prayer – Ministry of Grace Church

Tag: prayer

James 5:15 – Chastening Love

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Will

And the prayer of faith will save the sickly, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he may have committed sin, it will be forgiven him.

Truth to Learn

God chastens those whom He loves and He forgives those who submit to Him, confessing their sins.

Behind the Words

The word translated “prayer” is not proseuchomai which was translated “prayer” in the previous two verses. This is a similar but different word, euchē. It refers to “a wish” or “a vow.” Since it is used in such obvious connection with proseuchomai, it is clear that James is referring to something other than simply a prayer. This word only appears in two other places in the New Testament (Act 18:18 and Act 21:23), both of which specifically refer to a “vow.”

The word translated “sickly” in this verse is also different from the word translated “sick” in the previous verse. Here it is kamnō, which refers to “one who is faint, weary, or sickly.” This implies that this is an ongoing sickness, producing weariness.

“Has committed” is translated from a form of poieō, meaning “to make” or “to do.” It is expressed here in the perfect tense indicating past action with an ongoing effect with the emphasis on the effect. Hence, this implies that the ongoing sickness is the result of past sins that have not been dealt with.

Meaning Explained

James is not simply saying that a salvation prayer or a prayer of regaining ones salvation (if you believe one can lose one’s salvation, which the Scriptures do not teach) will produce the sought after healing in this verse. He’s talking about a vow of commitment to change one’s ways. It is apparently a vow that is made in the presence of spiritual leaders of the church and implies that the person knows the reason for the sickness (being the direct, chastening hand of a loving Heavenly Father).

Though not all unpleasant events in our lives are the direct result of chastening, we all need to learn to be sensitive to the disciplining God provides. In Hebrews 12:5, 6 it says:

… my son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be faint when you are being admonished by him; for whom the Lord loves he chastens …

We choose how we react to such chastening. We can either be like the children of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness being stiff necked and resisting such chastening, or we can humble ourselves before the hand of Almighty God and in due time He will lift us up. Personally, I don’t like the way God’s chastening feels, but I praise Him for it, because I know it is applied in love with the intent of making me more like His Son.

James tells us that sickness which is the result of refusal to deal with sin in one’s life can be healed. He clearly says that God will raise up such a person when he wholeheartedly vows to change his or her ways and submit to God.

Application

The worst thing a Christian can do is to resist God. If you are a born-again Christian and you are refusing to deal with sin in your life, God will chasten you, because He loves you. And, if this describes you, my dear brother or sister in Christ, I beg of you to humble yourself before God. Confess your sin and deal with it. You will discover that His mercy is great and His love is sure!

In God's service, for His glory,

Romans 1:10 – Focused on Serving

Posted on July 23, 2009 by admin

Romans 1:10

making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you.

Truth to Learn

Paul’s singular focus in life was serving God.

Behind the Words

The Greek word translated “making request” is deomai. This appears to be a middle voice (subject acting upon himself) of the word deō, meaning “to bind.” In that sense, therefore, it indicates a person being personally bound up. It is interpreted by most Greek scholars to imply a lack for oneself and, therefore, is often translated as “to make a request for one’s own needs.” Therefore, the translation “making request” makes a lot of sense.

Meaning Explained

Today’s verse is a continuation of yesterday’s verse. You really need to read the last phrase of verse 9 along with verse 10, thus:

that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you.

As we mentioned in our study of the previous verse, Paul is a real prayer warrior. We don’t know if Paul regularly prayed at a particular time of the day (every morning or every evening) of if he simply prayed all day long. Certainly, he had to take some time to study the Old Testament scriptures, the writings of other Apostles, and he had to take time to prepare the marvelous messages that he preached. It is entirely possible, however, that whenever he was not specifically engaged in some other spiritual activity, Paul was praying, and he always prayed for the Roman Christians.

One of his constant prayers regarding the Christians in Rome was,

making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you.

Paul had never been to Rome, therefore he asked God to fulfill that lacking which he felt. He really wanted to see and meet the Christians in Rome, possibly because of the reputation they had regarding their faith. More likely, as he says in the next verse, it was because he had further teaching that he wanted to impart to them. Personally, I would love to go to Rome, to see all the historical places, but that’s not what was on Paul’s heart. His heart was for the believers in Rome. Once again, I am humbled by his singleness of purpose. Paul was so sold out to God that serving Him was all he cared about.

As we learn in the book of Acts, God answered Paul’s prayer, and he finally got to see Rome approximately three years after writing this letter. However, it surely wasn’t in the manner that Paul expected, for he arrived in chains. In spite of the ignominy of Paul’s condition, however, many Roman Christians came out and walked the last day or two of the trip with Paul as they welcomed him with honor into their city.

Application

Is your devotion to God and your desire to serve Him so strong that you can think of nothing else? Or is your desire for everything else so strong that you seldom think about serving Him?

That’s something that we all need to pray about … without ceasing!

