Daily Devotional for Friday, March 29

The Exhortation To Pray

“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much,” James 5:16.

Our family has seen the power of prayer firsthand many times. Whether for one of us, for our whole family at once or for our Yetfa friends, prayers from righteous men and women were powerful, and God heard them. Each story that stands out as unusual has a common denominator: believers came together to pray.

I remember one of the first times we were asked to come to someone’s house to pray for them in the village. A man was sick, and the family sent someone to get us and the evangelist who was there. I honestly expected the man to be near death. When we arrived, he was sitting up against the wall, awake and talking quietly. I admit, I was a little confused at first. In my world, people only gathered to pray in dire circumstances, and this did not seem dire. However, he was sick. James 5:14 says if you are sick, call for the leaders to come pray. We prayed as a group, and he got better.

James calls us to specific, corporate prayer as a body. Notice how he uses “among you” (verse 14) and “one for another” (verse 16). The afflicted—those suffering misfortune and undergoing hardship—should pray. Those who are not afflicted at the moment should sing songs. It is interesting how James sandwiches singing into a passage on prayer, but our heart’s song is a prayer to God. Special instruction is given to praying for the sick. Elders (leaders) are to be called to pray and anoint and have faith (verse 14). The Lord responds to our faith.

The end of verse 15 works together with verse 16. James wraps confessing faults and forgiveness of sins with saving the sick and healing. Jesus told multiple people their sins were forgiven as he healed them. Our faith saves our bodies and our souls. Healing comes when we confess our faults and pray together.

THOUGHT
“Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield” (Psalm 33:20).

Kelli Reynolds