We made it to another Saturday, and we are half way through January already. Someone said this week that January just feels like one long Monday and I can relate. Things didn't go as planned for me this week in a lot of areas, but they went okay and we are all alive and well so we will take it.
I thought we would finish up James today but decided to break it off one more time, so we have got 5 verses today and 2 next week and we will have it done. So, lets dig in.
James 5:13-18
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.
Verses 13-15
Highlight= Let them pray, let them sing and let the call the elders to pray. Explain= Let them TALK TO GOD. I think this is pretty plan, that communication is priceless. When you are in trouble, when you are happy, when you are sick and everything in between. Tell it to Jesus. Lets face it, a relationship without communication isn't much, no matter who that relationship is with. God gave us prayer as a way to talk to Him, and He gave us His Word so He can talk to us. If you are truly trying to follow God's will, you have to have a prayer life and a Bible life. Apply= Truly these verses are telling you, God wants to hear from you. Yes, he already knows what you need, but He wants to hear you say it to Him. He wants that relationship with you. I will tell you, from personal experience, the more you pray, the better you become at hearing His voice, not only in the Bible but as you pray. Sometimes, He makes everything clear to you while you are praying. I find this a lot on my drives to the gym if I am wrestling with something. I will be saying, "I don't know what to do" and suddenly, out of the blue, the solution hits me like a ton of bricks and I realize, God just handed me the solution. With a solid prayer life, comes that relationship where you can feel His presence and basically hear His voice. Respond= Lord, thank you so much for giving us the means to communicate constantly with you. Thank you for letting us have direct line to you by sending your son to die for our sins and bridging that gap between us.
Verses 16
Highlight = The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Explain= I have a story to tell you. Robert graduated from High School in May of 2011, Because of the activities he was in, he never had a regular job while he was in school, he cleaned grain bins and did odd jobs for farmers but never an every evening after school thing. He was getting ready to start college in the fall and his plans were to get a job and get a new car, in that order. Meanwhile, my mom was needing a new lawn mower. She had asked me to start looking on Craigslist and she didn't want to spend over $500. Robert graduated on a Sunday. On Monday, he called me and said he had found a car he was in love with in Indianapolis. I very bluntly said, "get a job". Around the same time, I had found a mower on craigslist, here in Newton. It was listed at $600 but it looked like a really good deal. While all of this was going on, Mom and Robert got together and they physically prayed for Robert to get a job and Mom to get a mower. Robert had a job by that afternoon and 2 days later we drove to Indy and got the car. When I called about the mower, the person selling it just on the spur of the moment said, "I have it listed for $600, but I would take $500." Talk about a direct line to God! They were there. Apply= I think many of us are good about praying for others and not so good about praying for ourselves. People think, "God doesn't have time for my little things, I will take care of them myself". God has time for everything in your life, and wants you to lean on Him. Have you ever lost something and looked and looked for it, and within moments of finally breaking down and praying about it, you find it? I have finally, after years of trying to get it through my head, started asking before I start. I figure it saves me a lot of time and it reminds me, God is in the small stuff as well as the big stuff. Respond= Dear Lord, thank you for listening to me, for guiding me and for helping me through life daily. Thank You for responding to prayer, it may not always be the answer I want, but I know it is the answer that is You will.
Verses 17-18
Highlight = Elijah was a human being. Explain= Elijah was one of us. At the end of Verse 16, we see "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective". Elijah was definitely a righteous person. And the point is, the more we lean on Jesus for every little thing in our lives, the more righteous we become. The more righteous we become, the more we are able to discern God's will, which means the more likely the things we are praying for is in His will. Apply= I have had some things going on in my work life this week that I was truly struggling with. I thought I knew what I wanted, but I was stressing because I seemed to have other people telling me I was crazy. I had prayed a lot about it, but was still not sure what I was supposed to be doing. Robert kept saying, we will pray that God's will be done. So, at the 11th hour, some things happened that made my answer clear and it wasn't really the answer I wanted, but it was the one I needed. So after adjusting to that, I went and talked to my boss and came up with a solution that I like and is doable. I slept better that night than I had in weeks. Respond= Lord, help us always remember above all, Your will is the right way. No matter how much we try to get things to "fit", I pray you always show us when we are straying and not paying enough attention. We all know you try to gently guide us back but that you do it with a rod if we are truly not listening. Thank You for all You do in our lives.
That is it for this week, I am still trying to figure out what my Saturday looks like. I had it all planned out and then things changed, God has a habit of doing that.
Have a great week!
~Mindy
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