Charles Stanley Daily Devotional 8th August 2025 (In Touch) Friday Message
TOPIC: Praying for a Change
SCRIPTURE READING: James 5:16-18
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.
18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.
This is our confidence: Anything we pray for that aligns with the Father’s plan will be granted (John 14:13-14). And the more time we spend with Him, the more we’ll come to understand His will and how to pray in accordance with it.
Remember, prayer doesn’t change God’s mind, but that doesn’t mean it’s unnecessary. In fact, it does something essential—namely, transforming the believer’s heart. Some requests are granted immediately, simply because our Father is good and He loves to give His children gifts. Other requests may require time or certain divine preparations before they can be fulfilled. We, meanwhile, must simply persevere in prayer.
Whatever the Lord’s response or timing, we trust that He has only the very best in store for His children. That means we might not receive exactly what we’re asking for, but something even better. Such is God’s great pleasure, for He alone perfectly knows each heart’s desire and wishes to fulfill it.
Our most powerful tool for shaping the world and the lives around us is always available. Prayer lets us witness God’s hand in any situation. And as we learn to give Him our attention and time in conversation, we will find there’s no limit to what He can achieve in our heart and circumstances.
Bible in One Year: Jeremiah 1-3
THOUGHT FOR TODAY: Through prayer, we get greater insight into how God is at work around us.
Dr. Charles F. Stanley was the founder of In Touch Ministries and a New York Times best-selling author. Throughout his ministry, he demonstrated a keen awareness of people’s needs and provided Christ-centered biblically based principles for everyday life