Pray!

James 5:¹³ “Is anyone among you afflicted (ill-treated, suffering evil)? Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises.”(AMPC & NLT)

Acts 16:^25-26 “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.” [emphasis added]. In the Name of Jesus every prison door will be blasted open, and everyone’s bands will be loosed. We see from this scripture that it was both a point of prayer and a point of praise. The place of suffering as a Christian is not a popular place, neither is it frequently talked about. We tend to believe that once you are a believer in Christ, everything becomes smooth but that is not true at all. As Christians we will have pain, we would go through challenges and anyone that tells you otherwise is lying to you. Please read John 16:13.

Paul and Silas in this story were minding their business [doing GOD’s work], they saw someone possessed of the devil, cast out the demon, and they landed in prison. They were right in the middle of God’s will for their lives. Sometimes, when Christians go through challenges, people conclude that they have offended someone or that they are not in God’s will for their life. While it is a possibility, however it is possible to be in God’s will and be faced with a prison and shackles situation. It is possible to be smack in the middle of God’s will, yet you are dealing with things that sometimes are so painful. But the difference for us as believers is, the pain is not the end of the story. 1 Peter 5:¹⁰ “In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So, after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.” Suffering, the Bible says, is for a little while which means suffering happens. God did not give us specification of the timing of the ‘little while’, but He gives us an assurance that it is going to come to pass. However, when it comes to pass, God is going to restore – which means everything you have lost is going to be fully restored in the Name of Jesus. God is going to support you, strengthen you, and establish you.

So, how do we move from that point of pain and suffering to the point of progress and pleasure that is described in the Word of God? How do we move from the point of difficulty to a place of dancing? How do we move from a place of weeping to a place of laughing? Over the past few days, we have dealt extensively with the point of praise and for the next couple of days we will be looking at the point of prayer. Praise and prayer form the bridge from the place of suffering to the place of restoration. “Is any afflicted? Let him pray” [James 5:13], the Bible says because prayer is the connection from where we are [which is undesirable] to where we ought to be [which is our desired place]. Unfortunately, most times the enemy tries to convince Christians that they are praying too much. The question is, why is it of interest to you, is it disturbing you?

Prayer: Father, hear me as I pray, be merciful and answer me [Ps.27:7], in Jesus Name. Amen!