James 5:13-18 The Prayer of Faith

^13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. ^14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. ^15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. ^16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

^17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. ^18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

It is obvious that faith and miracles or intimately connected. What is "prayer offered in faith." How is it different from other prayers? What is this faith that makes prayer effective? How do we "get" that kind of faith?

The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Jas 5:13

Mark 2:1-12 Breaking Barriers

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

2 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. ^2 So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. ^3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. ^4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. ^5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

^6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ^7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

^8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? ^9 Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? ^10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins....” He said to the paralytic, ^11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” ^12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

The above passage is clearly about a person with disabilities and how others around him did all within their power to remove any barriers he faced. There are many around us who experience barriers, not only physical, but emotional and spiritual. What are some of those barriers and what are we doing to make access to God easier for them?

The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Mk 2:1