Do Your Prayers Have Power?
This past Sunday I taught at children's church and one of this month's memory verse was Jame 5:16 which says "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective"
As I was preparing for this message, I was rushing because I felt as if I went too deep, I wouldn't be able to keep the attention of my fellow students (7-11 year olds) so I tried to make it as practical as possible. However, many of us know and have the privilege to experience the revelation of the Holy Spirit, even when we are in a rush! LOL.
I wrote down several questions for my students like:
Even then I already started losing them! HAHA. The Lord began to minister to me and I was so excited yet frustrated, because I wished there was an understandable way for me to communicate these revelations to my kids. Either way, God was glorified and I did my best. Here were a few of the things that God shined His light upon while teaching on this ...
CONFESSION
You can't be forgiven of your sins if you fail to confess. Likewise, this verse lets us understand that we are to confess our sins to each other and pray so we can experience healing. This brings me to my next point
Who are you confessing your sins to?
I reminded my students that they should find a TRUSTWORTHY and PRAYERFUL friend in order to confess their sins to. I then asked, "If one of your friend's confessed their sin and you couldn't believe they would do such a thing would you go tell your other friends about it? NOOOO WAY!" Lol. I ask you today, what type of friend are you?
Are there people who confide and confess their sins to you and you go and share it with other people? The Bible tells us we must love one another but never does it say we must trust everyone. This shows the importance of TRUST. It isn't freely given and takes time to mend when broken.
HEALING
The end result of the confession of your sin should be healing. We confess our sins to one another AND PRAY so that we might be healed. When we confess our sins, pray, and receive our healing, we are cleansed of all unrighteousness and are righteous in the sight of God. Instead of our sins, God sees Jesus and is our YAHWEH Tsidkenu (The LORD our Righteousness). This is when the prayers of a righteous person become powerful and effective.
RIGHTEOUS PERSON
We've all experienced the guilt and shame of sin when we feel as if we can't come before the throne of God. "Who am I to ask God for anything and intercede for others when I have offended Him?" we think. This leaves us paralyzed in His Presence. We don't think He will answer us and this leads us to have a lack of faith. Without faith, our prayers are in vain, God cannot be pleased (Hebrews 11:6)! Fortunately for us, there is grace and mercy that allows us to approach His throne boldly (Hebrews 4:16) :D
This is very important to remember when we come before God because we all fall short and commit sin but God is faithful and just to cleanse us of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
Once you have confessed you sin, and prayed, you receive not only healing but you are cleansed. This then should empower you to keep on praying. God hears you, your prayers are powerful and effective! Don't let the enemy deceive you and discourage you from destroying and dismantling his kingdom and glorifying God.
Be blessed and enjoy your day. Love you all! :) :)
- 6 Weeks left until Graduation! Class of 2017
- Working on Graduation Announcements! :D
- Still raising funds for my missions trip to Greece (post coming soon)
- My 24th birthday is quickly approaching :) > Thursday, March 30th.
- Becoming a more trustworthy friend ♥
As I was preparing for this message, I was rushing because I felt as if I went too deep, I wouldn't be able to keep the attention of my fellow students (7-11 year olds) so I tried to make it as practical as possible. However, many of us know and have the privilege to experience the revelation of the Holy Spirit, even when we are in a rush! LOL.
I wrote down several questions for my students like:
"What is confession?"
"Who are your friends?"
"Do you confess your sins?"
"What's the importance of confession?"
Even then I already started losing them! HAHA. The Lord began to minister to me and I was so excited yet frustrated, because I wished there was an understandable way for me to communicate these revelations to my kids. Either way, God was glorified and I did my best. Here were a few of the things that God shined His light upon while teaching on this ...
CONFESSION
You can't be forgiven of your sins if you fail to confess. Likewise, this verse lets us understand that we are to confess our sins to each other and pray so we can experience healing. This brings me to my next point
Who are you confessing your sins to?
I reminded my students that they should find a TRUSTWORTHY and PRAYERFUL friend in order to confess their sins to. I then asked, "If one of your friend's confessed their sin and you couldn't believe they would do such a thing would you go tell your other friends about it? NOOOO WAY!" Lol. I ask you today, what type of friend are you?
Are there people who confide and confess their sins to you and you go and share it with other people? The Bible tells us we must love one another but never does it say we must trust everyone. This shows the importance of TRUST. It isn't freely given and takes time to mend when broken.
Are you a trustworthy friend?
HEALING
The end result of the confession of your sin should be healing. We confess our sins to one another AND PRAY so that we might be healed. When we confess our sins, pray, and receive our healing, we are cleansed of all unrighteousness and are righteous in the sight of God. Instead of our sins, God sees Jesus and is our YAHWEH Tsidkenu (The LORD our Righteousness). This is when the prayers of a righteous person become powerful and effective.
RIGHTEOUS PERSON
We've all experienced the guilt and shame of sin when we feel as if we can't come before the throne of God. "Who am I to ask God for anything and intercede for others when I have offended Him?" we think. This leaves us paralyzed in His Presence. We don't think He will answer us and this leads us to have a lack of faith. Without faith, our prayers are in vain, God cannot be pleased (Hebrews 11:6)! Fortunately for us, there is grace and mercy that allows us to approach His throne boldly (Hebrews 4:16) :D
This is very important to remember when we come before God because we all fall short and commit sin but God is faithful and just to cleanse us of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
Once you have confessed you sin, and prayed, you receive not only healing but you are cleansed. This then should empower you to keep on praying. God hears you, your prayers are powerful and effective! Don't let the enemy deceive you and discourage you from destroying and dismantling his kingdom and glorifying God.
Be blessed and enjoy your day. Love you all! :) :)
UPDATES
- Working on Graduation Announcements! :D
- Still raising funds for my missions trip to Greece (post coming soon)
- My 24th birthday is quickly approaching :) > Thursday, March 30th.
- Becoming a more trustworthy friend ♥
Comments
Post a Comment