James 5:12-20 Prayer of Faith

James 5:12-20 NIV
"The prayer of the righteous person is powerful and effective." (vs 16)

God hears our prayers and the prayers of faith are answered. Sometimes the answer is not as we would expect them. Sometimes there's a but of upside down stuff going on before we get to see God's good response to the prayer. When God answers prayers for the good of His children, sometimes we see not so happy endings for those who would harm His children.

When the prophet  Elijah prayed earnestly that it would not rain, it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. When he prayed for the rain, the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. (vs 17-18) Sometimes drought is prayed for so that the people will appreciate and thank God for the rain when God gives it.

I spend many hours a week in prayer. The devil likes to come in and steal some of my time with God. Sometimes, things like my alarm not going off will cause me to lose some of this precious time with God. Sometimes, others will have a need or a crisis. Without prayer though; these crises cannot be handled well. Things get a little chaotic when I don't have the time with God. I can do nothing without Him. The most powerful answer to any crisis begins with prayer.

If there is a need; pray. If someone is sick; pray. If someone has wandered away from the flock and is lost; pray. The prayers of faith are powerful and effective. Let us pray and sing praises always to God who is Almighty; to God our Father who listens and answers.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Jeremiah 14 - False Gods And Droughts

Despite the fact that the LORD tells Jeremiah to quit praying for the welfare of these back-sliding people, Jeremiah continues to pray for them and even attempts to justify them by making excuses for them.

But, the LORD knows the truth and they will suffer what they will suffer and that includes the false prophets who keep promising peace in a place where there is no peace. There is no peace in a land where the people worship false gods. Will the false gods help them? No, they will not. Neither, will ours. We bring the calamity upon ourselves when we turn our backs on God and listen to those who would please our itching ears; when we worship anything other than the one true God.

Yesterday, after spending the day touring local waterfalls and the beach, and a couple of stops at the Aura Jamboree, I brought my grandchildren home to their father. Then, I came home to crash on the couch. Nothing worthwhile on television for sure. I flipped through news channel after news channel wondering in amazement how Martin and Zimmerman was still the top headline of the day since it has been about a week since Zimmerman's acquittal. I flipped through reruns of Criminal Minds and Law and Order and an assortment of other programs; finally flipping to the section of religious programming. About five minutes of bouncing from one false prophet after another telling us how we could get rich in this world was all I could take. Oi! Sometimes, I'm a little slow; but, I finally figured out that it would be best to stop flipping mindlessly through channels and spend some one on one time with God. The latter proved to be much more blessed experience.

And... God's people were, and many still are, listening to the false prophets. Happiness, it seems, is about silver and gold and yes, even green paper with pictures of presidents and from being a spectator of those famous calamities that we call stars that exhibit very poor behavior and lack of faith on that flat screen in our living rooms. Idols come in different shapes and sizes today, but they are still false idols which steer us away from a real relationship with the One who loves us more than all others.

Is your life is empty? Are you living in a drought? Then, hear the prayer of Jeremiah:
"Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain?
    Do the skies themselves send down showers?
No, it is you, Lord our God.
    Therefore our hope is in you,
    for you are the one who does all this." (Jer 14:22 NIV)

Return to the LORD, to the One who loves you. Let your hope rest in Him.

God's Peace - Pr. J