James 5:16Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (KJV)
The King James Version of the Bible is how I most remember this verse, so I’m posting it here in that translation. James, the book’s author, is addressing the need to confess and fervently pray for each other. How is your prayer life with God? I have always felt like a flunky when it comes to this subject. Ask me to voraciously read a chapter from the Bible, delve into various translations, and take notes on said chapter, and I’m right there with you! Ask me to pray with you for a solid hour, and I might be asleep, just as the disciples of Jesus were on the night of his arrest.
Growing up in church, I’d hear references to people who prayed often as being a good “prayer warrior”. If you needed an inside track to the Almighty, you’d want them on your side. As a warrior of prayer, I felt their prayers just might count for more than my own pathetic mumbling.
Fast forward decades, and I’m still struggling with prayer; however, in the interim I’ve discovered a few pearls of wisdom – thanks in part to some in our own congregation. First of all, I think God meets us “where we are” with prayer. Our prayers aren’t graded on a rubric scale made in heaven to judge each individual’s soul. Prayer is conversation with God, in all its forms. It can be fluid, like a conversation that starts and stops throughout the day.
An impactful lesson I’ve also learned about prayer is that it can be completely silent. Meditation is its own form of prayer, and God sometimes speaks best to us in our silence. Thank you, Henry Hopper, for this enlightenment!
May you embrace a prayerful journey this coming week! Sit in meditative silence, read a prayer or hymn, journal your prayer, or just converse with our Lord in conversation. The point is to connect with God (and yourself), in all its beautiful possibilities.
Blessings to all!
Diana
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