A while back I emailed a friend to see how she was doing. Unfortunately, the email I received back was heartbreaking. She has experienced a loss recently. The first line of her email to me read,
"I have actually thought a lot about you lately, because you are definitely a great person to go to for prayers."
Wow. Really? Me? Surely not. Still, she's not the first person to say something of this nature to me. In fact, about a year ago another friend called me asking me to pray for someone we mutually knew because that person was experiencing the loss of her unborn baby. Again, my friend said,
"Will you pray for her because I know you are tight with the Big Guy."
I know that it's not a secret that I love me some Jesus. But, both of these comments got me to thinking about prayer and whether or not my prayers are more or less effective than anyone else's prayers.
Here's a secret for you. I don't think they are. But still, I've been wondering...how powerful are my prayers? Are certain people more effective prayer warriors? Do certain people get more prayers answered than others.
The truth is, I didn't know. So, I went to the authority on all things prayer. God's word.
James 5:16 says this about prayer, "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."
Humm...so being righteous = powerful and effective prayers. Got it.
That pretty much counts me out then. Because, and I'm gonna admit something here people, based on my own actions, I'm FAR from righteous. If righteousness were the east then...
Hello, my name is West. Nicetomeetyou.
But wait, the first line of that verse says, "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other..."
It doesn't say, "Confess your sins ONLY to righteous people" now does it? No, it says confess your sins to each other so you may be healed.
Psalm 34 also addresses prayer and righteousness. Verse 15 specifically says that "the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry."
Humm...sounds like I need a sack full of righteousness in order for my prayers to be heard OR effective, doesn't it? "So," you might ask, "how can I become righteous or is that even possible?"
Well, let me introduce you to my little friend called Romans Chapter 3. (I have linked Romans 3 using The Message version, but my favorite version is the English Standard Version. For some reason though, on Bible Gateway, the ESV has a lot of references and I find it annoying to read around them. You can certainly change it by choosing English Standard or New Living or whatever tickles your fancy, if you don't enjoy The Message.)
Romans Chapter 3 pretty much outlines the righteousness of God. You see, according to God's perfect character He MUST be righteous. Because of His perfection, He cannot allow Himself in the presence of sin.
I represent sin. Therefore, me = unrighteousness = cannot go before God. Prayer = going before God.
Yesterday, when I got ticked at Luke for drinking his milk too loud....yep, me = unrighteous. And last week when I was utterly livid that my dear, charming, wonderful husband forgot to take out our bathroom trash....me = unrighteous.
(I could go on, but I think you're getting the picture. Apparently my sin and my hormones are playing some seriously hilarious tricks on me.)
(Too bad my sense of humor hasn't caught up.)
(I'm just sayin'. That milk drinking was L.O.U.D. You shoulda been here.)
So if I'm so stinkin' unrighteous how in the heck am I suppose to pray and ever expect those prayers to be heard, much less answered?
Insert, JESUS. (Please don't tune me out because I dropped the J*bomb. Hear me out, mmmkay?) I love that in The Message version, verses 21-31 are subtitled as
God has set things right
Oh yes-sir-ee, He sure has. You see Jesus is the righteousness that I can never possess. In the Old Testament (also known as the Torah for the Jews - which is who Paul is referencing when he says "us." Paul was Jewish. When he says, "them" he is talking about Gentiles. Gentiles are non-Jewish people. Thatwouldbeme.) the Jewish people were required to live out the letter of the law(s) to be considered righteous. They are considered God's chosen people and often, Jewish people believed that they were more righteous than Gentiles because of their chosen status.
Whew. Still there? Good.
If we recognize the laws as our ticket to righteousness then we would constantly be seeing where we are falling short.
But Jesus, He made us ALL righteous. You see, Jesus was blameless. He never got ticked at His Mom for drinking her milk too loud or because His brother forgot to take the trash out. Jesus never uttered ugly words under His holy breath or disobeyed His parents or even told a tiny, little white lie.
Never. Let me tell you how hard it is for me to grasp that concept. VERY HARD.
(Often, I think about what it must have been like to be Jesus' Mom and have a blameless son. Then my head explodes and I remember that I have 5 kids, all of which take after their mother and are SIN-NERS.)
Still, even though He was blameless He took the blame, all of it. He took the blame for my anger at my husband, my short-temper with my kids, my impatience with the car in front of me who's been sitting at a green light for a sweet forever. Jesushelpmenow.
All of it. Gone in God's eyes. As long as I believe (and follow) Jesus. So, lemme break this down for you real quick-like.
Me + sin = unrighteous
BUT....
Me + sin + JESUS = righteous
It's simple math really.
I could go on and on and on about prayer and how I think that God uses our prayers to mold us rather than to put in our requests to Him, but that's a whole 'nother post. For now, I hope that if I've shed any light on a topic that was (for me) hard to understand that you'll pray earnestly and without hesitation to the God of all things.
And pray knowing, that if you have Jesus covering your righteousness, your prayers will be heard as if you are a righteous man who prays with power and effectiveness. And you know what, if you ask me to pray for or with you, I will. Because my prayers are powerful and effective as well. Can you just imagine what God does when one righteous person prays, much less two? Holy Dinah.
It kinda makes me think of my favorite Disney movie of all time, Aladdin. At the end, the Genie turns Jafar into an all-powerful Genie promising him "PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWER!" with an "itty, bitty living space."
I think prayer is the same way. Sometimes you've just got to release this phenomenal power within your soul and realize that the key to that door resides in the tiniest of living spaces, your heart.
