"Is
anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him
sing psalms. 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."
James 5:13-14 (NKJV)
Everyone likes to be a winner, no one likes to lose. If you lose at some game or sporting event you can be gracious about it and accept the defeat, but that does not mean that you enjoy it. However, when you are on the winning team, or if you accomplish some victory on your own, the thrill you have is unmistakable and you are ready to jump and shout. At that point you don't need anyone to motivate you to be excited, you are ready to celebrate on your own. We would find it strange to see someone on a winning team stand silent while having someone else celebrate in their place.
Over the years that I have been a Christian I have met and talked with many people who were going through some difficult situation. Often these people will ask me to pray for them or maybe give them some biblical advice on what to do about their problem. This is certainly something we see in the Bible as we are told to support and pray for one another. What I find interesting is that while I often have people ask me to pray for them when they dealing with something difficult, I cannot recall a time when someone asked me to sing for them when they were happy.
James 5 says that when we suffer we should pray, when we are happy we should sing, and if we cannot help ourselves we should call someone to help us. It is easy to sing and celebrate when things are going well and we are happy, but it is not so easy to pray when things are tough. If we can always do the singing for ourselves then shouldn't we also be able to do some praying for ourselves, at least sometimes? While it is fine and right to go to someone else and ask from prayer in a difficult situation, we should also get to the point in our spiritual development that we are not just looking for someone else to always help us but we are in the position to help others.
James 5:13-14 (NKJV)
Everyone likes to be a winner, no one likes to lose. If you lose at some game or sporting event you can be gracious about it and accept the defeat, but that does not mean that you enjoy it. However, when you are on the winning team, or if you accomplish some victory on your own, the thrill you have is unmistakable and you are ready to jump and shout. At that point you don't need anyone to motivate you to be excited, you are ready to celebrate on your own. We would find it strange to see someone on a winning team stand silent while having someone else celebrate in their place.
Over the years that I have been a Christian I have met and talked with many people who were going through some difficult situation. Often these people will ask me to pray for them or maybe give them some biblical advice on what to do about their problem. This is certainly something we see in the Bible as we are told to support and pray for one another. What I find interesting is that while I often have people ask me to pray for them when they dealing with something difficult, I cannot recall a time when someone asked me to sing for them when they were happy.
James 5 says that when we suffer we should pray, when we are happy we should sing, and if we cannot help ourselves we should call someone to help us. It is easy to sing and celebrate when things are going well and we are happy, but it is not so easy to pray when things are tough. If we can always do the singing for ourselves then shouldn't we also be able to do some praying for ourselves, at least sometimes? While it is fine and right to go to someone else and ask from prayer in a difficult situation, we should also get to the point in our spiritual development that we are not just looking for someone else to always help us but we are in the position to help others.
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