13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
Questions for Reflection:
Which is more natural for you? Praying in times of distress or suffering or giving praise during times of joy? And then spend time asking Jesus to reveal why the other one is not as natural for you.
Is there something you doubt that God can help you with? How is God possibly moving you to bring this to other believers to cover in prayer?
Prayer of the Week:
My dear Lord Jesus Christ, I come to You now to be restored in You, to be renewed in You to receive Your love and Your life and all the GRACE and MERCY I so desperately need this day.
I praise You Jesus, that You have made union with my Father in heaven possible for me through Your life death and resurrection. Thank You for reconciling me to my Father in heaven who loves me very much. Thank You for the gift of prayer so that I might experience this deep relationship in the moments of my day.
Father, Son, Holy Spirit I love You, I worship You, I adore You and I embrace You in this time of prayer. Jesus, refresh the mindset I have about prayer, expand my understanding, fine tune my framework so that nothing (especially my own default thinking) gets in the way of experiencing You in prayer. Father, I confess my natural bent toward “self” rule. I can function so easily more as an “orphan” making demands out of my heart-wounds and scarcity mentality rather than as a “child of my Father in heaven” who loves me very much. I now turn away from this “natural bent” in humble repentance. I ask You for forgiveness of all my sin and sinfulness. I ask as a child with no shame. I ask for Your Holy Spirit to fill me. I am Your child and most of all I need You – fill me afresh with You.
Jesus, because I have You then the riches of Your reign are available to me so I come ASKing for all these needs and situations knowing I have a heavenly Father who loves me very much. Jesus, hear my prayer ..... (conclude prayer by taking whatever time you need to personally pray what is on your heart right now .... Prayers of praise or ASKing or thanksgiving or .... whatever. Just enjoy praying first, praying now, praying bold, praying through...)
Amen
