MAKING OTHERS WHOLE

James 5:13-20
13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14 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. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he hassinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayerof a righteous man is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a manjust like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. 19 My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

Last week I visited a woman from our church who is a constant prisoner of pain. The doctors have done all they can, but barring a miracle from heaven she knows she will die soon. I ached for theright phrase or action to make her whole. I had none.

Deep inside each of us is a desire to be whole and to help others to be whole. James gave us practical insight on how this can happen. In chapter 5 he recommended this immediate response to brokenness in our world: continual prayer for wholeness. Like Paul in Ephesians 6:18, James encouraged believers to pray at all times and in all circumstances. "Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray" (5:13).

Trouble is any kind of suffering or affliction in the believer's life. Trouble can cause you to feel as if death has its hands around your throat; as if you're living in the depths of the pit; as if you're hanging on to the last fiber of the rope of life; as if you are living in the inner dungeon with your hands and feet clamped tight in stocks.

The answer to brokenness is continual prayer for deliverance and for endurance. God can provide supernatural and divine deliverance.Think of Moses, Daniel, Peter, Paul, and Silas.

Does God rescue when we pray for deliverance? I wish the story always ended that way for the follower of Jesus. But it doesn't. Sometimes suffering, trouble, and affliction are our constant companions. When God doesn't supernaturally intervene, He has promised us His grace to endure (2 Corinthians 12:7-9). I believe God allows us to be broken so that He can make us whole by His grace.

So I kneeled down beside my friend from church and prayed to God for supernatural intervention and deliverance. God is sovereign and I know He can deliver her.

But I also prayed to God for divine grace so that she can endure until she makes it Home--the ultimate place of wholeness (Revelation 21:3-4). --Marvin Williams

DESTINATION POINTS

* What is my first response to trouble? Why?
* How important hasprayer been to me lately?
* In what area of my life do I need topray for endurance instead of deliverance?

bottom line: Broken by trouble? Pray for wholeness.

soul journey