Let Him Pray

James 5:13-18 (ESV)
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. [14] Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. [15] And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. [16] Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. [17] Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. [18] Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

Let him pray. Good advice there. Prayer, it does a soul good. They say it isn’t a sacrament. Well no. But there is mystery there. Plenty of it. I’m leary of those who disparage its use, just as much as I’m leary of those who make too much of it. And by that I mean they think that because they have prayer, or have prayed a prayer, they don’t need communion, or even baptism. And that happens! Prayer at home is not a substitute for Sunday Divine Service and the gathering of the saints. Neither is going to church a substitute for prayer at home. Good prayer life is invaluable. It is part of a complete and well balanced Christian life, but it ought not take the place of regular devotion to the apostolic teaching, the breaking of bread, and the mutual edification of the saints. So pray.