Restarting The Term With Prayers

My hope and prayer is that you all had a wonderful summer break, as I did with my family. It was a relaxing and enjoyable time with family and friends. I was able to completely unwind and reconnect with family at a deeper level. It’s probably the best holiday and rest I’ve had since the pandemic. I am really grateful to God and the church for the opportunity. How I needed it!

I am very conscious however, that there are many who probably had a terrible time that is sadly still ongoing. This newsletter is especially dedicated to those who have had a hard time through the summer recess. I am hoping that whatever your situation, God will use this medium to encourage and lift you up.

We changed Prime Minister this week, but the challenges facing people and families up and down the country won’t suddenly change because we changed leaders. We live in a climate saturated with trauma from grief, poverty, lack, loss, pain, sickness and disappointment. We need God’s divine intervention to keep our heads above the murky waters of spiralling debt, uncertainty, fear and a prevailing climate of sadness and darkness.  Whilst we acknowledge our difficult situation, we must look to God for solution. James, one of the Apostles of Jesus has a word of encourage for everyone.

“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.”

This simple encouragement from James is so powerful, that if only you’ll try it, you’ll certainly experience God’s comfort, grace and breakthrough in your hardship. James simply wants us to take our situation to God in prayer. He does not want the happy ones to keep quiet, he wants them to praise God and sing for joy. He wants those in trouble to ask God for help, so their trouble can be changed into gladness and joy.

Prayer is a weapon that changes situations. James encourages us to learn from Elijah. He calls our attention to Elijah’s humanity. When we look at Elijah, we often think about his spirituality. I know I do, but James says that he is human too. If he can pray for rain to stop and again for rain to resume and God heard his prayer, we can pray too. You may not be Elijah, but you serve Elijah’s God. If He did it for Elijah, James is challenging us to trust God to do it for us too.

There are three dimensions of prayer I see here in the text. One is a personal prayer you offer by yourself to God about your personal circumstance. That prayer can be a plea or praise. Another is one in which you ask the elders and leaders to pray for you for healing, and the third is that which you pray regarding a problem that affects a nation. James wants us to pray to pray all these prayers.

We can’t gloss over what James calls “powerful and effective” prayers. He locates the power of answered prayer in the God we pray to… We pray in the name of Jesus to our father God. And notice that he also said it is “the prayer of a righteous person” that is powerful and effective. That means, if the person praying is nor righteous, their prayer will be powerless and ineffective.

To be righteous is to be right with God, to have a right standing with Him. A righteous person is that person who does not give room to sin in their lives. It is not that they don’t sin, it is that they don’t allow any unconfessed sin to blight their lives and hinder their prayers. They are always inclined to do, say and think anything that pleases God. James’ encouragement is that we should all live righteous lives, otherwise our prayers will be hindered.
  
So as we start a new term, let’s come with a humble and a contrite heart before our merciful God in prayer. Let’s learn to talk to Jesus about everything. And let’s support one another as we seek to create and maintain a praise saturated environment, where problems are solved and challenges are overcome through the power of prayer.