“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.”
James 5.16, ESV
Every relationship requires communication. In your job, effective communication affects the performance of the company. In your family, it affects the atmosphere of your home. In your friendships, it affects their very existence.
Without quality communication–both speaking and listening–discord, distance, and disintegration are inevitable. Listening to and observing a person is how we get to know them. How (and how often) we speak to them helps them get to know us. In addition, our manner of communication (tone, focus, topics), reveals a lot about us.
With respect to your relationship with God, how is your communication? Do you listen to what He has to say through His revealed word? Are you talking to Him through prayer? Both reading the word and speaking to God in prayer are vital to our relationship, yet I frequently hear Christians say that they wrestle with these two things the most.
Last month, we wrote out scriptures which were prayers of righteous people of the Old Testament. This month, we will be looking at prayers from the New Testament. Unlike the Old Testament prayers, we do not have a full accounting of what everyone said in every prayer, but we are able to see what they prayed for and the power of those prayers.
We are going to begin the month considering what Jesus taught and did regarding prayer. Because He is our ultimate example of righteousness, His prayers will be highly instructive for us. Next, we will consider the early Christians and apostles. They too have a lot to teach us about the content, frequency, and power of prayer.
Relationships are important; our relationship with God is essential. Without God, life is meaningless. He has shown us unfathomable grace and unfailing love. Let us, in turn, give Him our total devotion.
I hop you will join us this month as we write through more scriptures about prayer!
To download a printable PDF of November’s plan, click the link below:
To download the kids’ copying and tracing sheets, click the links below:
For some additional reading on prayer:
Elihu's Corner 