Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of.His will for us and the power to carry that out.
- Step 11
We can not get closer in relationship with Daddy without spending time with Him. Prayer is crucial to that, for how can we get closer to someone with communicating with them and spending time with them? We can also know that it is indeed the will of God to seek His provision for our needs. We are told in the model prayer to ask for our daily bread, and Jesus made it clear that our Daddy cares for us and that we are to take our needs to Him. So praying for ourselves and our needs is in God's will, a good thing, and necessary.That said though, it is not all there is to praying. We are surrendering to Daddy to be made of maximum service to Him and others, and part of that service is intercessory prayer, praying to help and on the behalf of others. James 5 points out that our prayers of service for each other matter and make a difference. Is someone suffering or sick? They are to be prayed for. James specifically speaks of elders praying for those in need, but scripture is clear that we are to pray for one another and that our elders are supposed to lead by example. If they are our example, then we who are not elders are also to pray for others. James continues with a statement that you may be familiar with:
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
Immediately after this proclamation he uses Elijah the prophet as an example:
Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
Now if you read this as I did for far too long, you may feel this is further evidence that us lowly non-elder types aren't the ones who should pray. After all, I don't have to do an in depth inventory to know that I am not a righteous man. Perhaps you feel likewise. But I was wrong, and if you feel that way as a follower of Christ. you too are wrong. If I did an inventory of my life, even just my day, I could not declare myself righteous. But that is the mistake. It is not my inventory that determines my righteousness, nor you yours. It is Christ's inventory. We have been given the righteousness of Jesus. We are righteous and clean before Daddy because of the work of the Son. Therefor it is indeed we are righteous and able to avail or accomplish much with our prayers.
The New King James says effective prayer. Some translations read effectual. They are the same, and that may throw us off. We are used to the word effective in the way that this attempt was or was not effective. Did it work? If so, it was effective. But in this context and usage, the word means able to produce the desired outcome. Google is an effective method for searching for information online, for example. And fervent simply means sincere and heartfelt. Because we have the righteousness of Jesus, our heartfelt prayers are an effective way to intercede with Daddy on h=behalf of others!
But what about the Elijah example? Surely we can't compare ourselves to the great prophet. Why yes, yes we can. The first thing James does is remind us that Elijah had the same nature as us. He may have been a great and famous prophet, but he wasn't God. He was just a man, and like all of us, a sinner who has fallen short of righteousness when relying on his own inventory. What we need to remember was that Elijah didn't just decide to cause a drought or to bring relief. He was doing what God told him to do. He was obeying God, and the result was that his prayer availed much. When we obey God and love others, and intercede on their behalf in prayer, our prayers are powerful. Do not be afraid of being unworthy to pray. Pray for others in confidence that Daddy hears you, because you have the righteousness of Jesus and Daddy cares for your needs and the needs of those you are praying for.
* Note - It is important to let people know that you are praying for them to encourage and edify them.
From Leah Woodard's Patchwork Souls No Longer a Castaway:
Wednesday, February 28, 2018 -
Pray For One Another
When a person is so broken and even though they cry out in prayer, they need to know that others are praying for them.
Sometimes the most valuable thing we can do for a person is to pray for them and with them.
When we pray, something always happens. Isaiah 55:11
When we pray, we offer sacrifice to God. We are a priestly people, (1 Peter 2:9 KJV -
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light; ) Part of the priesthood is offering sacrifice to God. We sacrifice our time, we offer our mental, and emotional investment to God in prayer on behalf of others
“Often the most important thing you can do for them is to pray. However, I encourage you to tell them when you are praying for them (unless you sense it might be taken in the wrong way). In my experience, almost everyone who’s facing a serious need (whether it is an illness or some other difficulty) will be encouraged by knowing someone is praying for them.” Billy Graham January 18, 2008
Finish Reading The rest Of This Short Devotion at
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