1-18-2017

Good Morning All,

        James 5:16b; “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” 

    So what do we do when we think that we can’t do anything else?  Most of us say, “at least I can pray.”  I hear that often.  We often place a very low priority on prayer.  We often look at it as a lesser blessing.  We think that preaching or teaching is the greatest gift.  We think that healing or being a missionary has much greater value.  Yet when we think of prayer it is pretty low.

    I think that part of this is because prayer is something that we all can do.  We tend to place value on talents, skills or gifts that we don’t have and are rare.  There are some churches which place a great value on someone being able to “speak in tongues” (a form of spiritual speaking) or some other very rare gift.  We look to the gifts that others have and see it as greater than ours.  We may even think that if it is a gift that I have; it can’t be very important. 

    This type of thinking is unfortunate and it gives the devil an edge.  The devil knows how valuable prayer is for the life of a Christian and he will do everything he can to divert it or destroy it.  The devil wants nothing better than for you and me to undervalue prayer and to under utilize it.  Unfortunately, many of us do just that, we fail to use it as much as we should.

     Prayer is one of the greatest gifts that God gives to us.  Prior to Jesus’ death, prayer was a cumbersome process which was only properly handled by a priest in the Temple.  But Jesus gave to us the victory which allows us to come before God’s holy throne and not only come to him but come to him as children come to their dear and loving father.  The power of prayer is beyond what we can ever fathom. 

    God knows that the devil assaults us every day and it is through prayer that we stay in constant communication with God.  This is how God designed it for us to maintain our courage and strength when facing the blistering attacks that the devil and this sinful world fires at us.

    True prayer is prayer that is honest and heartfelt.  Prayer that is sincere and truly trusts in God’s promise to hear it is a powerful tool.  God answers prayer in his own time and in his own way but he does answer them.  So as we face life, prayer should be first and foremost in our life.  It is not some lesser gift; it is such a great and powerful gift that God gives it to all his children, to you and to me that we may stay strong and safe.  It is our vital connection to God where we lift up to him our cries, our fears, our hopes and our joy.

    Prayer is our best ally in strengthening our faith.  Use it every day and often; a closer relationship with god awaits you.

Dear Father, you gave us the gift of prayer to keep us close to you.  Move us to utilize this wondrous gift to its full potential.  Keep us in your care.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret