“If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life…” – 1 John 5:16 

Scripture reading: 1 John 5:16-17; James 5:13-18

While there are a number of difficult issues to deal with in a passage like this, we will be focusing on that which is abundantly plain.  Just as we saw yesterday that we can have confidence in our prayers for greater fellowship with God, so here we see that we can have the same confidence as we pray for our brothers and sisters in the Lord.  Just as we know that God desires fellowship with us as we come to Him in Jesus, so too we know that God desires fellowship with our brothers and sisters as they come to God in Jesus Christ.

As we live life together in the Gospel, there are times when we see fellow believers walking down the path of sin.  We are reminded here that as we pray for restored fellowship for our brothers, the Lord will hear those prayers and answer them. These answers might not always be pleasant in an earthly sense, but from an eternal perspective, God will answer those prayers in regard to deepening fellowship with Him.  You have to remember that as a person is a believer in Jesus, God has already promised that he will not ultimately fall from his state of salvation.  Once again, we are praying God’s promises back to Him!  We must pray not only for ourselves, but also for our brothers that our fellowship with God would be strengthened.

Suggestions for prayer

Think of a number of fellow believers in your life and pray specifically and confidently for them that God would bless then with a deeper sense of God’s love and grace in the Gospel.

Rev. Brian Murray is the associate pastor at Grace ARP Church and the Director of Gillespie Academy in Woodstock, Ontario. He has been ordained in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church since 2003 and he and his wife Melissa have four children. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com.