Pray Right.
Just Do It, Part 18
Prayer has the power to do amazing things in our lives and the lives of others. Even miraculous things. Maybe you have prayed before for sick loved ones to get well, but those prayers just didn’t seem to yield the results you were hoping. Is there a correct way to pray? In short, yes...at least James seemed to think so.
“God’s healing often comes when the right people pray in the right way.”
Scripture:
James 5:13-18
Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 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.
Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
Highlights:
• To offer effective prayers for the sick, you must follow the right procedures.
• Procedure #1: You have to have the right kind of prayer.
• It is untrue that God heals, or doesn’t heal, according to the strength, or lack thereof, of our faith.
• What is the right kind of prayer? It is a prayer of faith.
• Procedure #2: You have the right kind of partnership.
• God’s grace is not only displayed in miraculous healings. It is displayed in the knowledge he has given to us.
• We must stop simply going to church and learn to become the church among our communities.
• Procedure #3: You have the right kind of position.
• In times of illness, we often go deeper; we draw closer to God.
• Sometimes our physical infirmities reveal sin that not only has a part in bringing about the illness, but has been keeping us from the heart of God.
• Sometimes when a spiritual healing takes place, a physical healing takes place. And sometimes physical sickness is the trigger that brings about the spiritual healing we need.
• To offer effective prayers for the sick, you must be the right kind of person.
• What kind of over-the-top gracious God would take notice of me? One who is literally more attracted to me because of the greatness of my sin, not less attracted.
• “Prayer before it is a petition, is a stance of the heart.” - Tim Keller
• People who have entered into a true relationship with God, have a relationship that is continually progressing, not perfectly, but progressively.
• God’s healing often comes when the right people pray in the right way.
