Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

October 25
Saturday


FIRST RESPONSE

READ:
James 5:13-16
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Be anxious for nothing,
but...let your requests
be made known to
God; and the peace
of God...will guard
your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus.
__Philippians 4:6-7
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When my husband, Tom, was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery, I began to call family members. My sister and her husband came right away to be with me, and we prayed as we waited. Tom's sister listened to my anxious voice on the phone and immediately said, "Cindy, can I pray with you?" When my pastor and his wife arrived, he too prayed for us (James 5:13-16).

Oswald Chambers wrote: "We tend to use prayer as a last resort, but God wants it to be our first line of defense. We pray when there's nothing else we can do but God wants us to pray before we do anything at all."

At its root, prayer is simple a conversation with God, spoken in the expectation that God hears and answers. Prayer should not be a last resort. In His Word, God encourages us to engage Him in prayer (Phil. 4:6). We also have His promise that when "two or three are gathered together" in His promise that when "two or three are gathered together" in His name, He will be "there in the midst of them" (Matt. 18:20).

For those who have experienced the power of the Almighty, our first inclination often will be to cry out to Him. Nineteenth-century pastor Andrew Murray said: "Prayer opens the way for God Himself to do His work in us and through us."
__Cindy Kasper

````````````````````````````````When I come before His presence``````````````````````````
`````````````````````````````````In the secret place of prayer,````````````````````````````
````````````````````````````````Do I know the wondrous greatness`````````````````````````
````````````````````````````Of His power to meet me there? __Hallen``````````````````````
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Pray first!

***************************Today's Bible Reading __ James 5:13-16*********************************

13 Is anyone among you
suffering? Let him pray. Is
anyone cheerful? Let him
sing psalms. 14 Is anyone
among you sick? Let him
call for the elders of the
church, and let them pray
over him, anointing him
with oil in the name of the
Lord. 15 and the prayer of
faith will save the sick, and
the Lord will raise him up.
And if he has committed
sins, he will be forgiven.

16 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.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

The book of James is often referred to as the Proverbs of the New
Testament. This is a n accurate description, for James is filled with
practical advice for daily life as a Christian. In today's passage,
James points out that prayer is the appropriate response to any
situation. If we suffer, we should pray. If we are happy, we should
pray. If we are sick, prayer is the response. James uses a device
called merism, which describes the whole by its parts. He highlights
the extremes of life__suffering, happiness, sickness__to say that
everything is between is included. Like Paul, James is telling us to
"pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17).


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