Alissa is a senior and a future doctor!  She majored in IPHS and has spent time as an SMC, a member of the IPHS Honorary and many other on campus organizations.  She is learning to love Chinese food and is awesome at making yummy cakes and desserts!

Pray.

 Then read James 5:13-18.

 I love that this passage reminds us to pray at all times and promises us that our prayers will be heard and answered. When I recently reread this passage, however, two things stood out to me: verse 16 where James says, “the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” and vs 17 where he compares us to Elijah. I was confused as to how James could tell us that Elijah was the righteous man verse 16 talks about and then tell us that he was just like you and I. I am quite certain that I am nothing like Elijah seeing as I have never performed any miracles. This really frustrated me. If James is telling us that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective and then saying that Elijah (!) is a good example of this, do I even have a chance? How can I become this righteous person that James speaks of so that all of my prayers and become powerful and effective?

 Flip to Romans 3:21-24. Verse 22: “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” When we believe in Christ as our Savior, God doesn’t just declare us to be not guilty, but rather declares us to be righteous. Christ died so that we can be called righteous; we can pray as Elijah did and the Lord will answer. As you go out into this day I challenge you to pray with purpose; remember that you are praying not just to some unknown power lurking somewhere beyond the sky but rather to God. Elohim, our Everlasting Father, Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. A God so much bigger than our comprehension and understanding and yet someone who loves each of us so much, who has covered us in His mercy, grace, and love, who has declared us as righteous, and who truly hears our prayers. (Go ahead, pray to Him!)