But, don't take my word for it, go read it for yourself.
"I have actually thought a lot about you lately, because you are definitely a great person to go to for prayers."
Wow. Really? Me? Surely not. Still, she's not the first person to say something of this nature to me. In fact, about a year ago another friend called me asking me to pray for someone we mutually knew because that person was experiencing the loss of her unborn baby. Again, my friend said,
"Will you pray for her because I know you are tight with the Big Guy."
I know that it's not a secret that I love me some Jesus. But, both of these comments got me to thinking about prayer and whether or not my prayers are more or less effective than anyone else's prayers.
Here's a secret for you. I don't think they are. But still, I've been wondering...how powerful are my prayers? Are certain people more effective prayer warriors? Do certain people get more prayers answered than others.
The truth is, I didn't know. So, I went to the authority on all things prayer. God's word.
James 5:16 says this about prayer, "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."
Humm...so being righteous = powerful and effective prayers. Got it.
That pretty much counts me out then. Because, and I'm gonna admit something here people, based on my own actions, I'm FAR from righteous. If righteousness were the east then...
Hello, my name is West. Nicetomeetyou.
But wait, the first line of that verse says, "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other..."
It doesn't say, "Confess your sins ONLY to righteous people" now does it? No, it says confess your sins to each other so you may be healed.
Psalm 34 also addresses prayer and righteousness. Verse 15 specifically says that "the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry."
Humm...sounds like I need a sack full of righteousness in order for my prayers to be heard OR effective, doesn't it? "So," you might ask, "how can I become righteous or is that even possible?"
Well, let me introduce you to my little friend called Romans Chapter 3. (I have linked Romans 3 using The Message version, but my favorite version is the English Standard Version. For some reason though, on Bible Gateway, the ESV has a lot of references and I find it annoying to read around them. You can certainly change it by choosing English Standard or New Living or whatever tickles your fancy, if you don't enjoy The Message.)
Romans Chapter 3 pretty much outlines the righteousness of God. You see, according to God's perfect character He MUST be righteous. Because of His perfection, He cannot allow Himself in the presence of sin.
I represent sin. Therefore, me = unrighteousness = cannot go before God. Prayer = going before God.
Yesterday, when I got ticked at Luke for drinking his milk too loud....yep, me = unrighteous. And last week when I was utterly livid that my dear, charming, wonderful husband forgot to take out our bathroom trash....me = unrighteous.
(I could go on, but I think you're getting the picture. Apparently my sin and my hormones are playing some seriously hilarious tricks on me.)
(Too bad my sense of humor hasn't caught up.)
(I'm just sayin'. That milk drinking was L.O.U.D. You shoulda been here.)
So if I'm so stinkin' unrighteous how in the heck am I suppose to pray and ever expect those prayers to be heard, much less answered?
Insert, JESUS. (Please don't tune me out because I dropped the J*bomb. Hear me out, mmmkay?) I love that in The Message version, verses 21-31 are subtitled as
God has set things right
Oh yes-sir-ee, He sure has. You see Jesus is the righteousness that I can never possess. In the Old Testament (also known as the Torah for the Jews - which is who Paul is referencing when he says "us." Paul was Jewish. When he says, "them" he is talking about Gentiles. Gentiles are non-Jewish people. Thatwouldbeme.) the Jewish people were required to live out the letter of the law(s) to be considered righteous. They are considered God's chosen people and often, Jewish people believed that they were more righteous than Gentiles because of their chosen status.
Whew. Still there? Good.
If we recognize the laws as our ticket to righteousness then we would constantly be seeing where we are falling short.
But Jesus, He made us ALL righteous. You see, Jesus was blameless. He never got ticked at His Mom for drinking her milk too loud or because His brother forgot to take the trash out. Jesus never uttered ugly words under His holy breath or disobeyed His parents or even told a tiny, little white lie.
Never. Let me tell you how hard it is for me to grasp that concept. VERY HARD.
(Often, I think about what it must have been like to be Jesus' Mom and have a blameless son. Then my head explodes and I remember that I have 5 kids, all of which take after their mother and are SIN-NERS.)
Still, even though He was blameless He took the blame, all of it. He took the blame for my anger at my husband, my short-temper with my kids, my impatience with the car in front of me who's been sitting at a green light for a sweet forever. Jesushelpmenow.
All of it. Gone in God's eyes. As long as I believe (and follow) Jesus. So, lemme break this down for you real quick-like.
Me + sin = unrighteous
BUT....
Me + sin + JESUS = righteous
It's simple math really.
I could go on and on and on about prayer and how I think that God uses our prayers to mold us rather than to put in our requests to Him, but that's a whole 'nother post. For now, I hope that if I've shed any light on a topic that was (for me) hard to understand that you'll pray earnestly and without hesitation to the God of all things.
And pray knowing, that if you have Jesus covering your righteousness, your prayers will be heard as if you are a righteous man who prays with power and effectiveness. And you know what, if you ask me to pray for or with you, I will. Because my prayers are powerful and effective as well. Can you just imagine what God does when one righteous person prays, much less two? Holy Dinah.
It kinda makes me think of my favorite Disney movie of all time, Aladdin. At the end, the Genie turns Jafar into an all-powerful Genie promising him "PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWER!" with an "itty, bitty living space."
I think prayer is the same way. Sometimes you've just got to release this phenomenal power within your soul and realize that the key to that door resides in the tiniest of living spaces, your heart.
But, don't take my word for it, go read it for yourself.