November 22

James 5: 13-16

In suffering, pray.

Why did James tell believers to pray in the midst of suffering hardship? Prayer seems the spiritual, even obvious response. It’s like asking someone, “What do you do if your house catches on fire?” Of course, they would reply, “call the fire department.” However, prayer is usually the last thing a person wants to do when found in the heat of battle and depending on the intensity of the fight, prayer can almost feel like surrender. Yet, James tells us that when we are assaulted, the simple and situation changing answer is always prayer.
Prayer releases faith. Often times, amidst our brokenness, the most sincere and childlike prayers come from our lips. In those moments of transparency, our own faith, though it may be weak, is declared. When we voice our injury to God, this communicates our trust and confidence in His ability to make it right.
Without our faith resting solely in Him, our hearts will have no stay and we will be tossed to and fro by the torrents of life’s daunting waves.
Prayer anchors our soul.
Prayer is communion. When we pray, we are engaging the Creator of heaven and earth. He is the living Word. He is speaking regardless of if we recognize His voice or not. When you are conversing with another, you don’t speak for both yourself and the other person. Instead, when you declare your thought, you automatically wait for their response. We should do the same in prayer. Wait for God’s response. He is faithful to answer our curious questions or our deepest cries. His answer will always anchor your heart amidst the raging storms of tragedy. His response will trigger a flood of peace and bring refreshing.
Prayer is unifying. In the book of Ecclesiastes, we learn that two are far better than one. This same natural principle applies in the supernatural. The only thing greater than your current faith in God’s promise is your increased faith in God’s promise! Our flame of faith increases when others lend their torch. Recently, I reconnected with one of my closest childhood friends. It was as if we never parted. Better even! Now, we have real cars, real money and she even has a real baby! Needless, to say, we are no longer “playing house”. We grew up and realized life is not all “peaches n’ cream”. Along with our real cars, came a real monthly payment. Along with our real money, came a real job and attached to a real baby, came real sacrifice. It has been an incredible blessing to be able to share the realities of life with the same person whom I shared my childhood adventures.
Our times together have been so refreshing for many reasons. But, the most important thing I have gained through our rekindled friendship is fuel for my faith. When our faith is fueled, our prayers become more fervent. The righteous man’s fervent prayer is unstoppable.
James encouraged the joining of faith in verse 16, when he wrote, “Confess your trespasses to each other and pray for each other that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man has great power and produces wonderful results.”

Now I pray fervently for you. I pray that you not be overcome or give in to the enemy’s vices, but that you give up on your own devices and find renewed strength under the shadow of His wings.

-Lauryn