"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."
That is James 5:16. There are a lot of ignored verses of the Bible, but I think this ranks pretty high up on "Most Avoided Verses of the Bible". Christians everywhere ask, "Isn't it enough to ask forgiveness from God? Can't I just pray on my own? All the other Christians would hate me if they knew what I have done!!" I personally struggle with this, and always have. I do not like asking for prayer at all. I hate to think I might be revealing weakness to someone else, and they'll think badly of me for it. I've always been concerned about upholding the delusion that I am a strong person, physically and emotionally. So, I do not show what I perceive to be "weakness". And for the longest time, I saw asking another human being for any kind of assistance, particularly prayer, as incredibly weak. And telling them why I needed prayer, why! impossible!!
Recently, God has been showing me that prayer is important to Him. And to see His children help each other by praying for one another is priceless. But He doesn't want a generalized prayer. He wants the specifics. The person praying for you needs to know what you are struggling with so they are able to specifically pray for your needs. God can work without you praying or anyone else praying, but He prefers to be asked to work first.
Prayer takes concentration, effort, and persistence. When you are in the middle of a hard place, and you feel far from God, and the attacks on you from the devil are wearing you down, you can't pray. It exhausting, there's too much distracting you, and you need help. You need someone who knows what you are struggling with and can pray for you. Then, when they are struggling, you get to return the favor. The last sentence of James 5:16 is "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." When you are in despair, you need power and effectiveness. And you can't do it alone.
Practical application: Meet with someone you trust every once in a while, say... monthly. Make sure this person is someone you trust and who trusts you. You don't want to tell your heart to someone who will gossip about it. Be sure you don't tell anyone what the other person told you either. Pray for each other. You will both benefit from it.
You will be healed
~Michaela
