April 24 Daily Devotional

Scripture for Day 114—James 5:16

¹⁶ …pray for one another…

Devotional:

These pithy words are also a command from the living God himself. To neglect to obey them, then, is sin. For that reason, we ought not to sail past them. It may be edifying to paraphrase Charles Spurgeon's meditation on these words from Morning and Evening (February 6, Evening):

As an encouragement for you to gladly pray for one another, remember, first, that such prayer is the sweetest that God ever hears. Why? Because it is like the prayer of Christ. In all the incense which our Great High Priest now puts into the golden censer, there is not a single grain for himself. His intercession must be the most acceptable of all. Therefore, the more your prayer is like Christ's, the sweeter it will be to God. Consequently, while God surely accepts petitions for yourself, your pleadings for others, having in them more of the fruit of the Spirit, more love, more faith, more brotherly kindness, are—through the precious merits of Jesus—the sweetest oblation that you can offer to God, the very fat of your sacrifice!

Remember, second, that such prayer especially prevails with God. What wonders it has wrought! The Word of God teems with its marvelous deeds. Believer, you have a mighty tool in your hand. Use it well. Use it constantly. Use it with faith. In this way you will surely be a benefactor to your brothers and sisters. When you have the King's ear, speak to him for the suffering members of his body. When you are favored to draw very near to his throne, and the King himself says to you, "Ask, and it will be given to you," let your petitions be not for yourself alone, but also for the many who need his aid. If you have any grace at all and you are not an intercessor for your brethren, then that grace must be as tiny as a mustard seed. You have just enough grace to float your own soul free of the quicksand, but you have no deep floods of grace or else you would carry in your joyful ship a heavy cargo of the needs of others. And you would bring back from your Lord rich blessings for them, which—except for your prayers—they might never have obtained.

"O may my hand forget her skill,
my tongue be silent, cold, and still,
this bounding heart forget to beat,
if I forget the mercy-seat." (Hugh Stowell)^†

^†Click here for the full hymn and tune.

Click here for background on the author of Are You For Real?: Meditations in the Epistle of James for Secret or Family Worship.