Pray One For Another
By Senior Pastor Prince
Guneratnam
“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” (James
James gives us some very
good advice and I want us to note it for our benefit. It is in the context of
my message based on James 5:13 – 15. You may find yourself in these three
categories of people:
·
For those in trouble
They
should pray.
·
For those who are happy
They
should sing song of praise
·
For those who are sick
They
should call the elders to pray and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.
Notice that verse 16 begins
with “Therefore”. Whenever there is a ‘therefore’, stop and find out what is
before and what is after it, so that the truth that is given is better
understood. What is before verse 16? “If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.”
That is the important truth. And what is after verse 16? “Confess…” This gives
the purpose and the reason for confession. Why do I need to confess? Because I
will be forgiven.
Three Persons You Can Sin Against
Do you know that there are
three persons you can sin against?
Firstly, you can sin against
GOD. Secondly, you can sin against you NEIGHBOUR. Thirdly, you can sin against YOURSELF.
How do you sin against God?
By breaking His laws. When I am disobedient to God or do something which my
sinful nature desires, I sin against Him. How do I sin against my neighbour? By
my words and actions. When I say things that are hurtful or bring any kind of
suffering to my neighbour, I wrong him. I also sin against my neighbour when I
steal from him, hit him or do him harm. Yes, I can wrong my neighbour by my
words and actions. And how can I sin against myself? When I abuse my body and
do not treat it well. God says my body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. I also
mistreat my body if I take drugs indiscriminately or don’t give it the kind of
rest my body needs. When I break the natural laws, and don’t sleep when I am
suppose to, for example, and eat all the wrong kinds of food, I am not taking
care of my body, and therefore I sin against myself.
Do you want your prayers to
be effective? Follow these three steps. First, confess to God and repent or
turn away from that which you know has brought displeasure to God. Second, seek
forgiveness from the neighbour whom you have wronged. Then admit to yourself if
you have not treated your body, mind and emotions well and begin to do what is
right to the glory of God in your body (1 Corinthians 6:20).
Confession and Prayer
Confession is not an option
if you want to pray and be healed physically, mentally, emotionally and
socially.
What does the Bible say
about confession and prayer?
1.
There must be agreement (Matthew
2.
A husband’s prayer can be hindered (1 Peter 3:7)
“Husbands, in the same way be considered as you live with your wives, and treat
them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious
gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.”
What
has respect for your wife got to do with prayer? A lot. If you do not have
respect for the way God has made her, you have disunity in your home, and when
you kneel to pray, “Oh, God, bless or change…” your wife may be praying on the
other side and praying the opposite of what you are praying for. So there is a
conflict in the request made to God and thus your prayers are hindered.
When
the Bible calls the woman the weaker partner, it does not mean she is inferior
to the man. It, however, refers to the way in which men and woman are made. Men
have been given the broad shoulders. God wanted man to be masculine and
muscular. On the other hand, God wanted the woman to be feminine and to be the
gentle one. We are living in a very confused world, which sometimes forgets who
is man and who is woman in the way they dress and style their hair. Men, don’t
be effeminate; behave like men. And ladies, don’t act like men; be feminine.
3.
“Leave your gift and be reconciled and then pray” (Matthew
We
are still considering this verse in the context of confession and praying. Do
you wonder why sometimes there is no breakthrough in your prayers? That there
in no victory in your life? The Bible teaches that the way by which healing,
deliverance and blessings come is by the way of reconciliation.
4.
“If you do not forgive, your Father will not forgive
your sins” (Matthew
That
is a very strong statement to make. You may have heard some people say, “I just
can’t forgive that person – not him (or her)”, etc. If you are like them, then
when you pray, God will say: “You can forgive, so I can’t forgive you either.”
Here, Jesus is telling us that in order to be forgiven, we must forgive others.
Do
you know that there is tremendous power in your prayer for another when you
have made things right in your heart and with God, with your neighbour and
yourself?
Power of Intercession
God has made us a glorious
powerful ministry – the ministry of praying for others. The church is calling
you to pray not only for yourself and your own needs but also for others and
their needs. Enlarge your prayer and include your neighbours, the work of Jesus
Christ in other parts of our city, country and other lands.
There was an incident in
Abraham’s life which illustrates the power of prayer of prayer on behalf of
others. Genesis 18:22-33 records this incident, where three men visited
Abraham. They were actually angels sent by God to reveal a secret to Abraham.
By them, God told Abraham that He is going to wipe out
You know the story, don’t
you? Abraham pleaded with God for the sake of 50, 45 and so on. Each time God
agreed to spare the city. But Abraham could not find even ten righteous men.
Finally, only
This incident illustrates to
me the power of intercession. Like Abraham, you could be the key of salvation
of some people you know. Pray. Be willing to stand before the Lord for them.
There is another incident to
me the Bible found in Mark 5:22 & 23. This was about Jairus who came to
Jesus, pleading earnestly for this daughter’s healing. Thank God for the men
like Jairus, who would stand in the gap and pray for others.
Put Legs To Your Prayer
Sometimes we need to put
legs in to our prayers and do what the four friends of the paralytic did (Mark
2:1 – 5, 11 & 12). These men brought their paralyzed friend to the house
where Jesus was, but the house was full. So the made an opening in the roof and
then lowered their friend through it. And listen to what Jesus said to the
paralytic man: “So, your sins are forgiven.”
Jesus was illustrating a
great truth: that you must get right first, then pray and you will be healed.
But when Jesus said those
words, there were some teachers of the law who thought, “Why does this fellow
talk like that? …Who can forgive sins but God alone?” And Jesus knew. So He
said to them, “Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are
forgiven,’ or say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk?’ ”
You see, if Jesus only said,
“Your sins are forgiven,” who can tell? Nobody. But if he said, “Take up your
bed and walk,” and if the man did accordingly, then everybody would know.
So Jesus continued, “But
that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…”
He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”
Immediately the paralytic
did just that, and that silenced His critics.
There is a way for you to
bring about those miracles into your life. The Bible says, “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.”
Issue No. 9, July –
September 1990