Message Minute
Your Message Minute with Pastor Chris Byars
James 5:13–14
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Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
James 5:13–14, LSB
As the Church, our most powerful gift is prayer. It is an essential element for the Christian life. In our prayers, we meet with God and hold conversations about our needs, our wants, our hopes, our dreams, our sorrows, and our hurts. The words that come from our lips to our Father in Heaven are a part of that tapestry of life that our Lord has always sought from His people. Prior to the Fall, we know that God walked through the Garden with Adam and Eve, and they had a connection that we could not fully fathom. God desires that closeness and intimacy with us and that is why He created His Church; this was Jesus’ primary goal. As we understand this principle, we will see that the Church is not an institution, but a people united in faith and intended to be unified as our Lord’s people in prayer. The Church is every Christian who holds the Tabernacle in their hearts, seeks after the Lord’s face, and desires to have a heart that is one with God. Yet, we are faced with trials and are greeted with many obstacles. All these our Lord can overcome as we relinquish all that we are to Him and seek to fulfill His will setting aside those things that attempt to bring a wedge between us and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. For it is His will for us to shine out His light to the sick and the broken as we pray and pour out His anointing love and carry His peace.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.