The Most You Can Do

“I’ll be praying for you. It’s the least I can do.”  That’s such a funny little sentence, isn’t it?  Because the “least” you can do, implies that an action is the absolute smallest, most insignificant thing you could possibly do for someone in a given situation.  I find it really interesting that, sometimes, this phrase is often used in reference to prayer.  Do we really have so little faith and put so little stock in prayer that placing someone and their problems into the hands of the One who created everything and controls everything...seems like a small thing?

That’s not to say that if we can do something to try and help someone’s problems that we shouldn’t. In fact, James 2:14-16 says, “What good is it, my brothers and sister, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and be well fed,’ but does nothing for their physical needs, what good is it?” Don’t think that this is what I’m saying, but I think it’s time we really stopped to think about how powerful prayer really is.

Think about it. We have the Creator of everything, the Ruler of everything, at our disposal anytime we need Him (always). Yet, for some reason, it usually seems to be our last resort to pray for someone rather than our first instinct. Our calling is not to try to fix people’s problems on our own power. We are backed by the power of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit living in our lives. Just look at Matthew 7:7, Matthew 21:22, Matthew 11:24, John 14:13-14, and a multitude of other verses throughout scripture written for the benefit of Christ followers. Jesus tells us that anything we ask according to His will and in His name shall come to pass.

Again, check out James 5:15-16, just 3 chapters after the last section we looked at from James. We are told, “And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 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.” Our prayers have power and everything else we do apart from prayer and God’s power might temporarily give relief to those around us, but by no means will it have the lasting, even eternal impact that an act of love and kindness done prayerfully and through God’s power will have on you and those around you.

The Bible is quick to point out in Isaiah 64:6 that our good deeds are about as good as used menstrual rags apart from the love and power of Jesus Christ. There must therefore be a balance between living by faith and by works, because faith without works is dead, but works without faith is less than worthless.

Unfortunately, praying for someone still feels like a very small deed to our small human minds. But what's so great is we're not just left to guess about and have blind faith in what prayer is and does for us. Jesus promises us that anything that is asked in His name will be done according to His will for His glory (Matthew 7:7, Matthew 21:22, Mark 11:24, & John 14:13-14). That is a promise from the Ultimate Promise Keeper. That's something you can rely on.

We have full access to God at any time when He becomes our King and Father. In Hebrews 10:19-22 we are told, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a Great High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”

Praying for someone is an amazing act of love and relationship with God and others.