"Are you hurting? Pray.
Do you feel great? Sing." (James 5:13)
These 9 simple words are
strung beautifully together in The Message translation of James 5:13.
James has taken the sometimes overcomplicated-by-our-human-selves act
of prayer and made it so easy. Are you hurting? Then pray about it.
Are you having a great day? Sing about it. There are so many emotions
and events that can happen between hurt and greatness. We are called
to pray through them all. What an amazing feeling to know that the
God of the universe, He who made everything we see and touch and
interact with and love every day also wants to talk to us day in and
day out, whether our days are good or bad. That information all by
itself sparks a feeling of joy in my heart that no one can take away.
"Are you sick? Call the
church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name
of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you
on your feet. And if you’ve sinned, you’ll be forgiven—healed
inside and out." (James 5:14-15)
I would love to say that
these verses mean that praying hard enough equals complete healing
for the person here on earth. But I think we all know that's not
true. God is not your personal genie. He isn't going to grant your
each and every wish. Sometimes, because we live in an imperfect and
fallen world, bad things are allowed to happen. And beyond that, God
knows what he's doing. He can see the bigger picture. He will use
every single thing for his greater purpose. So even when something
bad happens now, you can expect a greater purpose in the future
whether you get to see it or not.
The way God heals a person
of their illness sometimes includes their going home to heaven. What
is going on in their lives is solved by Jesus simply calling them
home. In heaven, they are whole and healed and perfect again. Other
times, the healing they receive means they are healed temporarily
here on earth. This is not our permanent residence, remember. The
Bible tells us in Philippians 3:20 that our permanent address is
heaven. It's not here. This is a short stop in our eternity.
Look at Paul who wrote half
of the New Testament (almost). He was afflicted with what he
described as "a thorn in the side." He never comes out and
says exactly what this is, but it's possible it was some simple but
uncomfortable chronic illness like headaches or migraines. He prayed
and prayed for healing and it didn't come. God said his power is made
greater in Paul's weakness and so he continued to have that thorn in
his side for the rest of his days as far as anyone knows.
A couple of years ago, two
of my friends each had a son dealing with cancer. Both are great
women who love Jesus, go to church every week, and do their best to
live their lives like Jesus. They pray constantly and asked their
communities to surround their babies in prayer. We absolutely did
that. One son was declared "in remission" and is seemingly
healed today. The other is in heaven with Jesus. Two women. Two sons.
Two outcomes. Two different ways of healing. The same Jesus.
Does this mean Jesus loves
one more than the other? That he answered one prayer and not the
other? Absolutely not. He loves each and every one of us the same,
with a fierce and unending love. Both of these guys are loved by God
himself. One has more life to live here on earth, the other had the
privilege of hearing "well done, my good and faithful servant"
as his short time here on earth came to an end. Yes, we miss him, but
we will be reunited one day in heaven. Those words don't feel like
enough and they aren't. Nothing can take away the absolutely
heartbreaking feeling of losing a child, not even the "time"
that everyone claims.
"Make this your common
practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so
that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person
living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.
Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it
wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t—not a drop for three and a half
years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers
came and everything started growing again." (James 5:16-18)
From sickness and healing,
James takes a turn at confessing our sins and praying for one
another. I love that James challenges us all as believers to pray for
one another. There is nothing more powerful that you can do for
another person than to talk to Jesus on their behalf. And this isn't
because your prayers are better than anyone else's. It's because you
are building a relationship with Jesus one prayer at a time. You are
giving complete trust to God that he will take care of those you
love. And at the same time, you are living in fellowship with other
believers which is one of the ways that God made us to live our
lives.
I have loved the challenges
that God is giving me lately and I have another for you for today. My
challenge for you today is to start a prayer journal. It could be
written out on paper, in an actual journal, or even on your phone.
Write out the names of the people in your life. You can make this
longer or shorter, but write it. Add notes about things that are
going on in their lives. Then start praying for them. Every single
day, open that journal and pray. When you hear about an answered
prayer, make a note. It'll be amazingly uplifting and encouraging for
you a few weeks from now to look back on it and see all of the
answered prayers.
I used to do this, actually.
I'm going to go now and update my own prayer journal. I pray that you
start your own as well. Have a blessed day.
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