Easy As Breathing

Easy as Breathing

Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. . . . Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you. . . . Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. . . . Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. James 5:13-16

Do we actually believe that we can be effective in prayer? Prayer not only impacts us, it has an impact on those for whom we are praying. I don’t pretend to know how God makes it all work, but somehow there are tangible benefits when we pray in accordance with God’s will.

Can we truly expect to have the miraculous results that the biblical heroes had when they prayed? Or are those days past?

I can’t speak for anyone else, but personally, I have experienced that, as I’m sure many of you have as well. Duke University’s divinity and medical schools even did a joint study a few years ago to assess how a patient’s health—in conjunction with medical treatment and with continued treatment—was affected for a patient who believed in God and prayed and was prayed for, as opposed to a patient who didn’t claim to have faith in God or a consistent prayer life. Sure enough, the patients who prayed or were prayed for had better outcomes.

Prayer is one discipline you should never get tired of. Read some of the miraculous answers to prayer that God gave in the Old Testament, to ardent praying men like Daniel and Elijah and others.

And there are countless stories of men and women where God’s answers to their prayers could not be explained in worldly terms because they were so unbelievable. When evangelist George Müller was asked how much time he spent in prayer, he was said to have replied, “Hours every day. But I live in the spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk and when I lie down and when I arise. And the answers are always coming.”

Do you live in a spirit of prayer? It’s as easy as breathing. Breathe a prayer often today.

Uncommon Key > There is one means of communication that has never changed between God and human beings from Old Testament times to now—prayer. What do you need to pray about right now? Commit that you will spend more time praying.