Faith that Prays

This week we close out our 12 week series in the book of James looking at James 5:13-20.

I love how James starts off this section, keep in mind he knows exactly what they are going through so these questions are more rhetorical in nature – James is saying if you are suffering? PRAY! Are you happy? PRAY! Are you sick? PRAY!

James is reminding us that our first response should always be God, upward…

Prayer is not measured by its length—it is measured by its depth. It has been said that faith moves mountains, but prayer moves God…

Unfortunately, all too often He is not our first response… we seek to find comfort from other people, or we try to take things into our own hands… Think about it... You should be so in love with God that your first instinct in the good times and the bad is to call out to him... 

For many Christians, the extent of their prayer life is at the dinner table. “Good food, Good meat, Good God, let’s eat...” And you know what the devil doesn’t mind those types of prayers, because they go nowhere. Just empty words uttered in ritual...

If we want to be effective-if we want to experience something powerful…it comes through prayer.  And James says, stop and pray! The person you need to talk to is God!

“The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.” (James 5:16b)

You know when you are just madly in love with someone and you have good news, and you want to tell them… or if you’ve got bad news, you want to tell them first… That’s the idea behind what James is saying… the idea that God is supposed to be the very center, the core of your life…

Simply put, if I’m going through a trial, I should come before Him, before anyone else… and if things are great I am to just immediately burst out in praise because I realize it all came from Him… When it comes to trials and difficult times, we often tend to throw in the towel before we throw up our prayers.

Isn’t it amazing that our prayers can move the heart of God who created the universe?

…so let’s talk about prayer… See ya Sunday!