Week 21: Day 4

Intro: Hello! If this is your first time joining us, no worries at all, you’ve got lots of days you could catch up on but you’re also so welcome to join us today. We have been journeying through the book of James. James is such an interesting book in the Bible – James has so much wisdom for us, particularly in our life and relationships, as well as our prayer life. My question today is, which is a challenging one, for what is a challenging book of the bible: Do you believe that prayer can make a difference?

Bible: Today we are in James 5:16-18:

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

Thoughts: This is an inspiring passage, full of challenge for us as we think about our own prayer life. James says that prayer works but I wonder if giving some context to what James is speaking into might be helpful here. James is wanting to give us an example of the kind of prayer that we should pray! He gives the example of Elijah.

I am going to give you the 1-minute headline of the story of Elijah: in 1 Kings 17, where Elijah (a prophet) told King Ahab that would not rain for the next few years and after three and a half years of drought due to Israel worshipping other Gods (as they often did!), Elijah told King Ahab that it was going to rain. So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. He told his servant to go to the sea and look for clouds, but there was nothing there. “Seven times” Elijah said, “go back”. On the seventh time the servant reported, ‘A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.’ And then the rain came.

• I think for James – why he might use this story of Elijah – is that Elijah was a person, just like you and me. He was not perfect (we often put people in the bible on pedestal) and James says Elijah was an ordinary man (a human being just as we are) and God answered his prayer – his heart was devoted to God. We don’t have to be the perfect “Super Christian”. But James is saying that prayer is so important – we must make it a priority.

• I don’t think it’s a surprise either that James firstly in this passage says for us to confess our sins. James wants us to be righteous or ‘right with God’ when we pray. Maybe when we have sin in our life, that can block prayer’s effectiveness. Elijah was both persistent in prayer but he also made sure he was right with God. For us, maybe there’s a lesson to be both persistent in prayer, but also to make sure our hearts are in the right place when we pray.

Maybe a takeaway lesson for us from this passage is before we pray, we confess our sins.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I pray that you would help us to see the world like you do. I Pray that we would make prayer a priority. I thank you for the Book of James and I pray it’s wisdom and life would impact our hearts and minds today. Amen

Silence: And now a few moments of silence for you to pray, reflect on these ideas, or simply sit and be still.

Action: I think a helpful action for us today might be – before we pray – to confess our sins and then pray. Get into the routine of doing that!

Outro: That's it for today's Orbit. Thanks so much for joining us - we'll be back with another reflection tomorrow!