Praying for one another.

James 5:16 - Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

This evening a number of the body of Christ were able to meet at my brother’s house (David and Christine) to pray for a dear friend, brother, father, grandfather, bother-in-law, and father-in-law, (depending who you were in the room). We were praying for Gary and Arlene as Gary faces cancer surgery Dec. 14th. It was such a sweet time to gather together around this dear couple that the Lord has used over and over again to make great impacts in all of our lives. We were able to come boldly to the throne of God because of the blood of Christ and make our plea to the ONLY One who can ultimately heal and resolve any issue in our lives. It was sweet sound to hear various fellow followers of Jesus Christ pray who were from various churches and denominations in the valley. It gave us a slight idea of the sound in heaven as people from all walks of life and all different backgrounds and all who have one thing in common – they have called on the name of the LORD Jesus to save them, have put their confidence in Him, have turned from their sin to Him who has removed all sin and have fallen deeply in love with the One who loved us first.

Yes, tonight was an introductory sound of heaven, but in heaven there will be no plea over sickness and sin, no plea for wisdom or understanding, no plea for taking away or adding to, no plea for others that have not yet come to this wonderful Savior (who we have come to put complete confidence in). O, in heaven it will be the sound of pure thanksgiving and praise, the tears of joy and rejoicing, the sound of telling the stories of the great things He has done and the listening to HIS voice as to what He deems for us for all eternity.

Just think, as we come to a point in our lives where we say with all sincerity – “Lord Jesus, thank you for anything here in this life that comes my way. Thank you for the trials, the pain, the suffering. Thank you for the tears and the grief. Thank you for the sickness and even death.” If we can honestly (and I do believe all of us who are His will come around to this here on earth) say I am content with whatever state I am in. I find joy in all that the Lord does… How great will our thanksgiving and joy be in Heaven when all the above is stripped away from our mortal bodies and we put on, by His loving hand, immortality.

Romans 8:18 truly makes sense after going through this life here on earth with Jesus going with us the whole way: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

We are praying for you Gary. And as we pray for you, we allow God to bring all the others who are suffering like you (whether in Christ or not yet in Christ) to the feet of Jesus to do what He does best. “We love you Jesus and we trust you completely to work out all things for good to those who love you and are called according to your purpose. Amen.”