Posts from August 2020

Maybe you’ve occasionally wondered if there’s any point in prayer. Does it work? Is God listening? Does he even care? Whenever I start doubting, I go back and reread James. Here are a few translations of the end of James 5:16: ‎The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working (ESV). The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much (NKJV). The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much (NASB). The prayer of…

I don’t know why we ignore this verse, but I’m pretty sure we do, or at least we skip over the plain sense of it. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed (James 5:16). When’s the last time you did that? When’s the last time you got your sin laundry list out, sat down with a Christian friend, and confessed the many ways you’re struggling in your relationship with Jesus?…

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven (James 5:14-15). Everyone reading this has been affected in some way by sickness—some sicknesses that are quite serious. We know people…

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise (James 5:13). I suppose we’re more likely to obey the first part of that verse than we are the second. It’s easy to let all of life’s stresses cause us to forget our need to praise God for everything good. If we’re not careful, talking to God can be more like a 911 call—something when do only when we find ourselves in a very difficult…