Category: Be Wise – Healed and Forgiven

James 5:16b-18 (NIV)
¹⁶ …pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. 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. 

“There is no greater joy than sensing that the God of healing and grace is working through you. Yet for James the work of God does not come uninvited. As God grants his Spirit to us, we must move toward him in faith. We must take action in the Spirit…He commands us to earnestly pray for healing. He assures us that God will answer prayer. He comforts us by letting us know that Elijah was just a human being like everyone else and God used him mightily. All of this means that God wants to use you too, just as you are, right now.” (William Simmons, The Holy Spirit in the New Testament: A Pentecostal Guide)

What a wonderful reality that God wants to use our prayers (yes, even ours!) to bring healing and salvation to another person. So may we pray earnestly in God’s love today for one another!

Prayer: Father, I pray earnestly today for __________. Pour out your blessing, and bring healing and wholeness in every area. Use our churches’ earnest prayers to powerful effect that we may walk in your healing and wholeness more and more.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s continue to call on the powerful name of Jesus to do beyond what we could ask or think as we sing “We Need A Miracle” by Charity Gayle (click here).

-KW

 

James 5:15-16 (NIV)
¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

“We are finite creatures who are continuously in need of spiritual healing and forgiveness. ‘If they have sinned’…assumes the possibility that sin lies behind the suffering and needs forgiveness. To be sure, that is often not the case, but still, forgiveness is always needed by normal human beings…The confession (vs. 16) is two-directional, as we open ourselves up both to God and to each other…We in God’s messianic community are responsible for the health of the whole and for each other.” (Grant Osbourne, James: Verse by Verse)

God’s heart is always to make us well and raise us up! Part of his provision for our healing and forgiveness is confession of our sins and prayer with one another in the church. As we love one another in these ways, we will experience even more the good and perfect gifts that come from him.

Prayer: Father, we confess that we are in much need of your healing for our bodies and forgiveness of our sins. Thank you for your church, that together in your presence, we can be honest with one another about our needs and about your power to make us well. Let healing and forgiveness flow in Agapé Churches as we confess our sins and pray for one another this week. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s continue to respond as we sing “Singing Over Us” by Worship Central (click here).

-KW

 

 

Let’s proclaim aloud the following passages with thanksgiving and in faith, knowing who we are today:

Isaiah 57:15a (NRSVUE), 18-19 (NIV)
¹⁵ For thus says the high and lofty one
    who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
¹⁸ “I have seen their ways, but I will heal them;
    I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners,
¹⁹     creating praise on their lips.
Peace, peace, to those far and near,”
    says the LORD. “And I will heal them.”

1 Peter 2:9-10  (NIV)
⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Psalm 23:5-6 (NIV)
⁵ You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
    forever.

Prayer: Father, we receive your overflowing anointing again today. We receive you calling us your chosen people, filled with mercy, healed and whole, to sing your praises and to live as your servants, bringing your kingdom and healing to others. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship as we sing “God, You’re So Good” by Passion (click here).

-KW

James 5:13-14 (NIV)
¹³ Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.

“For every situation in life, there is an appropriate way to live. There is something you and I should be leaning into perhaps a little bit more, that should characterize our lives more in certain seasons. Wisdom is understanding where we are in this particular season of life and knowing what kinds of things should characterize our lives in this particular season.

Are you in trouble? Lean into prayer even more.
Are you happy? Lean into singing praise to God even more.
Are you sick? Lean into the church and the prayer of the church even more.

Why does James need to say these things that seem like an ‘of course?’ He says this because we have tendencies to respond to life’s circumstances not in these ways and we need to be taught that these are wise ways to live.” (Adapted from P. Ed’s message)

Prayer: Father, thank you for instructing me in wise living in every season of my life. As I submit myself wholly to your Word today, take me deeper into wholeness in you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s proclaim the Lord’s salvation in both praise and prayer as we sing “The Lord Is My Salvation” by Keith and Kristyn Getty (click here).

-KW

James 1:17 (NIV)
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

“‘Every good and perfect gift’ is actually ‘all good giving [giving in general] and every [individual] perfect gift,’ meaning every single thing God gives is good and perfect for us…he gives only ‘good and perfect’ gifts, demonstrated especially in Luke 11:13, where he gives the greatest gift of all, the Holy Spirit, ‘to those who ask him.’…The source of all this is the One ‘from above’…The Lord of creation ‘does not change like shifting shadows.’…The point is that God does not change…His perfect gifts for us are always best for us, and we can rely on him.” (Grant Osbourne, James: Verse by Verse) 

Today, you can rely on your Father who gives you the Spirit and through him every good and perfect gift.

Prayer: Good and perfect Father, help me to trust you in a greater measure today. I open my hands to receive from your Spirit what is truly good and perfect for me today. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s receive God’s “better than life” gifts and respond in praise and surrender as we sing “Better Than Life” by Phil Wickham (click here).

-KW