In God’s service, for His glory,

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, you can call the church phone (618) 614-3070 and leave a message telling us your name and e-mail address or you can send an e-mail to:

Romans 1:9 – Unceasing Prayer

Posted on July 20, 2009 by admin

Romans 1:9

For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers,

Truth to Learn

Paul was a prayer warrior and prayed for others constantly.

Behind the Words

The word “witness” is translated from the Greek word martus from which we get our English word “martyr.” The Greek word means “one who has information or knowledge of something, and therefore, one who can give information, bring to light, or confirm something.”

“Serve” is the translation of latreuō, the basic meaning of which is “to minister.” Hence, Paul’s service is really a ministry performed for God.

The word “with” is a translation from en, which is a preposition which denotes position and, by implication, instrumentality. Therefore, a more natural translation would be “in.” Paul is saying that he serves God in his spirit; in other words, he is claiming that this is a spiritual service over and above a physical service.

“Without ceasing” is from adialeiptos, which means “continually or without omission.”

Meaning Explained

This verse tells us that Paul prayed constantly for the Roman believers. He starts out by saying, “For God is my witness.” Paul is making a very strong appeal that the following statement is, indeed, true. He calls on the witness of Him who has knowledge of all things, God himself. Obviously the readers of this letter can’t check out the facts of his statement by asking God, but that’s not the point. The point is that Paul does not swear, since the Lord Jesus himself taught that swearing is wrong (see Matthew 5:33-37); rather, he appeals to a reliable witness.

Paul then states that he serves God in his spirit. He is saying that his service to God is not just on the surface but is with the very essence of his being, his spirit. Paul then explains that his service is in the gospel of Jesus Christ whom he describes as God’s Son.

Finally, he tells the Roman Christians that he prays for them constantly. Paul was known for being a prayer warrior. He prayed a lot and a lot of his prayers were for churches, both those which he helped start and those he had never visited (like the Roman church). Evidence of Paul’s prayer life is also found in Ephesians 1:15-16; Philippians 1:3-4; Colossians 1:3-4; and 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3.

Application

How does your prayer life stack-up against Paul’s? If you’re like me, you feel woefully inadequate compared to him. Paul apparently had a daily routine that included considerable time in prayer, and it wasn’t because he had nothing else to do. With everything we pack into our days, it seems silly that we can’t even find 15 minutes each day to pray for ourselves and for others.

Why don’t we do something about that?

In God’s service, for His glory,

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Romans 1:8 – World Renowned Faith

Posted on July 19, 2009 by admin

Romans 1:8

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

Truth to Learn

Living as a Christian in the midst of paganism takes faith.

Behind the Words

The word “first” is translated from the Greek prōton men. The word prōton is an adverbial form of a word that means “foremost in time, place, order, or importance.” So we might easily interpret this as “of primary importance.” However, the word following prōton is men, which is often translated as “on the one hand” and is usually followed by a secondary clause indicated by the Greek word de, meaning “on the other hand.” The use of men with the word proton indicates that Paul means to say “Before I say anything else, I thank God for your faith.”

The word translated “spoken of” is katangellō, which is composed of kata, used as an intensifier, and angellō, which means “to declare a message.” Put together the word means “to proclaim loudly or to announce with celebration.” It’s not something that is just casually mentioned, but proclaimed!

Meaning Explained

Having completed the salutary portion of this epistle to the Christians in Rome, Paul now says a prayer of thanksgiving for them. He is thankful to God, through Jesus Christ, that the faith of the Roman Christians is a world renowned faith. Imagine that, a group of people with such a strong faith that it has been celebrated through the known world. Now that’s a witness!

Notice that it is God (the Father) that Paul prays to through Jesus (the Son). Paul does not pray to Jesus, but through Jesus. The Greek text is very clear that Paul is thankful to God through Jesus Christ. In the book of Matthew, when Jesus was teaching his disciples to pray, he instructed them:

In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be Your name. (Matthew 6:9)

We know that God listens to the heart, not to the words. But when someone begins their prayer with “Dear Jesus,” I suspect their intentions are good, but they are misinformed or uninformed. We are to pray to the Father, not the Son. There is a distinct order set-up within the Godhead with the Son willingly submitting himself to the Father and the Spirit willing submitting Himself to both the Father and the Son. It serves as an example to us of how we are to submit to authorities both within the church and in civil government. Therefore, though the Father and Jesus are equal, God has set-up a specific order. We should be directing our prayers to God the Father in the name of Jesus (with His authority) or, as Paul says it, through Jesus.

The primary subject of Paul’s prayer here is the faith of the Roman Christians. What we often overlook is that the Christians in Rome were living in one of the most pagan, Christian-hating societies that ever existed. To live a life of Christian faith in the midst of that society took a lot of faith.

Application

The world we live in today is becoming more and more like first century Rome every day. Everywhere we look we see signs of pagan humanism and a bias against true Christianity. To live in a world like this, submitted to the one true God, takes faith and not just a little bit. How strong is your faith?

In God’s service, for His glory,

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –