“And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up.” (James 5:15 NIV)

Have you ever gone on a parachuting expedition? Someone takes you way up in the sky, and you are given the opportunity to jump into the void with a parachute . . . Unless you are a bird, then you don’t need a parachute!

Imagine doing this for the first time. I don’t think I’d have any problem entering the plane, unless it was missing a wing or something. Once I would find myself way up high in the sky however, and someone would approach to let me know it was time to jump, I think I would grab the seat in front of me and would hold on for dear life.

If for some reason the attendants (and there would have to be more than one of them to succeed!) Would be successful in prying my hands off of the seat, it would be at the expense of my claws (Hopefully by that time my nails would be longer!) Scratching anything in sight! Then I would assume the position of a spider, spreading my arms and legs as wide as possible to hold myself on the “in”side of the open plane door! If you don’t believe me ask my wife and kids! There’s no way anybody would force me out of that door!

Why not? Well, now that I have reached my silver years (and the silver as my hair is starting to turn grey), I have inherited a certain phobia that makes me extremely afraid of heights. In addition to that, I don’t trust parachutes! I have heard too many scary stories about people who found out too late that their chute had a mind of its own! I decided long ago that there is no way I would ever entrust my life to such an untrustworthy invention! Imagine the speed you would be falling! No jaguar could ever overtake you!

This makes me realize that prayer is very similar to a parachute. If you don’t trust the person it is addressed to (Our Heavenly Father), your prayer will never materialize to its fullest form! Just like I will never be able to experience the thrill of free-fall and the freedom of reaching earth by the simple means of a parachute, the answer to your prayer will also never happen.

Why? The answer is simple: “When he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord.” (James 1:6 NIV)

P. S. Have you ever tried bunji jumping? After just the thought of free-falling into the void, I can’t even remember how to spell the word! Knowing myself, I would even forget my parachute on the plane! But that’s another story!

Rob Chaffart

(To access the entire “Important Elements of Prayer” devotional series, please click here.)