Praying Together

“Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.  Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 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.” (James 5:13-16 NIV)

Do you notice any theme in this passage?  When we are in trouble, what should we do? Pray.  When life is so good we just can’t help but smile, what should we do?  Pray prayers of praise and thanksgiving.  If we or someone else is sick, what should we do?  Pray in the name of the Lord for healing.  If we have sinned, what should we do?  Confess to one another so we can pray for one another.

As we are told in other passages (e.g., Acts 2:42; Ephesians 6:18), the community of believers is to be praying.  Yet, this is one of the great struggles within the body of Christ.  We spend little time praying, particularly together.  Why would that be when it is so obvious in Scripture that this is to be a focused priority?  Two words—spiritual warfare.

The enemy knows the power of prayer and the devastating effect it can have on his schemes, so he works hard on persuading us not to pray. It’s too scary or weird. I don’t know how to pray. It takes too much time. I’m not good enough. The list can go on and on of the excuses we have for not praying.  The fact is, whatever the reason, the end result is a lack of prayer in our lives, which fits quite nicely into Satan’s strategy of weakening the Church.  I see this in the ministry that I lead. We have a weekly prayer time to which only a handful of students come. We also have a space during our large group meetings to which students can come for prayer. Rarely, anyone does. 

If this is to change, we need to acknowledge what is going on.  We need to confess our prayerlessness and begin to fight back.  We need to look for the opportunities to pray with one another, fighting through the fear and awkwardness.  Prayer is powerful and effective and we would be wise to put it to better use.

Today, consider how you can begin to cultivate a life of prayer with other believers.  Perhaps you can start with a question: How can I pray for you?  And then follow that up with, here’s how you can pray for me. Then pray.  It may be a little awkward, but the rewards will be great.

© Jim Musser 2017