OUR PRAYER AND GOD'S POWER

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

365 DEVOTIONS FROM OUR DAILY BREAD

Our Prayer and God’s Power

Read:  James 5:13-20

Pray for one another, that you may be healed.  The effective,

fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.  James 5:16

When we pray for others, we become partners with God in His work of salvation, healing, comfort, and justice.  God can accomplish those things without us, but in His plan He gives us the privilege of being involved with Him through prayer.

When we intercede for a grandson in trouble, a mother having surgery, a neighbor who needs Christ, or a pastor who needs strength, we are asking God to  provide for that person what we can’t provide.  We are acting as go-betweens, asking God to direct His power in a specific direction.

In his classic book titled Prayer, Ole Hallesby described how it works:  “This power is so rich and so mobile that all we have to do when we pray is point to the person or thing to which we desire to have [God’s  ] power applied, and He, the Lord of this power, will direct the necessary power to the desired place.”

This assumes, of course, that we are praying “according to [God’s] will” (1 John 5:14).  Prayer is not a magic wand for satisfying our own wishes, but it’s an opportunity to work with the Lord in accomplishing His purposes. 

James told us that “the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16).  So let’s humbly and earnestly pray for one another.          DCE

As we attempt to live like Christ

In actions, words, and deeds,

We’ll follow His design for prayer

And pray for others’ needs. -DB 

The most powerful position on earth is kneeling before the 

Lord of the universe.