WHCNorth Mobile App

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Does Prayer Work?

James 5 : 14 – 16, Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. NKJV
Recently, I was praying to the Lord on behalf of the requests that we have received, and a question crossed my mind about prayer. Does the person we’re praying for have to be present when we’re praying for them, or do they need to hear that we have prayed for them before they are able to receive their answer from God? The answer that I heard in my spirit was a resounding, NO!
As quickly as the question entered my mind, the Holy Spirit brought scriptures to my remembrance that increased my faith concerning prayer. Many times Jesus instructs us to be secretive about the things that we do for the Lord so that He can reward us openly. The Lord commands us to pray, to give, and to fast in secret. You see; it’s not about others knowing what we have done on their behalf, but rather it’s about God hearing our faith and seeing our obedience to His instructions (Matthew 6).
The Holy Spirit reminded me that Jesus has prayed for a person to be healed who was not present with him. In Matthew 8, we read about a Centurion leader who had a servant who was gravely ill. This soldier sent servants to Jesus, who told Him that the Centurion wasn’t worthy for the Lord to come to his house; therefore, he asked that Jesus only speak the Word. The servant who was ill wasn’t anywhere near Jesus. Nevertheless, when the leader’s servants returned to the house, they discovered that the sick man was healed.
The only One who needs to hear our prayers is the Lord because He is the only One who has the power to answer them. As for the recipients of the prayers…they may never hear yours’ or my prayers for them; however, people have often told me they could “feel the prayers” that had gone up to the Lord on their behalf. Isn’t it something how the Lord will allow people who are in need to “feel” or sense that others are praying for them? That’s our GOD!
Do you have a prayer request that you would like for us to agree with you about? Please take a moment and send us a brief description of your need, and we will take it to the God who hears and answers. Contact us at prayer@whcnorth.org
Praying in Secret for You,
Pastor Asa Dockery

No comments:

Post a Comment