Pray for One Another

Acts 12:1-17

James 5:16  Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

    Today we reach the third of our One Anothers – Pray for One Another – having already discussed Love One Another and Serve One Another.  One another friends are willing to pray for us and with us when life seems to be falling apart.  These friends don’t get scared away when life gets messy.  No, they come alongside and join in the battle of the spiritual realm through prayer.

    Prayer is something that we have talked about before in this study of Abiding, but we will give it another look with the hope of learning how to better love each other in the Church.  Praying is one of the simpler disciplines, but one that seems to be practiced less and less in our day.  Often people think they can’t pray because they don’t pray in fancy language, but God doesn’t want our fancy words, He wants our heart words.

    In our Scripture passage for the day we see the early Church praying for one of their own, Peter.  He was in jail and it seemed as bleak as ever.  The Church gathered together and stormed the gates of heaven for his life to be saved.  They were praying so hard they almost missed the sound of pounding on the door.  Pounding by the man that had been released because of their prayers.  They were praying so hard that they nearly missed hearing the answer to their prayers.

    When we take another’s burdens and make them our own we are showing that they matter to us and that we love them.  This is why praying for one another is so important.  There is no better way to live with others and be there for them, than to be in prayer with them and for them.  When we come together in prayer with each other and for each other, we will find our relationship with God growing deeper.  Spending time in conversation with God will also grow our heart for those we are praying for and with.

    This is what an abiding Church looks like.  It is committed to loving through prayer.  And this is the kind of Church that will shine the light of Christ into the community around them, because those around us will notice the growing relationships and the way we care for each other.  They may also have a front row seat for God performing a miracle like He did for the early Church when He released Peter from jail.

Making It Personal

    Has someone prayed with you when you were in a messy portion of life?  Have you prayed with someone else who was going through trials?  Who could use some One Another prayer today?

Making It Personal Kids

    What is prayer?  Do you pray for others?  Who is going through a hard time that you can pray for or with today?

Closing Prayer

    Father, thank You for wanting us to bring our troubles and heart pains to You.  Thank You also for placing us in a faith community where we can pray for each other.  In Jesus’ name, amen.