DCLM Higher Everyday 22 August 2024 — The Prayer of The Righteous
DCLM Higher Everyday 22 August 2024 Devotional by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — The Prayer of The Righteous
Topic: The Prayer of The Righteous
Text: James 5:13-18
13Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
15And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
16Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
17Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
18And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
Key Verse: “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).
Message
Prayer is simply a solemn communication with the God of heaven. Believers connect with heaven through prayers. John Wesley aptly observed that, “God does nothing except in response to believing prayer.” H. Jackson Brown, Jr. also added by saying, “Never forget the three powerful resources you always have available to you: love, prayer, and forgiveness.” Prayer is central to the Christian faith to a point that the early apostles vowed that they would give themselves to it and the ministering of the word. However, the prayers that receive answers from God must come from a vessel which is free from the contamination of sins.
Beloved, are you sick, oppressed or financially challenged? Remember that the prayer of a righteous person has great power and is effective to remove mountains or obstacles. However, there are times you may need to approach a fellow believer or your church leader to pray along with you to deal with certain challenges. You are expected to also open up to your leader if you have sinned so he can join you to pray to God for mercy.
Quote: Connect with heaven through prayers
Challenge: Effective prayers remove mountains.
Prayer for today: Lord, help me to be righteous.
1. Admit that you are a sinner. "For all [humans] have sinned, and comes short of the glory of God....[and] the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 3:23)
2. Repent now. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out ...[for] if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness " (Acts 3:19, 1 John 1:9)
3. Believe that God loves you and Jesus died for you. "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet Sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)
4. Invite Jesus into your life through prayer of faith. Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20)
