Praying For Others

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.  Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months” (James 5:16–17).

It certainly can be a comfort to know that righteous people are praying for you.  When the Israelites were struggling with the sin of idolatry, it had to be encouraging when Samuel told them: “I will pray to the Lord for you” (1 Samuel 7:5).  In fact, at a later point, the prophet claimed that it would be a sin for him to cease praying for them (1 Samuel 12:23).  When the blameless and upright Job lost nearly everything dear to him, we learn that his fortunes were restored “...when he prayed for his friends” (Job 42:10).  As the apostle Paul faced the difficulties of his ministry, he urged fellow believers to “...strive together with me in your prayers to God for me” (Romans 15.30).

If you are a believer, would you be encouraged to know that Jesus Christ Himself prayed for you?  As He neared the time for His own crucifixion, He talked to His Father.  He prayed for Himself, His apostles, and, right near the end, He prayed for the unity of all those who would come to faith through the teaching of the apostles.  “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (John 17:20–21).

If ever there was a righteous man, it was Jesus.  And he prayed for you and me!  What an incredible blessing and privilege!  Thank you, Lord!

God loves you!

Mike

What If?

             What if this new year turned out to be our last year on earth?  I’m not trying to be morbid or anything, but think about it for a moment.  Would we do some things differently if we knew the next 365 days would be the only ones we had left?

• Would we be more patient with others who were struggling with the issues of life?
• Would we be more forgiving of those who wronged us or treated us badly in some way?
• Would we be more likely to hold our tongue in those situations when we want to respond with a cutting or sarcastic remark?
• Would we be more willing to take a break from the busyness of life and stop to “smell the roses?”
• Would we spend more time in the Word instead of watching the news or surfing the web?
• Would we take the time to do some things we always wanted to do but never found time to do?
• Would we be more generous with those around us who haven’t enjoyed the blessings we’ve experienced?
• Would we express more love and gratitude to those who have made a difference in our lives?

            My next question is: Why would we wait to make these changes?  If they are important when time is short, they are also important when it isn’t.  I pray that God grants all of us the time necessary to make life count, whatever that looks like.  But if we don’t know how much time we have, then now is the time to use it wisely.  Make the changes that need made.  Do what’s truly important.  Treat every year as if it were our last. Because it could be.

 

God loves you!

Mike

Advantage Through Adversity

The earthly mission of the Son of God was near its end.  Over the past three years or so, Jesus had developed a close relationship with His hand-picked apostles.  They had lived and worked in close proximity with each other.  There had been successes and disappointments along the way.  The teaching of Jesus had been challenging at times and the run-ins with the Jewish leadership had been scary, but they had weathered it all together.

            But now the Lord was telling them that He was going somewhere that they could not come (John 13:33)!  This caused a ripple of concern and dismay to spread throughout the small group.  In the short time just prior to His betrayal, Jesus spent a good amount of time trying to calm their fears and prepare them for the difficult days that would assuredly come following His crucifixion and resurrection.  As part of that discussion, He made a statement that likely seemed incredible to His troubled listeners:“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you” (John 16.7).  Can’t you imagine most of them thinking: “How could the leaving of Jesus possibly be in any way to our advantage?”  The Lord goes on to explain that His going home to the Father would pave the way for the promised coming of the Holy Spirit -- a gift that would richly bless them in so many ways.  But the advantage could only be gained through the adversity that accompanied it.

            Most of us would probably prefer to go straight to the advantage and skip the adversity.  And, sometimes, it works that way.  But often, the gain is only achieved through pain.  The key is to remain faithful until the advantage can be realized.  To give up before that is to surrender the advantage that awaits us.  Don’t give up!  Endure to the end!  Gain the advantage!

God loves you!

Mike