Top of the morning to you this Lord's Day. First, thanks for your prayers and the flower arrangement this week as we laid to rest my mother's husband, Buddy. My hat's off to the Commander as his design of the wreath was most fitting. The wreath, which had a ribbon across it that said "We Salute You Buddy", was given a position of honor at the funeral home, at the church and at the cemetery - always next to the casket. It gives me great pleasure and pride to be a part of such a great group of people known as the 13th Congoleese.

On the prayer list don't forget Powerman's Mom she goes into a local cancer center in Allentown, Pa. for testing on Nov.9th.

As promised today's lesson is on power praying. You see there is praying, i.e. giving thanks for a meal, hoping for a job, asking for daily needs such as watch care and protection. Then, there are those times when our guts are on fire when our lives hang in the balance and you want to do more than just say please help me. James 5:13-18 "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much"

P = Purity notice the righteous man  There is no substitute for living right in the sight of God each day John 9:31 "Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth His Will, him He heareth"

O = Others notice from our text "call for the elders" and "pray one for another". Also from our text, God likes the Glory for things and is one of the reasons we worship Him.  The more people you have praying for something, first, the greater chance a righteous man will pray, second, the more glory God will receive from answering the prayers and thirdly, probably the most important, because He said to. Now, that's always the bottom line if you live by faith.

W = Will of God verse 15 of our text says God will save the sick in this case from their sins which is the main thing because we are all going to die sometime, but it doesn't have to be today are because the doctor said so my Dad was given 6-18 months to live in 1985 because lung surgery was unsuccessful at getting the all the cancer.  Dad's cancer was the fast growing kind, but he fought through the power of prayer and no chemo.  My father died in 1999, but his cancer never was seen again after he was healed through prayer. He did receive radiation just to buy him some time. Look at James 1:5-8 and learn to accept the Lord's Will, but never and I mean never pray doubting His ability or His love or His Willingness to do the impossible.

E = Earnestly pray "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months".  Praying earnestly doesn't carry with it the idea of saying a little passing prayer as a thought crosses your mind.  I encourage you to do that, but that's not the subject matter at this time. Praying earnestly carries with it the idea of separating your self from all other cares of this world to talk to God continuously - going for a walk, shutting one's self off in a room spending time in a church or chapel on bended knees and even fasting which is not eating.  David laid face down on the ground fasting for three day's.  The Lord spent 40 days fasting.

R = Repentance "Confess your fault's one to another...that ye may be healed".   Confession is good for the soul only if it marks the beginning of repentance.  Dad quit smoking and made a promise to God, not because it was a sin that would cost him his soul, but because it was time to acknowledge the damage it had done to him and the need to show his children a better way to life here. I made a promise to God to put my talent to use for him as a preacher. Promises we both kept. But, before you make a deal with God, you had  better read Ecclesiastes 5:4-6. It's so important. “When thou vowest a vow unto God defer not to pay it: for He hath no pleasure in fools; pay that which thou vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error; wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the works of thine hands?”

Power praying works and it is one of the greatest tools to have in life. I wouldn't know how to live without it, yet many Christian's know nothing about it. Now you're one up on them!

Now let us pray:  Great and Almighty, Heavenly Father, we approach Thy Throne of Grace in the most humble manner we know how and ask you to look down on us and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. We pray for the sick and those in mourning all the world over that is our duty to pray for, but we ask at this time to help those we know.  We pray for Sister Faye in her mourning, Jean in her sickness and Brother Powerman’s Mom in her sickness.  We pray for our rulers and our soldiers, may they come home soon having accomplished their mission.  We pray for Thy Church and us that we may have the strength to stand upright in this wicked world.  We pray that You will guide us in the Path of Righteousness and lead us not into temptation.  We pray that Thy Will be done and not our own.  We pray that you give us the wisdom we need to accept Thy Decision in all these matters.  In Christ’s Name we pray.  Amen