Prayer and Promises

THE PROMISE 

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. 

— James 5:16, NLT 

THE TESTIMONY 

For the outpouring of the Spirit every lover of the cause of truth should pray. And as far as lies in our power, we are to remove every hindrance to His working. The Spirit can never be poured out while variance and bitterness toward one another are cherished by the members of the church... Nothing so offends God as an act that injures the influence of those who are doing His service. 

Heart must beat in unison with heart. Christian benevolence and brotherly love must be far more abundantly shown. The words are ringing in my ears: “Draw together, draw together.” 

But in order for us to fulfill God’s purpose, there is a preparatory work to be done. The Lord bids us empty our hearts of the selfishness which is the root of alienation. He longs to pour upon us His Holy Spirit in rich measure, and He bids us clear the way by self-renunciation. When self is surrendered to God, our eyes will be opened to see the stumbling stones which our un-Christlikeness has placed in the way of others. All these God bids us remove. He says: “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.” 

When the grace of God reigns within, the soul will be surrounded with an atmosphere of faith and courage and Christlike love, an atmosphere invigorating to the spiritual life of all who inhale it. Then we can go to the...meeting not merely to receive, but to impart. 

Everyone who is a partaker of Christ’s pardoning love, everyone who has been enlightened by the Spirit of God and converted to the truth, will feel that for these precious blessings he owes a debt to every soul with whom he comes in contact. Those who are humble in heart the Lord will use to reach souls... They will be moved to speak words which reveal the saving grace of Christ. 

And in blessing others they will themselves be blessed. God gives us opportunity to impart grace, that He may refill us with increased grace. 

— Testimonies for the Church Volume 6, p.42,43 

THE RESPONSE 

Pray for the outpouring of the Spirit, remove every hindrance to His working.

Empty your heart of selfishness, clear the way for the Holy Spirit to be poured out. Claim His promise to pour upon us His Holy Spirit in rich measure. 

Surrender yourself to God. “Confess your faults to one another and pray for one another.”  

Bless others and you will be blessed. Impart grace that He may refill you with increased grace.