Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.
James 5:13
James calls us to pray in all times and in all circumstances. Whether we're in trouble, or we're in good spirits – whether we're sick, in sin, healthy, or whatever – James' solution is to pray. Now I'm curious: how many of you tend to pray more when you're in trouble, or more when life is good? There are a lot more hands for trouble(!)
. . .
No matter what trial we might be facing. Getting picked on at school; being stuck in a job we can't stand; battling an illness or an injury; or finding ourselves in financial struggles, broken relationships, failed plans; sinful mistakes; or whatever it might be. Our first resort – not our only resort, of course – but our first resort, should be to stop, and pray.
To pray for God to deliver us out of this situation that we find ourselves in. Or, if that's not His will, to ask Him to give us the strength and the determination to persevere, with wisdom, grace, humility, patience, and love. To bless us with the hope to look past our current difficulties, and to look ahead to the glories and the peace that our Lord Jesus Christ has already guaranteed for us in heaven. Or, if this situation has been caused by my own sin and mistakes, perhaps I am to pray and ask God for forgiveness, for change, and to make me holy.
I found a prayer, that you may have seen before:
Dear Lord,
So far I've done all right.
I haven't gossiped,
haven't lost my temper,
haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or overindulgent.
I'm really glad about that.
But in a few minutes, God,
I'm going to get out of bed.
And from then on,
I'm going to need a lot more help!
Obviously that’s silly, but the prayer is right… we’re going to need a lot more help! We need God's help. Or as the collect says, we need the fullness of God's grace.
God bless you!
Fr. BJ
