Bible League: Living His Word The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.Some might think that our verse for today implies that in order to get good things from God we must search for a righteous person and convince him or her to pray for us. From this point of view, the only prayers that have great power and produce wonderful results are the prayers of someone who lives as close as possible to sinless perfection. From this point of view, people who still sin need a "holy man" or a "holy woman" to pray for us if we want good results. After all, isn't that why James referenced the prophet Elijah as an example of a righteous person in the verses that immediately follow our verse for today? This interpretation, however, rests upon a misunderstanding of what it means to be righteous from the biblical point of view. From the Bible's perspective, it is not the self-righteous who are righteous in God's eyes. Indeed, the Bible teaches that no one is righteous in that way (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:10), not even Elijah. Instead, the righteous are those who have been made righteous by the blood of the Lamb. Anyone who believes in Jesus Christ has been "made right with God through Christ" (II Corinthians 5:21). Given the righteousness that we have in Christ Jesus, anyone in Christ may come before God in prayer with a clear conscience and without fear of condemnation. In point of fact, anyone in Christ may come before God with the expectation of good results. Hebrews 4:16 says "So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most." We don't have to grovel before God or get someone better than us to get what we need. Every Christian may come before Him with great confidence. James referenced Elijah not as a holy man who was more righteous than anyone else, but as a mere man who was as "human as we are" (James 5:17). Elijah is not an example of holy self-righteousness, but an example of the righteousness that comes from God. It was for this reason that his prayer that it would not rain was powerful and effective. Although it's always good to gather in prayer with others (Matthew 18:20), you don't have to find an Elijah to pray for you, or hold off on your prayers until you reach Elijah's level. Your prayers can be powerful and effective today. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingPsalm 120-123 Psalm 120 -- In my distress, I cried to the Lord. He answered me. NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 121 -- I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 122 -- I was glad when they said to me, "Let's go to the Lord's house!" NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 123 -- To you I do lift up my eyes, you who sit in the heavens. NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading 1 Corinthians 6 1 Corinthians 6 -- Lawsuits between Believers; Honor God with Your Body NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.Insight To love others was not a new commandment, but to love others as much as Christ loved others was revolutionary. Challenge Now we are to love others based on Jesus' sacrificial love for us. Such love will not only bring unbelievers to Christ; it will also keep believers strong and united in a world hostile to God. Jesus was a living example of God's love, as we are to be living examples of Jesus' love. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Exodus 22:6 If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.But what restitution can he make who casts abroad the fire-brands of error, or the coals of lasciviousness, and sets men's souls on a blaze with the fire of hell? The guilt is beyond estimate, and the result is irretrievable. If such an offender be forgiven, what grief it will cause him in the retrospect, since he cannot undo the mischief which he has done! An ill example may kindle a flame which years of amended character cannot quench. To burn the food of man is bad enough, but how much worse to destroy the soul! It may be useful to us to reflect how far we may have been guilty in the past, and to enquire whether, even in the present, there may not be evil in us which has a tendency to bring damage to the souls of our relatives, friends, or neighbours. The fire of strife is a terrible evil when it breaks out in a Christian church. Where converts were multiplied, and God was glorified, jealousy and envy do the devil's work most effectually. Where the golden grain was being housed, to reward the toil of the great Boaz, the fire of enmity comes in and leaves little else but smoke and a heap of blackness. Woe unto those by whom offences come. May they never come through us, for although we cannot make restitution, we shall certainly be the chief sufferers if we are the chief offenders. Those who feed the fire deserve just censure, but he who first kindles it is most to blame. Discord usually takes first hold upon the thorns; it is nurtured among the hypocrites and base professors in the church, and away it goes among the righteous, blown by the winds of hell, and no one knows where it may end. O thou Lord and giver of peace, make us peacemakers, and never let us aid and abet the men of strife, or even unintentionally cause the least division among thy people. Daily Light on the Daily Path John 9:4 "We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.Proverbs 13:4 The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, But the soul of the diligent is made fat. Proverbs 11:25 The generous man will be prosperous, And he who waters will himself be watered. John 4:34-36 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. • "Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest '? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. • "Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest '? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. Matthew 20:1,2 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. • "When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 2 Timothy 4:2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. Luke 19:13 "And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten minas and said to them, 'Do business with this until I come back.' 1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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