This Day in History: 0000-03-18

March 18 – James 5:13-16 

Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayers of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. 

Are you trying to go it alone?  Are you dealing with difficulties in your life without the support of fellow believers to help you through it?  That is not what God intends for precious children.  He wants His church to act as a body, working together in perfect unity.  At any given time some of us will be suffering hardships and some of us will be happy. Some of us will be sick, some of us will be in rebellion, and some of us will be right in sink with God’s will.  No matter where we are today, we need each other. There is great power in the body of Christ!  Let’s renew our efforts to find other believers who are committed to God and to His Word.  Let’s join together and support one another! 

Let’s find the ones in the body who are suffering hardships, and let’s pray. Let’s cry out together to the Lord our Comforter.  Let’s find the ones who are happy and let’s sing praises to our great God together.  Let’s find the ones who are sick and pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord, the Great Physician.  Let’s put our faith in Him alone as the One who heals.

Most importantly, let’s be ready to hold each other accountable.  Let’s all have the humility to confess our sins to one another and the gentleness to hear the confessions of others.  We all need healing in one form or another.  God is the only One who can break the chains that bind us to our sins, and He often uses the prayers of His people as the tool to cut us lose.  There is so much power in the prayers of believers.  Especially when those prayers are offered up in earnest love for a brother or sister in Christ!  Let’s harness that power today and join together across the globe as one family under God, united in love and in prayer, and let’s watch as He produces wonderful results!