pray.

"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective," (james 5:16).

For the longest time, this verse confused me.

It wasn't so much what it did say; I certainly believe that prayer is a powerful mechanism for change in the world.

To me, the confusing part is what it doesn't say.

What about unrighteous people? Are their prayers heard by God? Are they heard by God, but maybe not as much as those of more righteous people? Is it that God cares about the prayers of the righteous a little more? And who defines what is righteous anyway? I believe in Jesus wholeheartedly, but I wouldn't always classify myself as a righteous person. Does that mean that sometimes my prayers are powerful and effective and sometimes they are not?

Today, I heard an interesting take on James 5:16, and I've got to share it somewhere.

What if the powerfulness and effectiveness of prayer doesn't necessarily lie in who we're praying to, but simply who's praying?

As Christians, we believe in a God who is constantly working. He is continually looking for ways to bring people to himself. He's looking for ways to reconcile creation to him. He's striving to bring the world together under the banner of Christ. God wants to make our world a a better place. God wants to end social injustice and stop oppression. He wants to save people who are in trouble and those who are unfairly persecuted.

Aren't righteous people simply those people who are trying to join in with that mission?

Aren't the righteous people just those who spend their lives accomplishing the agenda of God?

When we pray, we connect ourselves with the same power who created the universe, and the same power that works in people's lives today. We are communicating with God our lives, and in some supernatural way we are connected not just with God, but in a strange, yet divine way with the things and people we are praying for.

Think about it: Aren't you sometimes the answer to your own prayer?

It doesn't make any sense to pray for God to bless those doing mission work around the world if you aren't doing anything yourself to help. It doesn't make sense to pray for those who will go to bed hungry tonight if you yourself have tons of resources but aren't working to share those with the more needy people of the world.

We have a great deal of control over what happens in our lives.

It's one thing to pray for God to do something great.

It's a totally different thing to ask God to guide and bless you as you do something great.

Maybe, ultimately, what James 5:16 is saying is not that the prayer of righteous people is effective just because it is a righteous person saying the prayer. I'm beginning to think that ultimately, James 5:16 is telling us that when we couple prayer with action, amazing things happen, because we aren't just sitting idly by, hoping for something to happen. Instead, we are joining forces with God and working to enact change in the world.

I hope that we all come to understand just how powerful prayer is.

But even more so, I hope that we all come to understand just how effective prayer is when it is coupled with our action in the world.