the basic message #E263
6/6/04
James 5:13-16
Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well: the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he 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 man is powerful and effective.
Most of us, no matter how hard we try, aren't very righteous. There will be those of you who will mistakenly say that you are righteous simply due to your faith in Christ. Jesus is righteous, but I can assure you that you and I are not. There is a particular time in our lives when we probably get our closest to righteousness, and I'd like to share that with you today. It's all about prayer, and not just any kind of prayer. If we pray for ourselves, that's to be expected. If we pray for our family and friends, that too is to be expected. What did Jesus have to say on this subject? Read on............
Matthew 5:46
"If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?"
Please don't misunderstand- I'm not suggesting that praying for ourselves and our friends and loved ones is wrong, it's just not exceptional. What is exceptional? Praying for our enemies and for people we don't even know. I tend to think that the latter group is probably more important for a simple reason, and I'll explain why. When we typically pray for our enemy, why are we praying for them? Usually, our enemy has done or is doing something to cause us grief. Whether we're in a war with another country or whether we're simply having problems with someone at work that we seriously dislike, we're usually praying for our enemy so that we will ultimately benefit. Contrast this with a prayer for a complete stranger that you've never seen before and will likely never see again. This might confuse some of you, so allow me to give you some examples:
Overweight people: Those of us who don't battle weight problems often dismiss overweight people as being lazy or that they have no will power. That's prejudice, pure and simple. I'm quite sure that plenty of overweight people, especially children, cry many tears during their lifetime as they battle the pounds. If I offer a prayer to God for an overweight stranger, I honestly believe that God will duly note that prayer and will likely work on it. Why? Simply because it is an unselfish plea to God on behalf of a total stranger. If God hears that prayer and analyzes it for a moment and sees that I have no personal gain, I think that makes him happy. I'm not asking him to bless me or give me points, so why shouldn't he be happy?
Smokers: Some of you might be offended that I pray for strangers who smoke because you smoke, but that's okay. I haven't met a smoker yet that wants to smoke. I've met plenty of people who like to smoke, but given the choice to quit (if they could quit and not have the desire) would quit in a moment. When I pray for a stranger who is smoking, I'm asking God to change their desires so they can be successful in quitting.
Mean people: I know this category quite well since I'm often part of it. I once had a customer that came in my store one morning that was a real horse's behind. No matter what I said or did, this guy wasn't going to be happy for anything. I found out a few days latter that when he was in my store he had found out that morning that his sister had been killed in a plane crash. He had the right to be mean, and I'm thankful for the lesson I was able to learn. Some folks just like to be mean, but the vast majority of us really want to be pleasant, but sometimes life just makes us unhappy. When I pray for rude or mean people, my prayer will benefit many others as well.
I could go on, but I think you get the idea. Who do you pray for? Do you ever pray for a complete stranger? If every Christian would pray for someone completely unknown to them, and if God gives special attention to that unselfish prayer, then one day I'll be praying on your behalf and you'll be praying on my behalf. Isn't that what Christianity is all about?