Prayer - Part 2

by Alyce.

When to pray, and the power of prayer

James 5:13-18 (The Message)

¹⁵Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you’ve sinned, you’ll be forgiven—healed inside and out.  ^16-18Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.

You started last week talking with God thru prayer – now we need to join w/ others to pray.

Matthew 18:19-20

¹⁹ “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

We need to join forces when we pray.  Sharing requests helps to have 2 or more work together to get prayers answered.

• How – you have sharing at church or with friends.
• Prayer circles  where people get together to share and pray together for issues
• The national day of prayer – held annually here in the US
• Prayer chains – organized to make sure prayer requests are made known by all wishing to support others in prayer.
• Even the internet has sites that you can share requests and be prayed for.

Sharing is something we need to do in life.  Burdens aren’t meant to be carried by ourselves individually, but with help – God, friends, family, and our church.

Books referred to: 1) Paths to Prayer by Patricia D. Brown 2) Book of Common Prayer.

Share this week with someone – a prayer request.  Ask someone to share a prayer request with you.

Contact Gentle Spirit Christian church for prayers at Prayer@Gentlespirit.org

I hope you will join me again next week.

– Vicar Alyce

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