Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.     James 5:16 HCSB

I hear this phrase often, “Well, all we can do is pray.” I have even caught myself saying or thinking it in the past. I have learned to catch myself before I say it. If prayer is all you have, then you have all you need.

We know that nothing is impossible for God. This is what the angel told Mary when she wondered how a virgin could give birth.

When we pray we are praying to God the Father through His Son, Jesus Christ. We are praying in Jesus’ name. We are calling on a sovereign God. We are calling on the one true God that created the universe and human beings. We are calling on the God that parted the Red Sea (Exodus 14).

We are calling to the God that brought down the walls of Jericho (Joshua 6). This is the same God that caused the sun to stand still (Joshua 10). This is the God that allowed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to emerge from a fiery furnace without even smelling of soot (Daniel 3). This is the God that shut the mouths of the lions in Daniel chapter 6.

This is the God who gave us His only Son, born of a virgin to save us from our sin and die as a sacrifice for us. This is the same God who rose on the 3rd day and ascended into heaven. This is the God the winds and waves obey (Mark 4).

My friend saying, “All we can do is pray” is like saying I need to buy this piece of bubble gum but I only have a million dollars. We must never underestimate the power of prayer. We are praying to an all-powerful God.

The problem with prayer is usually the prayer and by prayer I mean the person praying. Often times, we pray to God to help out with something, he does and then we decide we can go it alone from there. This is a huge mistake on our part. We need God every hour of every day. Proverbs 3:5 tells us to acknowledge God in all we do.

James begins by saying confess your trespasses. Your sin creates a barrier between you and God (Isaiah 59:2). So begin by confessing your sin and repenting. We know that God will forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Then James tells us to pray for one another. If you truly love the Lord with all your heart, you will naturally love your neighbor as you love yourself (Matthew 22:37-39). If you love others, you will pray for them.

James speaks of an effective prayer meaning one that produces the desired results. He speaks of fervent prayer which is having or displaying passion or intensity. Some of us get more passionate about the food we eat than we do our prayers to the one true God.

James tells us that effective, fervent prayers of a righteous person accomplishes much. We cannot obtain righteousness or right standing with God on our own, we need His help for that. It is not something that is done by only running to Him in times of trouble.

John 15:7 says if we abide in Him and His words abide in us, we can ask anything and it will be done for us. Our first line of defense in any situation should be prayer. If we are in close relationship with the Lord and love Him with all our heart, soul and mind, our will aligns with His will. We pray for His will to be done.

My friend if all you can do is pray, you can do all you need to do. Don’t be anxious about anything, pray about everything with thanksgiving for all things and let your requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6).

As I mentioned before, I try never to say, “Well, all we can do is pray.” I have tried to change that to, “I am praying for you is there anything else I can do for you?” Sometimes those we pray for have physical needs that we can help with.

Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:12). Keep an open line of communication with Him at all times regarding all situations in your life. Do your best to maintain righteousness, trust in Him and watch Him work.

Have a great day!