Pray!

 “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray……” James 5:13

Believers are well acquainted with affliction and suffering. Becoming a Christian does not prevent us from being exposed to the same difficulties and trials which overall plague the human race. It is not in the avoidance or evasion of distress but in the manner of coping and dealing with it, that the saint of God has an edge and real means of surviving the anguish, sorrow and grief that life can bring. One of the weapons of an overcoming Christian life is prayer.

Prayer is the correct positioning of all flesh before God. It ought to be the most natural and obvious choice at all times and in all seasons of life, but particularly so when we are faced with difficulty. The Word of God directs those who believe, to pray when they are faced with the afflictions of life. This is not to say that we should pray only in the tough times of life, but that they are the times when our response should definitely be prayer! The reasons for this are many.

Prayer is the conduit that brings to us mere mortals, the power and blessing of the eternal and almighty God. It is the channel of communication with He Who is greater than us and can do all the things that are outside our control and ability. Afflictions, sufferings and infirmities remind us of how vulnerable and weak we really are. They help us remeasure and redefine in practical terms, our ever present need for God! They are also opportunities for us to build a stronger relationship with the Lord by leaning more heavily on Him and trusting Him beyond where we may have trusted before.

The more frequently we respond to life’s challenges with prayer, the more adept we become to pray, knowing consciously and from our life’s history how that prayer has aided us in connecting with the Lord and in receiving what we have needed in various trying or desperate circumstances. Taking the time to pray teaches us that prayer works and that, as James tells us in v16 of this same chapter, if it is the fervent and effectual prayer of a righteous person - it avails, benefits, profits and rewards a great deal! The testimony of millions, who have verified that there is power in prayer and amazing, unequalled benefits in all circumstances and conditions of life, is overwhelming as it is inspiring.

With this knowledge and evidence both from God’s Word and from the lives of those who in obedience have practiced the principles of prayer to secure its helps and rewards, we must ask ourselves why we don’t pray more!? In fact it would be very pertinent to analyse our heart and life dealings, to see whether prayer is the course of action we choose to take at all. Is it our first option in finding solutions to the woes of life? Do we resort to this Royal telephone line for input from God, ahead of relying on ourselves or seeking the opinion and assistance of others? If we do pray, do we so in faith and trust that God is able and available to answer us?

The prayer experience is sometimes reduced to just saying or repeating prayers in rote fashion, merely fulfilling a duty or ritual, but this is not true praying as the bible describes. The imperative of prayer in scripture, is evidence of God’s command that we perform this holy exercise and that we do so from the heart and soul not simply the lips. How deeply rewarding and satisfying it is to man, when in faith real prayer is made to the Almighty God! How great a deliverance we find and receive from the troubles and afflictions of life, at the hand of the loving Saviour! Jesus is looking for opportunities to provide rest, relief and blessing in all our difficulties of life, if only we would choose to make sincere prayer our first response and not our last resort!



See also:
http://dailybiblefocus.blogspot.com.au/
http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion