Things to Pray for

“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” – James 5:16

God is to be Thanked

Paul gave many thanks to God in his letters as well as for the church so he said we ought to “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1st Thess 5:18). Did you know that it’s the will of God that you give thanks? Should we feel compelled too? Paul insisted we “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving” (Col 4:2). The psalmist wrote, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name” (Psalm 100:4) so in our own corporate worship, we can enter into gates (doors) already singing praises and thanks and “bless His name.” All of that is 100% the will of God.

God’s Name is Glorified

Jesus once earnestly prayed “Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again” (John 12:28). We know God will honor that prayer for God always seeks to be glorified and that means it’s also His will that we “glorify God in [our] body” (1st Cor 6:20). God says of Himself “I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols” (Isaiah 42:8) nor share “My glory I will not give to another” (Isaiah 48:11).

God’s will is done on Earth

Jesus disciples never asked Him how to preach or how to heal or how to do any other miracle. The disciples asked Jesus to help them know how to pray. Jesus then gave a template or a model (the so-called Lord’s Prayer) that we should use or read it aloud if we wish in Matthew chapter six. Part of Jesus’ instruction to pray was that they should pray “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”(Matt 6:10) so we should pray for God’s will to be done here on earth as it already is being done in heaven. Part of God’s will is that we live lives that are holy and pleasing to Him. No, not perfect or sinless but striving for perfection and sinning less!

God’s Heart is Moved

When God sees the brokenness, the humility, the genuineness of some people’s prayer, His heart is moved with compassion and He moves in their life. Hannah was childless so she wept, she fasted, and she prayed continually, pouring out her heart unto the Lord. It was then that “the Lord remembered her” (1st Sam 1:19) and opened her womb (1st Sam 1:20). Pour out your deepest needs, desires, hurts, and petitions to God because “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

Conclusion

James wrote “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16) meaning all who have trusted in Christ because if we have repented and trusted in Him, we already have powerful and effective prayers if only we believe in faith.

by Jack Wellman

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“There is nothing that makes us love people so much as praying for them.” - William Law

Sometimes we are perplexed by what it means to “intercede” on behalf of another person. But as Francis McConnell notes, “The prayer that we find hardest to comprehend, namely, the intercessory (prayer), Jesus took most easily and naturally for granted.” Frequently in the life of Jesus, His prayers focused on the needs of others around Himself, even those who called Him an enemy, and yet Jesus prayed for everyone. Just in one chapter in the Gospels, John 17, Jesus prayed for us 50 times!

As the Apostle Paul so touchingly shared with his friends in Rome, we are promised that the “Spirit” makes intercession for us and as ” Oswald Chambers, very clearly details: “Jesus Christ carries on intercession for us in heaven; the Holy Ghost carries on intercession in us on earth; and we the saints have to carry on intercession for all men .”

As you consider, in your own life each day, the joy that is before each of us as we pray for one another, I hope this inspiring thought by Robert McCheyne will fill your heart with an expanded love for interceding for others as Christ intercedes for each of us:

“If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me!”