Welcome back! If you are just joining us, we are using the YouVersion Bible App to follow a devotional together. Read THIS POST to get all the information you need to join in and then you can read THIS MORNING’S POST to see the promises we are focusing on this week.

I find promises related to prayer especially helpful. There is something about knowing I am being heard and what prayer can do in my life that really touches my heart. So the promise I chose this week is…

I can do great things through your humble prayers. James 5:16

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. James 5:16 (MSG)

I decided to quote this from the Message version of the Bible this week as I really like the way it phrases the last part of the verse: “The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.”

I don’t know about you, but I want powerful prayers. I want mountains to move and trees to wither. I want to lay hands on people and see them healed. I want to see big things happening because I’m serving God and understanding His will.

But in order to have powerful prayers that are effective and something to be reckoned with I need to be right with God. I need to be living accordingly. If I’m struggling with sin I need to confess that to a trusted person and pray together for healing and deliverance from that struggle. If I try and hide my sin I’m not living in the righteousness of Christ and my prayers will not be as effective.

Humble yourself and admit your struggles to someone you trust so they can pray for you. Don’t feel like you need to be perfect – no one is. Pray together and then see how powerful your prayers become. There is nothing to be gained by pretending.

Thank you Father that you accept us, even as sinners. Thank you that you offer forgiveness that isn’t dependent on works or sacrifice but simply by receiving. Lord, help us to admit when we struggle, when we fall short, and when we ignore the good we should be doing. Bring others along side us that can pray for us and keep us accountable so we can all be righteous through Jesus. I pray that our prayers would become powerful and something to be reckoned with. In your Son’s mighty name, Amen.