Pause

God made us for relationship, that's for sure. But being in relationship is sometimes quite a challenge; that's for sure too!

You are here now because of your relationship with God. May these moments together with your Creator give you a greater understanding of how to live out your earthly relationships as well.

Listen

Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.

James 5:16-18

Think

There is a tradition at most of my large family reunions that the pastor or “elder” of the family blesses the food before a meal. It’s an unspoken responsibility this person has as a spiritual leader of the family. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

In today’s Scripture we are called to confess our sins to each other, and to pray for healing. There is power in our prayers when we intimately know the people we are praying for. These prayers come from a safety net and relationship formed within the community, and specific prayers are able to be made.

We don’t have to be ordained or an elder to give sufficient prayers. We are within the true community and therefore are worthy enough to pray for one another. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Sarah Briggs

Pray

God, I pray today for those I love. Please hear my prayer and my concern for them. Bring your power to work in their lives. Amen.

Go

Children of God, lift hearts to one another;
Where pity dwells, the peace of God is there;
To worship rightly is to love each other,
Each smile a hymn, each kindly deed a prayer.

Adapted from an 1850 hymn by John Greenleaf Whittier