Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Perseverance”
Our Bible verse for today: “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results.” James 5:16 (NLT)
Our thought for today: “Once you have done all you can do, pray.”
Do you believe that James 5:16 is true? Do you believe that your prayers have great power and produce wonderful results? The Bible says they do. When persevering through a difficult situation prayer is not only the best thing you can do, many times it’s the only thing you can do.
In her book, “Restoring Relationships with your Adult Children” author Karen O’Conner tells of a time when her young adult son was caught-up in drug addiction and a life of petty crimes. He had gone through years of rebellion and things just kept getting worse and worse. Finally it had reached the point that he was estranged from the family and they seldom heard from him.
Over the years Karen and her husband had tried everything they could think of to help their son. They had loved him and encouraged him, they took him to church, they took him to counseling, and they placed him in rehab. Nothing seemed to help. His behavior just got worse and worse until finally they seldom heard from him and they usually had no idea if he was ok or not.
One night at a prayer meeting with other parents, who were all dealing with similar issues, Karen told her story. As she sobbed another woman came over, put her arm around Karen’s shoulder and said, “Your work in the flesh is over. All he needs now is your prayers.”
In other words in the flesh, within the limitations of their human capabilities, Karen and her husband had done all they could do. They had done their job as parents the best they could. What remained now was for the Lord to work on that young man, and for their son to be responsive to the Lord. Karen and her husband needed to leave the situation with God and just bathe their son in prayer.
Karen said that that realization came upon her like a warm breeze. Suddenly a burden was lifted and she felt a sense of peace and freedom. She had done all that she could do. Now it was time to just pray and trust God.
There’s an important Biblical truth here regarding the spiritual discipline of perseverance. “Do all that you can do, and then pray.” Whether your situation involves a rebellious child, a struggling marriage, sickness, finances, or whatever, do what you can do, and then pray.
Each of us does have a personal responsibility to be part of the solution for whatever problem or situation we are faced with. Yes, there are actions we need to take and things we are responsible for doing. But it’s also true that there is a limit to how much we can do. Often there are other factors involved that are beyond our control. Many times it involves the fact that other people have to do their part too and if they don’t, we usually cannot force them to.
So, now that you have done all that you can do, pray. Your efforts have been duly noted in heaven, and your prayers are being heard. Don’t doubt the truth that your prayers are powerful and effective and that they do make a difference.
If you have done all that you can do, and now you are praying about it too, you truly have done all that you can do.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 