What would happen if we all committed ourselves to prayer in unity?  Could there be a potential outcome that demonstrates God’s ultimate desire for His people?  I think the answer seems obvious.  The writer of James ( James 5:16 ) tells us that if we confess our sins to one another and pray for one another, that the prayers are not only powerful… but effective.  We talk about turning our nation back to God where our eyes fall upon Him for guidance and direction, but it doesn’t seem to be happening.  At least, it’s not making a dent in the cultural mindset.  From this observation, I’ve found that there are really only 2 basic possibilities.

1.  God was only kidding and He doesn’t provide power and effectiveness to praying people.

2.  We aren’t praying.

If I had to err on this one, I would lean toward item #2, wouldn’t you?  I believe that we tell one another that we are praying… but are we?  When we offer ourselves to the body of Christ and give our time to pray for others… something should be happening, right?  Don’t misunderstand, however, there are many answered prayers and communities springing forward as a result of God’s promise to us… and we need more of that.

The basic provision of the words in James 5:16 contains only a couple of items that need to be addressed before kneeling before the King.  The first requires us to be righteous.  This means that we should constantly strive to do what is right in the eyes of God.  We fail, we confess, we are forgiven, and we are made right again in God’s eyes.  The second requires confession to one another.  Let someone in on your struggles so you can be held accountable to your righteousness.  These two things are pretty much the foundational pulpit of Live Bold.  Find a buddy… be accountable.  Now that we’ve got that in order, we can pray with effective power.

As we head toward Lent… I want you to consider the following challenge:  Pray every day at 5:16 for someone other than yourself… and do it for 40 days… without missing a day.  Set you clock, you watch, your phone, your computer, whatever you have to remind you to pray each day at this time.  You choose AM or PM… I’m a morning person… so I’ll be praying at 5:16 every morning.  If I miss my morning prayer, I’ll be praying at 5:16 in the afternoon.  Want to join me?

If you are new to prayer, please know that it doesn’t have to flow in King’s English or last for hours on end.  A simple conversation with God about someone you care about is all it takes.  Start with a a minute (or even less if you have to), but start.  You’ll find your time with God to grow and grow and become more intentional.

The 40 days of lent are usually tied to giving something up, but I would rather commit to doing something more.  Let’s check in at the end of Lent and see how we’re doing.  It may seem like the very least we can do, but it’s also the most important thing we can do.

Join me – I’ll be praying daily at these times in the Central Time Zone USA.  Where will you be?  Do you have your time zone covered?

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.livebold.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/ga_thumb.png[/author_image] [author_info]Greg Arnold is publisher and founder of Live Bold as well as author of “DIRT: Uncovering Authentic Faith” and architect of the M3 Men’s Ministry framework.  You can read more about him on his bio page here on the site.

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