James 5:16
When the clergy are ordained in our conference they are to create a banner which reflects their personal creed for ministry. A few years back at annual conference one of the candidates had as his banner the statement – “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.”
It was a declaration of complete faith in what God has said, the laws and instruction He has offered to His children through the Bible. I was not as impressed with the look of the banner as I was with the confidence of the sentiment. As believers we need to have complete faith in our God.
This passage from James is the conclusion of a brief comment on prayer. In the previous verses the author has presented the various situations we might encounter in life – sickness, happiness, sin – and come to one instruction to deal with each. Pray.
What is his final instruction? What is his endorsement of prayer?
Too often in life we see prayer as a last resort to our situations. I am reminded of the George Bailey character in the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.” He prays with the words, “I’m at the end of my rope.” Prayer was his last ditch effort to resolve his problems.
We as believers should pick up prayer at the beginning of all our efforts. We should pray to God for guidance. We should pray to God for the strength and blessings to accomplish service for the kingdom. But most importantly, we should pray with an attitude of complete confidence.
Prayer should not always be the desperate act of a hopeless person. It should be the confident act of a determined person. We need to approach our ministry, our service, our outreach, our plans with complete assurance that God will bless us indeed in what we will attempt. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Pray with that in mind.
DAILY CHALLENGE: What is your attitude in prayer?
No comments:
Post a Comment