davesg
01-31-2007, 06:26 AM
I appears that ther hasn't been anything new here for a while. I hope that this ministers to you.
:pray:
James 5:15,16
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 16 Confess 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.
I have always wondered how to improve my prayer life. It seems to be the hardest discipline to master. One day in study the Lord led me to the book of James. As I read this epistle, I started thinking about the author. Here was a man that probably knew Jesus better than any body else on Earth. He was raise in the same household as Jesus, he ate, slept, worked, played, studied, and worshipped with him for most of the first 30 years of Jesus’ life. I imagine that they were as close as brothers could be. Their relationship had become strained when Jesus left all to start His ministry. James would not accept Jesus as the Messiah. History tells us that it wasn’t until after the resurrection that he believed. He then became the Pastor of the Church in Jerusalem. As he ministered he had to draw from his experiences with Christ. He wasn’t with Him during the three years of His ministry, so his epistle focuses on more of what Jesus did for thirty years, than what He said during those three years. He must also have applied this attitude to his time in prayer.
I believe that he must have relied on his relationship with Jesus to pull him through. After all isn’t that we are all suppose to do. But what kind of relationship did he have that allowed this man, known to the early church as the “man with camel knees†(due to the amount of time spent on them in prayer) to be effectual in his prayers. I believe that I have found at least part of the answer to this question.
RELATIONSHIP #1 “BROTHERSâ€
James grew up as the brother of Jesus. So when he prayed, he was able to talk to Jesus in the same manner that he had in that relationship. He could talk of the things that they had done together, the memories shared, the dreams for the future, their needs, and desires. The same type of things I talk to my brother about. James would also probably have, at times, asked for help from his brother. During this part of his prayer there would be fellowship, love, compassion, and a sharing of needs.
RELATIONSHIP #2 “JOINT HEIRSâ€
At some time during their lives, their Father, Joseph seems to have passed away. In a typical Jewish household, the children would inherit the family business. They would share in the blessings and responsibilities of taking care of the family business, in this case, the carpenter’s shop. There would be furniture to make houses to build buildings and household items to repair. There would be trees to cut down, trim, plane, shape, and dry. They would also have to replant so that there would be a future harvest to work with. There would also be the responsibility of taking care of the tools. Keeping them sharp, clean and in good condition for the next job. They would have to purchase food and supplies, give estimates and sell the products that they had made. There always seemed to be more work than blessings. As James prayed, he must have thought of this part of their relationship, and applied it to his prayers. There were blessings of course, but there was a lot of work that needed to be done. A whole world that needed to be saved, hungry mouths to feed, naked people to clothe, people sick and in prison that needed to be visited. What were the priorities for today? James must have spent hours talking to his brother on taking care of the business at hand. After all, they had to share in the responsibilities to reap the rewards
RELATIONSHIP #3 “SUBMISSION TO AUTHORITYâ€
After Joseph’s death, when the inheritance was divided, The eldest son received a double portion of the inheritance. This gave him controlling interest in the business and put him in place as the new “patriarch“ of the family. How hard that must to have been for James to now submit to his brother. After all those years of being an equal, now he must listen, obey, serve, and respect Jesus as the head of the household and the business. But he had to learned to do that for the good of the family. And now during his time of prayer, he knew that even more than before, he must now submit for the Glory of God. He knew that to be in the will of the Father, he must learn to put the needs of the church before his own wants and desires. He must obey even if it meant death instead of life. There is no turning back from this point forward. He must deny himself, and take up his cross if he had any chance to defeat the enemy and win the battle at hand.
As I put the different aspects of James relationship into perspective, I realized that Jesus wants us to have those same attitudes towards Him in our prayer life.
Matthew 12:48-50
48 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? 49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! 50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
Romans 8:16,17
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
James 4:7
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Our prayers can become effectual if we like James truly enter into relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
:pray:
James 5:15,16
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 16 Confess 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.
I have always wondered how to improve my prayer life. It seems to be the hardest discipline to master. One day in study the Lord led me to the book of James. As I read this epistle, I started thinking about the author. Here was a man that probably knew Jesus better than any body else on Earth. He was raise in the same household as Jesus, he ate, slept, worked, played, studied, and worshipped with him for most of the first 30 years of Jesus’ life. I imagine that they were as close as brothers could be. Their relationship had become strained when Jesus left all to start His ministry. James would not accept Jesus as the Messiah. History tells us that it wasn’t until after the resurrection that he believed. He then became the Pastor of the Church in Jerusalem. As he ministered he had to draw from his experiences with Christ. He wasn’t with Him during the three years of His ministry, so his epistle focuses on more of what Jesus did for thirty years, than what He said during those three years. He must also have applied this attitude to his time in prayer.
I believe that he must have relied on his relationship with Jesus to pull him through. After all isn’t that we are all suppose to do. But what kind of relationship did he have that allowed this man, known to the early church as the “man with camel knees†(due to the amount of time spent on them in prayer) to be effectual in his prayers. I believe that I have found at least part of the answer to this question.
RELATIONSHIP #1 “BROTHERSâ€
James grew up as the brother of Jesus. So when he prayed, he was able to talk to Jesus in the same manner that he had in that relationship. He could talk of the things that they had done together, the memories shared, the dreams for the future, their needs, and desires. The same type of things I talk to my brother about. James would also probably have, at times, asked for help from his brother. During this part of his prayer there would be fellowship, love, compassion, and a sharing of needs.
RELATIONSHIP #2 “JOINT HEIRSâ€
At some time during their lives, their Father, Joseph seems to have passed away. In a typical Jewish household, the children would inherit the family business. They would share in the blessings and responsibilities of taking care of the family business, in this case, the carpenter’s shop. There would be furniture to make houses to build buildings and household items to repair. There would be trees to cut down, trim, plane, shape, and dry. They would also have to replant so that there would be a future harvest to work with. There would also be the responsibility of taking care of the tools. Keeping them sharp, clean and in good condition for the next job. They would have to purchase food and supplies, give estimates and sell the products that they had made. There always seemed to be more work than blessings. As James prayed, he must have thought of this part of their relationship, and applied it to his prayers. There were blessings of course, but there was a lot of work that needed to be done. A whole world that needed to be saved, hungry mouths to feed, naked people to clothe, people sick and in prison that needed to be visited. What were the priorities for today? James must have spent hours talking to his brother on taking care of the business at hand. After all, they had to share in the responsibilities to reap the rewards
RELATIONSHIP #3 “SUBMISSION TO AUTHORITYâ€
After Joseph’s death, when the inheritance was divided, The eldest son received a double portion of the inheritance. This gave him controlling interest in the business and put him in place as the new “patriarch“ of the family. How hard that must to have been for James to now submit to his brother. After all those years of being an equal, now he must listen, obey, serve, and respect Jesus as the head of the household and the business. But he had to learned to do that for the good of the family. And now during his time of prayer, he knew that even more than before, he must now submit for the Glory of God. He knew that to be in the will of the Father, he must learn to put the needs of the church before his own wants and desires. He must obey even if it meant death instead of life. There is no turning back from this point forward. He must deny himself, and take up his cross if he had any chance to defeat the enemy and win the battle at hand.
As I put the different aspects of James relationship into perspective, I realized that Jesus wants us to have those same attitudes towards Him in our prayer life.
Matthew 12:48-50
48 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? 49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! 50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
Romans 8:16,17
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
James 4:7
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Our prayers can become effectual if we like James truly enter into relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.