James 5:13-20 page 1

Introduction
Trevor Dearing once wrote: 'The shallowest prayer of which I have ever heard is that of a man who wrote the Lord's Prayer out on a piece of card and pinned it above his bed. Every night before he went to sleep he pointed to it and said, "That's my prayer, Lord!" and then dozed off.'

The National Lottery has engendered equally mindless petitions. The BBC in its coverage at one stage included what it called 'The Lottery Prayer' - 'Lord, I know I'm a sinner, but make me a winner.' That some people really do think like this was revealed when a Mormon knocked on yet another door and was told by the woman who answered: 'I know there's no God, because I pray every Friday and I still haven't won the lottery.'

[Source: Simon Coupland, 'A Dose Of Salts' (Crowborough: Monarch, 1997), #48, p59f; quoting Renewal magazine February 1992, and the BBC, June 1996.]

We need to refresh ourselves about prayer. Christians get affected by popular attitudes, too, and become shallow about prayer. These verses from James enable us to undertake a tour of prayer, observing some of the basic principles of true prayer.

What is prayer about?

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Copyright © David D Faulkner, 2006 except where other sources are attributed or noted as inspiration.