I’m testing this by putting some notes online about this verse for a youth devotional; it’s not finished, but this draft is a good test post. I’ll blog at least once a month, maybe more, depending on my schedule. BTW, I use the King James version. Oh, and also, pray for me; my poor vision (because someone will ask, coloboma of the choroid, which means glasses can’t help ) means I can’t read from a text, I have to speak extemporaneously.  I always have an outline and key examples in my head, and can make it longer or shorter, as time permits.

Anyway, here is a great formula for prayer. We see that we much pray for support, for strength, and for souls:

James 5:16: “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.”

First, we pray for support.  Notice that we confess our faults.  We only confess sins to God – only He can forgive us.  So, what are faults? How are they different?  We see a little of what they are in how the sentence goes on.  We should pray for one another for a specific reason.  That we may be healed.

This healing takes two forms. First, let’s say that you’re struggling with temptation.  You say to your friend, “You know, I’m really mad at so-and-so because they broke up with me.  I feel like getting back at them.”

We confess that because we need others to pray for us.  You know, from God’s Word, that we need to love one another.  Espesians 4:32: Be ye kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.

By confessing that fault, we are telling our friend, “Here is how I need help.” Then, that friend can help you by reminding you of that verse I just quoted, and how you can be a witness for Christ.  Maybe that boyfriend or girlfriend who broke up with you will change because you treat them nice even though they hurt you.

Let’s use an illustration.  None of you in here would eat dog food, right?  Let’s say you go somewhere to eat, and someone serves you dog food.  You’d say, “gross, give me real food,” right?  That person whose house you went to might think dog food is all the rage!  It’s the best food ever!  But, you’d rather have pizza, right?  If you add more dog food, does that give you pizza?  No, it’s just more dog food.  But, if you get on the phone and have a pizza delievered, what happens?  You get pizza, nd your friend might try it and say, “Hey, this is even better than dog food.”  They might serve pizza next time because you introduced them to it.

Now, that’s a silly example, I know, but, it’s just like what God wants us to do.  He wants us to repay evil with good.  He wants us to be good no matter what, because we are supposed to be the light of the world.

It’s hard.  But, you know what?  When our friends pray for us, we can be healed from that desire to do wrong.  That’s why James, at the end of that sentence, says we confess our faults that we may be healed.  It will help us, because someone can come alongside us and say they’re praying for us.  We know someone cares for us.  We should never gossip about what we hear; of course, if someone says they’re planning something really bad, we should tell someone in authority, but usually, that won’t be the case.  Usually, it’s just, “I had a big fight with my brother, or sister, or parents, and I want to make things right.”

And, when we do this, we’re focusing on solutions.  We’re not thinking about the problem, and thinking, “Oh, I’d love to get back at him or her.”  No, we’re thinking about God and how He can help us.  When we focus on His word, guess what?  That heals us, too…that’s the second part of how this healing works.  Because, it forces our minds to be off of the problem and onto getting better.  This is why the Bible says, “GBe angry,a nd sin not.  Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.”  In other words, don’t let the day end without resolving things, at least as far as your relationship with God is concerned.  Maybe you can’t fix something right away, but you can pray about it, and ask God for wisdom, so you can plan to make things right.

this is where that second part comes in. We need to pray for strength. We need to pray for all those things God promises us – He promises peace, comfort, wisdom, and things like that. he never promises us material possessions, or a smooth road.  In fact, Jesus says “In this world you will have tribulation,” but then He adds, “Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.”  See, Jesus gives us strength to covercome our problems.  Maybe we can’t do everything that some others do.  I can’t drive, I don’t have the money to give to missions like I’d like, and so on.  But, that doesn’t mean God’s not good to me, he’s been very good to me.

Let me ask you, how many of you pray for your parents?  How do you think your parents would react if you asked if they had any prayer requests?  It might shock some of them.  Now, they might not tell you everything, but that’s okay.  God knows our problems.  The important thing is, you can still encourage them, by reminding them that God can give them the strength to get through things. Whether it’s a job situation, or money, or whatever it is, God is good, and He is just waiting for us to turn to Him for help.  It’s like when a child who can’t dress themselves yet, they’re only 2 or so, and they get their stuff backward, and their buttons wrong, and it’s so confusing you’d expect them to have their socks on their ears.

We’re the same way.  We all need reminded, from time to time, that God will give us strength, and will get us through tough times.

Finally, we need to pray for souls.  The fervent, effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much.  Look at the next verse.  We don’t have time to get into it, but Elias – that’s Greek for Elijah – was oone of the prophets in the Old Testament.  We don’t know much about him, except what we see here.  He was just like us. He had the same temptations as we did.  And yet, he prayed.  God tells us, in His word, about Elijah right after this verse, because He wants us to see that our prayers can be very effective, too.

He describes it as effectual – that means it’s meant to have an effect.  It’s not just a general “Lord, bless him and bless her,” though.  No, Jesus wants us to pray specifically for things.  That’s why it’s fervent – there’s emotion behind it.  We pray with feeling.  Now, sometimes when we’re tired, we don’t feel like putting much feeling into it, but that’s where we need to ask the Lord to help us to pray better.  You know, He knows our hearts.  If a person has had a stroke and can’t focus or concentrate, and he prays for maybe a minute, putting effort into it, God will honor that prayer, just as much as if you can’t sleep, so you spend half the night praying over whatever God has laid on your heart.

It’s the prayer of a righteous man, too.  Now, who is righteous?  None are righteous.  But, remember, if you’ve received Christ as your Savior, you have His righteousnes son you.  You have been declared righteous by God.  That’s the reason you can approach God’s throne.  You can pray to Him, we don’t go through another person.

And, it availeth much.  That means, it has a great effect.  Just like Elijah’s prayer did.

Now, it can take a while.  A person in our church prayed for her husband for 44 years before he got saved!  She prayed for his soul for that long becuase the devil doens’t want people saved.  Oh, prayer is really spiritual warfare.  But, God wants us to do it.  He tells us many times in His Word to pray for various things.  And, we can go boldly before the throne of grace.
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At this piont I’m going to ask them for examples, or name a few myself.  I have another example I plan to use, too, at the end, about how God can put a situation on your heart where you know nothing – or very little – about it.  But, you pray because the Holy Spirit has been making you think of it.  It will help lead into the idea of the “unspoken request.”  Then, that’ll be it.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this test post, and that you’re encouraged to pray, too.  Because, if the Lord tarries, it’s not too late to have revival in this land.  But, we must pray without ceasing for God to open eyes and turn hearts toward Him.