Fear No Fear

“And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven” (James 5:14, MEV). God loves us enough to respond to our trust in Him. It isn’t the elders coming to pray that does it. It isn’t the anointing oil that does it. Those things help, but they aren’t the active ingredient. They call the elders because the elders have more trust in God than the person who is sick and calling them. The anointing oil is a physical symbol of what God is doing spiritually. But the active ingredient is the prayer full of trust in God. The other things are important. If we don’t have trust in God, God doesn’t respond. He doesn’t do panic prayers. He doesn’t do desperation prayers – except our cry to be saved. God does trusting in Him prayers. Jesus said it Himself: “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you will receive them, and you will have them” (Mark 11:24, MEV). We need God’s Word in us so that we understand WHAT to pray (John 15:7). We need to be praying for what God wants (1 John 5:14-15), not what WE want (James 4:3). It is all about believing what God says and then trusting in Him for it. Praying His will, which we know from His Word. Not mixing TIME with the prayer. Yes, of course we want it now. But when we have been told we will get something from a trustworthy person, we know that we will have it. Today, tomorrow, immediately, next year, the time doesn’t matter when the source is trustworthy. It doesn’t lesson the desire for it right now, but the time passing doesn’t MATTER to the trusting that we will receive. It works the same way with God. When we pray, we trust that He can do it and will do it, and we believe we have received it right then and there no matter what the circumstances look like. We can thank Him for it right away. And keep thanking Him for it until the ‘package’ arrives at our doorstop. It’s just in transit, it isn’t waiting for anything. God sends everything immediately. It takes time to arrive, but we discount that time. We are to ignore it. We are to stand on the Word – which we are praying – and keep standing until we receive. Period. That is trust in a reliable Source. Pushing down doubt with the Word. Thanking the Lord every day. And resting in Jesus, who is the one doing the work. God responds to trust. God loves us. He won’t ignore us or forget us. Ever.