Transformative Power of Prayer and Community

James says that godly people are not exempt from suffering. And suffering does not necessarily assume that there is sin involved. There's some positional prerogatives for the person that's in trouble that he's mentioning here in verse 13. Number one, don't be anxious. Don't be bitter. And don't be discouraged. When trouble comes your way, listen to me. Trouble is going to come. Jesus said in this world you're going to have troubles. You're going to have it. But in the midst of all of that, you can't get anxious. You can't get bitter. You can't get discouraged. Look up. No matter what happens, if you're born again, your redemption draweth nigh, one way or another. [01:10:01] (50 seconds)  #FaithInSuffering

``Prayer is the difference between the best I can do and the best God can do. Before I pray, it's the best I can do. But after I pray, watch this now, and step back and get out of the way when I pray and let him get in the way, amen. It's no longer the best I can do, but it's the best you can do, God. Go with it, Lord. It's your situation. Hallelujah. That makes all the difference. [01:13:00] (44 seconds)  #PrayerTransformsOutcomes

Prayer is not a last resort. It's the first and constant response of the believer. Look at your neighbor. Help me this morning. Say, move prayer up on your priority list. Pray over all things all the time. Because I'm going to be honest with you. You can't pray and be in the right attitude of prayer and be talking to God and tearing anybody else down, be negative, or, oh, I could go on and on with this. I'm just telling you, you can't do both at the same time. Because, listen to me, salt water and fresh water don't come out of the same stream. [01:13:56] (43 seconds)  #PrayerIsFirstResponse

Prayer isn't just religious duty. It's the lifeline. It's the lifeblood of the believer. In good times, prayer turns joy into worship. In hard times, prayer turns pain into perseverance. And if you're going through something this morning, and I know many of you are. I know many of you are going through some hard times right now. But I got news for you. If you'll pray, perseverance will undergird you. And when you think you've made it as far as you can go, the Holy Ghost will lift you up. And he'll say, I'm not done with you. There's another step or two we gotta make. [01:14:44] (37 seconds)  #PrayerSustainsBelievers

God works powerfully through righteous, listen to me, ordinary people. And through ordinary people he will do extraordinary things. Elijah prayed earnestly, and God responded in power. God works through ordinary people with bold faith. Look at your neighbor and tell them that puts you in a good category today. Listen, wives, this is your chance today. Look at your husband and say, you're pretty ordinary. Don't do it. I'm setting you up. Listen to me. Each and every one of us, we're just ordinary people that have been born again by the grace of God. And because we have God, his Holy Spirit now lives in you, and he wants to work through you, and let me tell you what you have. You have the power inside of you that raised Christ from the dead, that is living with inside of you, that's wanting to get out through your laying on of hands, through your speaking truth into somebody's life, so that it can bring the scales off of their eyes, and they'll come to know Jesus. [01:27:31] (73 seconds)  #GodWorksThroughOrdinary

Faith builds up when we determine not to give up. Elijah could have said, I prayed once and he quit, but he said, no, I'm going to pray until God moves. And God brought down, he opened up the heavens and he poured out a flood. Some of you need a flood in your life right now. And can I tell you, if you'll be persistent and you'll pray that the prayer of the righteous don't go unheard by God, that the prayer of the righteous still availeth much. And it still makes a way where there seems to be no way. [01:34:53] (33 seconds)  #PersistenceBuildsFaith

Pray with expectation, not just obligation. Don't pray just because God told you to pray. Pray with expectation. Don't be prayed like James started out, like a wind, like a boat tossed about. Pray with expectation that God's going to hear and he's going to answer. There's not a prayer of a righteous person that goes up that God doesn't hear. And let me tell you this, if he hears it, he's going to answer it. [01:35:43] (26 seconds)  #PrayWithExpectation

Prayer can shift atmospheres. You don't think so? Elijah was an ordinary man. Elijah was a human being, just like you and me, the Bible says. And he prayed in the will of God for three and a half years. A backslidden Israel that had started worshiping idols. Because Elijah was in tune with God, prayed. And what happened from it? God showed up and he showed off. And when he showed off, and I don't mean that in the wrong way. I'm just saying he let his glory be manifest. And when the glory of God manifested, hearts were ripped. They were torn, just like the veil from the upper. And they all cried out to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or Israel. [01:36:15] (59 seconds)  #PrayerShiftsAtmospheres

James gives us a picture of what real Christian community looks like. It prays in all circumstances. It walks in honesty and accountability. And can I say this again? It never gives up on people. Let me just say this. This isn't a perfect gathering. But it's a powerful one. This isn't a perfect gathering. But it's a powerful one. It's one where the power of God still works in people's lives. To transform them. To turn them into the image of the one that created them. [01:38:43] (58 seconds)  #CommunityInPrayer