James 5:13-18

Common Prayer

James talks about prayer and the reasons we must be a people who are known by it in today’s verses. Prayer is, in its simplest form, communication with God, talking with Him. It is not meditation or reflection, it is communication with the one who created us. Prayer can be silent or audible, in private or public, formal or informal. In James 1 he says we offer our “prayers” in trust that God hears us. John 16 we are told to pray in Jesus’ “name.” In Romans 8 we are told that we pray by the power of the God’s Spirit.

D.A. Carson said 7 things on prayer that are helpful for us:

1) Prayer needs to be planned. We need to plan times where we talk to God. We plan meals, workouts, and doctor appointments, why not plan time to spend with God daily.

2) Adopt practical ways to stop mental drift. If we want to spend time with God in real ways, we find time to remove the distractions when we spend time with Him.

3) Seek out people to pray with. When we begin to pray with and for one another it grows us to pray more.

4) Get around people who do pray. Find people you can pray with so you will learn to pray. The way we learn ANYTHING is being taught.

5) Make a system for having a prayer list. Use notes (even notes in your phone) to remember what people have asked you to pray for (or even a reminder of what you need to pray for, for yourself). Write things down so you have something to refrence and pray about.

6) When you pray have praise, confession, and intercession, and tie as much of it as you can back to the Scriptures. Praise is about who God is, confession is about who we are, and intercession is about who others are. If you are reading your Bible and come across something that brings hope for you, someone else, or reminds you of the glory of God, stop and pray. We want to tie our prayers, as best as we can, back to the Word of God.

7) Pray until you pray. The Puritans said we keep worship, singing, praying, until we actually begin to do those things naturally. Psalm 32:3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.

Prayer is not just for mystics, monks, or hermits, it is for all of us, it is walking with our God who is with us.

Community Discussion

• What does your communication with your friends look like?

• What is prayer? What is it not?

• What does your prayer life look like?

• How would it look if your communication with God looked like your communication with your friends?

• What do you find distracts you from prayer and meaningful time with God?

• In what ways are you hesitant or skeptical to pray?

• How have you seen communication be central in your human relationships?

• How does this concept apply to God?

• What does it mean for prayers to include praise, confession, and intercession?

• Have you planned specific time for prayer?

• How have you worked towards stopping your mental drift? What do you do?

• Who do you pray with?

• Who naturally encourages you to pray more? Who do you learn from in prayer?

• Do you have any systems for praying through lists? What do you do?

• How can prayer be spiritual, physical and relational?

• Who can you commit to pray for this week?