You should pray! When you are in trouble, broken or backslidden.

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

The truth is, we do believe this Scripture. All of us who had a life-changing experience with the living God, truly believe in our hearts that God is real and that he answers prayer.  We all have a real desire to be able to effectively pray so that things happen or change.

But it is not the belief in prayer that will change our lives and helps us to experience a faith that works.

It is not the intentions to pray that will bring God’s interventions to resolve our fears and problems!

It is praying that will make the difference! It is going on our knees and listening and speaking to God that will make us see that prayer is powerful and effective.

Deep down inside, we know that if we would just spend more time before God in prayer, we would see more of the Kingdom manifesting itself in our lives and the lives of others.  When we find ourselves at the stress points of life, prayer should be the first thing we do, not a last resort.

When you are bruised, you should pray. "Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray." (James 5:13)

When you are broken, you should pray.   "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. 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." (vv. 14-15)

When you are backslidden, you should pray.   "My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins." (vv. 19-20)

The main teaching of James on prayer is – you should pray!

A powerful and effective prayer life will certainly change our lives, our families, our church and our world!