Prayer Is a Statement of Your Faith
Do you have a hard time praying? If so, here are some words of encouragement from James.
Nothing says more about who we believe God to be than the way we pray. Prayer is as Mark Batterson says, “The difference between the best we can do and the best God can do.”
When we pray, we are acknowledging there is someone who hears our prayers. When we ask, we are saying there is someone who can answer. When we cry, we are saying there is someone who cares. When we worship, we are saying there is someone who is worthy. Every act of prayer we make is a statement about who we believe God to be.
The picture James gives of the ideal Christian community is one that is calling out to God for everything they need. When they are suffering, they pray. Happy? Pray and praise. Sick? Pray. Sinning? Pray. In The Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster wrote:
In the most natural and simple way possible we learn to pray our experiences by taking up the ordinary events of everyday life and giving them to God. Perhaps we have a crushing failure that gives us more than one sleepless night. Well, we pace the floor with God, telling him of our hurt and our pain and our disappointment. “Why me?” we cry out, “why me?” for frustration and tears and anger are also the language of Simple Prayer. We invite God to walk with us as we grieve the loss of our dream. Maybe an offhand remark by a neighbor triggers a whole explosion of emotions within us: anger, jealousy, fear. Very well, we speak frankly and honestly with God about what is happening and ask him to help us see the hurt behind the emotion. We should feel perfectly free to complain to God, or argue with God, or yell at God.
Prayer for a Christian is a unique experience that is different from every other religion. We do not just pray to God out of duty, but rather a sense of intimacy. That as we pray to him, we draw closer to him. We grow to understand his heart for the world and the part we play in the grand narrative of creation.
The Prayer of Confession
One way James instructs us to pray is through confession. In verse 16, James says, “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.
To this point, every week, I have an accountability partner I call and talk to about how I am doing spiritually. If I am struggling with a particular temptation, he knows. If I have sinned against God this last week in my thoughts or actions, I tell him.
Together, we commit to praying for one another throughout the week. Doing this now for nearly ten years has been incredibly life-giving. These simple acts of confession and praying for each other have kept each of us on track during some difficult days.
Do you have someone like this in your life? Someone who will hold you accountable for times you have disobeyed God’s voice, and someone who will encourage you when seasons of life are harder than you can handle on your own. If you do, great. You’re the exception. If you don't, I challenge you to find someone.
