prodigal, so that their eyes will be opened and that they will come to their senses and come back to God. Maybe little is happening because little is expected and little is being prayed for.

Prayer can accomplish much. The question to ask, then, just what is it that you want to accomplish? What do we as a church want to accomplish? What do we want God to help us with? What do we want God to do for us? Instead of just thanking God for the day, ought we to ask God to use us this day to glorify Him? Instead of just thanking God for our food, ought we to ask God to use the food to give us the strength to talk to a family member about their walk with the Lord? Instead of just asking God to guide us, ought we to ask the Lord to lead us to righteous ways? Prayer works! It can accomplish much.

Third, it is the prayer of a righteous man that catches the attention of God. It’s not just any prayer. It’s not everyone’s prayer. But the words of a righteous man can accomplish much. “Well, that’s just the problem,” some would admit. “I’m not all that good.” Righteous. Righteous is not perfectly sin free. It is being right with God. It means walking with God. It is doing right things. It is thinking right thoughts. A righteous man is one who is trying to be right with God. His choices are based upon God. He is God-thinking. He doesn’t live free of God, but instead, with God.

You can be righteous. Jesus is what makes us that way. Forgiven and committed to Christ, we walk in righteousness. Be holy is what Peter tells us to be. The prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much. A righteous man is one who talks to God often. He is a person who asks God. He is a person who thanks God. He is a person who praises God. His life is lived with one foot already in Heaven. Don’t view him as a monk who sits around all day humming and praying. The righteous man is a family man. He is a worker. He enjoys family. He plays sports. He plays music. He likes to travel. He worships with the church. He is kind and generous. He thinks of others. He is a person just like you. That’s the point! Don’t dismiss the subject of prayer because you are not righteous. Get that way. You can be that way. You ought to be that way. The alternative to being righteous is “unrighteous.” That’s no good. That is troublesome and plagued with selfish and wrong choices. The righteous way is the way you want to go.

Your prayers can accomplish much. From this we need to consider what we are praying about? Is it always about us or others? Is it more on physical things or spiritual things? Is it about making lives nicer or closer to God? Is it merely a check list or are we really wanting and inviting God into these situations?

Prayer doesn’t have to be long to be effective. Prayer doesn’t have to cover all the bases before it is effective. Some pray for just one specific thing. That’s it. That’s enough.

Give this some thought today as you pray. You have the attention of God. He is listening to you. Talk to Him. Pour your heart out to Him. Really pray. Then look out. Things will happen. The prayer of the righteous can accomplish much. It’s God who is doing it, but it may be that He was just waiting for you to ask Him.

Get praying…

Roger