James 5:17-20 (NIV)
17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. 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 and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back,
20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
This word really encourages me every time I read the letter by James. Isn`t it a wonderful consolation for us to know that God is capable to use us-mortals for His purposes and glory if only we are willing. Last week as I was praying and thinking about my marriage, I realized that if I committed to stick by my vows that I gave to my husband and started to really pray for him unceasingly interceding, God would perform the impossible.
I cannot tell you how many times I wanted to drop the ball and quit because I get so drained and exhausted with my circumstances, but I also know that it would defeat the whole purpose of what God placed in my life. He is teaching me the significance and a power of prayer. It is true that God doesn`t use something extraordinary because it would take away from His glory otherwise. He used ordinary people like David, Elijah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Daniel, etc. The count is endless, but it is their hearts that were willing to serve the Lord that made the difference, and their discipline to be obedient to His word.
I continue to remind myself of this scripture James 5:16 (NIV):
16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
I can accomplish much with my prayers so long as I stay righteous, and I can do that by claiming His grace every day and do my best to follow His word. There is nothing we can do by ourselves if we don`t claim the blood of Jesus to blot out our sins, and I pray every day to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit to show me whatever I do wrong. It took me awhile to commit to praying and to really start believing that it works.
For some reason it is so easy to get hooked on calling famous people, asking them to pray for you as if your own prayers woun`t work. I had to reject all that and really start to building my prayer life. Not that asking for prayers is unnecessary, on the contrary, the more people are interceding for you the better, but I am talking about the way we place our trust and in whom when we ask for prayers. I cannot even tell you the kind of peace I experience when I come to His presence and know that I have a right to be there, and that God is always there to listen to me and to uphold me when I`m weak.
Don`t doubt for a second that your prayers wouldn`t work because as long as you guard your heart and keep it in the right perspective with God, He will use you just like He`s been using Elijah. I know that all my prayers are directed right now on interceding for my husband and our family because I know that if I would continue to pray for him, God would use me to bring him back and soften his heart.
I always remind myself of this scripture that God told Ezekiel 22:30 (NIV):
30 “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.
I don`t ever want to hear God tell me that I wish I could find someone to stand before me in the gap for your husband, but I found no one. I am standing in that gap for my husband, for my family, for my marriage, so God would not destroy him. It takes a lot of sacrifice on my part, and it took me months to bring myself to this place of complete surrender and brokenness to realize that everything I have belongs to God, and as much as He gave me all these blessings, He can take them away. Once I stopped dwelling on the horizontal level, the task form the Vertical seemed more important and achievable.
I encourage you to be willing to stand in the "gap" for whatever circumstances you may have in your life, so that God could use you to bring someone back, and those sinners would rejoice, and our Lord God would bless you to no end because He is faithful to His word. Please continue to pray for my husband and for whoever you know who needs that nudge to come back to the Lord, and God will use you just like He used Elijah!
17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. 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 and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back,
20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
This word really encourages me every time I read the letter by James. Isn`t it a wonderful consolation for us to know that God is capable to use us-mortals for His purposes and glory if only we are willing. Last week as I was praying and thinking about my marriage, I realized that if I committed to stick by my vows that I gave to my husband and started to really pray for him unceasingly interceding, God would perform the impossible.
I cannot tell you how many times I wanted to drop the ball and quit because I get so drained and exhausted with my circumstances, but I also know that it would defeat the whole purpose of what God placed in my life. He is teaching me the significance and a power of prayer. It is true that God doesn`t use something extraordinary because it would take away from His glory otherwise. He used ordinary people like David, Elijah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Daniel, etc. The count is endless, but it is their hearts that were willing to serve the Lord that made the difference, and their discipline to be obedient to His word.
I continue to remind myself of this scripture James 5:16 (NIV):
16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
I can accomplish much with my prayers so long as I stay righteous, and I can do that by claiming His grace every day and do my best to follow His word. There is nothing we can do by ourselves if we don`t claim the blood of Jesus to blot out our sins, and I pray every day to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit to show me whatever I do wrong. It took me awhile to commit to praying and to really start believing that it works.
For some reason it is so easy to get hooked on calling famous people, asking them to pray for you as if your own prayers woun`t work. I had to reject all that and really start to building my prayer life. Not that asking for prayers is unnecessary, on the contrary, the more people are interceding for you the better, but I am talking about the way we place our trust and in whom when we ask for prayers. I cannot even tell you the kind of peace I experience when I come to His presence and know that I have a right to be there, and that God is always there to listen to me and to uphold me when I`m weak.
Don`t doubt for a second that your prayers wouldn`t work because as long as you guard your heart and keep it in the right perspective with God, He will use you just like He`s been using Elijah. I know that all my prayers are directed right now on interceding for my husband and our family because I know that if I would continue to pray for him, God would use me to bring him back and soften his heart.
I always remind myself of this scripture that God told Ezekiel 22:30 (NIV):
30 “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.
I don`t ever want to hear God tell me that I wish I could find someone to stand before me in the gap for your husband, but I found no one. I am standing in that gap for my husband, for my family, for my marriage, so God would not destroy him. It takes a lot of sacrifice on my part, and it took me months to bring myself to this place of complete surrender and brokenness to realize that everything I have belongs to God, and as much as He gave me all these blessings, He can take them away. Once I stopped dwelling on the horizontal level, the task form the Vertical seemed more important and achievable.
I encourage you to be willing to stand in the "gap" for whatever circumstances you may have in your life, so that God could use you to bring someone back, and those sinners would rejoice, and our Lord God would bless you to no end because He is faithful to His word. Please continue to pray for my husband and for whoever you know who needs that nudge to come back to the Lord, and God will use you just like He used Elijah!
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