Today, we are focused on the Office of Diversity, Opportunity, and Inclusion. Chief Martin Brown leads that office. God created us all individually and with specific differences: each of us just as we are and created in His image.

Chief Brown encourages Virginians to recognize the beautiful diversity that exists in Virginia, which is one of the most diverse states in America. He asks that we pray for all Virginians and Americans to open their eyes to the many blessings that this nation already provides.

As we pray for unity, we also pray that God would grant us the ability to see each other not in light of our differences but in light of our commonalities—being image bearers of our Great God.

Our Biblical mandate is found in John 13:34-35, where Jesus commanded His disciples to, “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

In the battles we face in our appointed times, the Lord knew we would need to love one another, that we would need love from others, and that we would need to frequently be the givers of love, too. Every day, we must choose to obey His commandment to love. We must choose to genuinely love one another, even those not at all like us, and even those in complete opposition to us.

PRAYER THAT AVAILS MUCH

James 5:16-18, The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 

The word avails in the original Greek means: is able, is capable, or has the power. The righteous person—one who has been made right with God—can be used by God to change even the world through prayer. 

James was a man of prayer like few people in history. When he wrote the words Prayer avails much he wasn’t just saying this in a poetic, motivating way. He was living it. 

Two early church historians who lived not long after the apostles died said of James that he prayed so much on his knees that his knees literally hardened like camels’ knees.

The fourth-century church historian, Eusebius, relates a story gathered from the lost works of Hegesippus during the second century about James in Book II, Ch. XXIII:

7TH Paragraph: And he [James] was in the habit of entering alone into the temple, and was frequently found upon his knees begging forgiveness for the people, so that his knees became hard like those of a camel, in consequence of his constantly bending them in his worship of God, and asking forgiveness for the people.

This early apostle had such a prayer life to the point that his knees changed. There was physical evidence of his prayer life. 

Most believers need to spend more time on their knees. We see men and women of God praying on their knees throughout scripture. We see it in Daniel, in the gospel of Luke, and even in the Apostle Paul’s writing in Ephesians.

The point is this: prayer changes things. Prayer makes a difference, just as the man with the camel knees says in the passage.