I was looking at a very familiar scripture today. One we have used at the Healing Oasis (this is where the God Pleasers Ministry ministers to the sick in Columbus, Ohio) many times. James 5:14-15. I was meditating this and then Holy Spirit moved my eyes down to verse 16 and He highlighted " The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much". Why is it so important to know your identity of who you are in Christ? Because if you'll see yourself as God sees you through the blood of Jesus, you'll see yourself as a righteous man/woman for 2 Cor 5:21 says that you have been made righteous and God says if you'll believe He has made you a righteous man, then you'll pray like a righteous man, and God's promise to you is that your prayer will be powerful and effective. In other words, you will receive what you are declaring out of your mouth. Start acting like the man/woman God has made you to be. Jesus paid a huge price for that, what do you say that we give Him what He paid for. Say this, "I am a righteous man and my prayers are effective and powerful and I receive the things I pray for".......... now believe that with all your heart!!..............
Here is a different translation of James 5:14-16 from a translation you are not to familiar with, but it's a good one:
James 5:16
J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
14-16a If anyone is ill he should send for the Church elders. They should pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Lord’s name. Believing prayer will save the sick man; the Lord will restore him and any sins that he has committed will be forgiven. You should get into the habit of admitting your sins to each other, and praying for each other, so that if sickness comes to you, you may be healed.
16b-18 Tremendous power is made available through a good man’s earnest prayer. Do you remember Elijah? He was a man like us but he prayed earnestly that it should not rain. In fact, not a drop fell on the land for three and a half years. Then he prayed again, the heavens gave the rain and the earth sprouted with vegetation as usual............
and one more translation:
James 5:16
The Message (MSG)
16-18 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.....
That person living right with God is a righteous man/woman. That's you, washed in the blood of Jesus. Now it's time for you and me to act that way and get some of our prayers answered.
