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REFLECTION

Prayer of faith is the theme for our reflection. Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, in the name of Christ, by the help of his Spirit; with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies.” (Westminster Shorter Catechism, question 98). Faith, on the other hand is “… the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1). Prayer of faith is the offering up of our desires unto God according to His will and with the assurance and conviction that He will graciously grant us our request. James writes about the importance and impact of the prayer of faith in the life of believers. We are going to reflect on the following questions. What is the impact of the prayer of faith and what is the hindrance to the impact of the prayer of faith? Who must pray the prayer of faith?

What is the impact of the prayer of faith? James tells us that “the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” (James 5:15). There are many examples of people who approached Jesus to be healed or believed Jesus will heal them when they call on His name. Truly, they had their healing because they called on the name of the Lord in faith. Jesus told them “…. your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” (Mark 5:34). Dear friend prayer and faith are inseparable. Prayer and faith in Jesus leads to restoration through the power of the Holy Spirit. We must however note that sin and unrepentance is the hindrance to the prayer of faith. It is for this reason James admonishes the recipients of His letter that “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed…” (James 5:16). Repentance is central to our restoration through prayer. Many of us seek God by attending Church regularly, visiting prayer camps, joining social media prayer groups to pray for a breakthrough or restoration yet we are not ready to repent or turn away from our sins and be faithful to our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place” (2 Chronicles 7:14-15)

Who then must pray the prayer of faith? We are told ” The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working…” (James 5:16b). In other words, a righteous person. How do we become righteous? For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) Dear friend, we become righteous people through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. In effect, a person who is saved through faith is a righteous person. The righteous person has been given the power to pray through faith for the Holy Spirit to will bring healing and restoration to the sick and the perishing. Let us remain righteous in Christ so that the Holy Spirit will continually use us as instruments of restoration in the lives of others. Shalom.

PRAYER

Holy Spirit, strengthen our faith and enable us to remain righteous so that our prayer of faith will always be impactful. Amen