Philippians 1:9 And this I pray, THAT your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; 10 THAT ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till (with a view toward being ready for) the Day of Christ. 11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
| Day 14—Prayers we gain from Philippians 1:9,10 can release powerful forces to set souls free. |
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When believers who know how to pray effectual prayers hold weak Christians before God’s Throne of Grace, powerful things begin taking place. First, we will see those who are holding on to carnal sins begin to ask for prayer.
This is where we see James 5:16 beginning to come into effect. Let’s look at it again. (Oh, we’ve seen it so many times! But, we can’t see it too often.) Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
James 5:16-18 (MSG)—Make 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.
Let’s go over it again. The word, confess is from a word that means “lay everything out in the open.” Now, it’s best if this can be done with one other person, or at least in a very small group.
Then, see the word pray. It’s the simplest word in the Greek New Testament for prayer. It doesn’t take a very eloquent person to pray for another person who wants to be free from a fault. The word translated fault means a slip-up, a stumbling off the path. What a time for the mercy of the Lord to become manifest when praying for someone who has fallen off the right path!
DEAR FATHER, let Your mercy move through me to reach these people. They’re sick, in spirit and in body, because of their fall. Let me become an agent for their healing. Let Your Spirit move through me to touch them and to restore them to the fellowship they lost.
On Becoming an Agent of Reconciliation
—II Corinthians 5:14-18
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