earnest prayer

Thursday, May 19, 2011 (7:21 a.m.)

Awesome and Incredibly Blessed Lord,

Thank You! At 11:11 p.m. 2:21 a.m. and 5 something this morning I wasn’t sure I’d be saying “Thank You”, but here I am.

Thank You! Thank You that every single time I woke up I was praying, “Please God. Please God. Please.” Finally it occurred to me that I needed to be saying, “Your will, Your will, Your will” instead.

In doing exactly that “The earnest prayer of a righteous (wo)man availeth much” (James 5:16) came straight to mind. Thank You Lord. Usually I struggle with at least one word of a verse. But sometime in the still dark early morning hours, these words were here for me. Complete and intact.

Thank You. Thank You that I even had the presence of mind to wonder if my prayer wasn’t a tad more desperate than earnest. Just now, in using the thesaurus, the phrase ‘earnest prayer’ is shown as: devout, heartfelt, wholehearted, sincere, impassioned, fervent, ardent, intense, urgent. Yep. That’s me!

We have a situation Lord. One that only YOU can rectify at this point. It has to do with a college kid making the grades to continue his scholarship funding and being able to return to school in the fall. You are the God of miracles Lord. I do not presume to know Your best for him. But that is exactly what I am asking. YOUR best, Your will, Your way.

Lord God, how I thank You that we have You to come to in what are oftentimes our darkest hours. How I ask Lord that You are working in him to bring about his righteousness.

And speaking of our darkest hours Lord, we have a much-loved friend plagued with mental illness. Misuse of drugs and alcohol too often intensify the problem. This time a letter of intent toward suicide was involved. Followed by another arrest and a court appearance set. Lord, he catches glimpses of You. He has seeming moments of clarity before slipping back down the rabbit hole. You again are the only One bigger than his worst nightmare.

Lord how I pray Your will, Your healing, Your hand on both of these hurting men. Your best Dearest Lord. Your comfort, Your guidance, Your readiness, Your willingness, Your ability to do for them that which they cannot and have not been able to do for themselves. You are such a good God. You are able to do far more than we can ever imagine.

Lord God, I believe Your Word. I turn these problems over to You dearest Lord. Praying. Earnestly. Asking. Seeking. Knocking. Pleading. Begging that Your will be done in the lives of both of these men. One FAR younger than the other!

The Cotton Patch Bible records James 5:16 this way, “Be honest with one another about your sins, and pray for each other that you might get the victory over them, for the petitions of a truly good man is powerfully effective.”

The Message says this, “Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.”

New Living Translation, “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.”

I could keep listing translations ad infinitum. Instead I will end with the English Standard Version. “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

Oh most dear and blessed Lord, hear my prayer on behalf of both of these much-loved souls. I love You so much. Thank You for Your love and Your magnificent healing powers. How I ask that You would use them to Your very best outcome for both. Thank You. Amen.

(675 words ~ 8:35 a.m.)