A 'Like' Is Not A Prayer - James 5:16

Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. - James 5:16

I’m addressing this issue since it has become a virus on the social networking sites. All too often our pages are inundated with hideously shocking photos of human beings and animals who have been brutally treated or have fallen victim to some exotic or deforming diseases. The photos are always accompanied by this erroneous line - "A ‘Like’ = a prayer." In simple terms: NO . . . IT DOES NOT!
To actually pray, one would need to know the components of what a prayer is and what a prayer requires to actually be a ‘prayer!’ Obviously, the people who post these disgusting photos have no clue as to either of these components. So allow me first to define what a prayer actually is -
"A prayer is a humble acknowledgment of thanks or a reverent supplication to God."
Now, I’m sure there are people who pray to Shiva, Allah, Buddha, and Satan. But for the sake of our exposition we are referring to the one true Christian God. I know that it sounds a bit arrogant to declare that the Christian God is the only true God, but if you’re a Christian you should have learned that in Christianity 101. Enough bantering now.
As to the components of a prayer there are basically two: faith in God and sincerity. If you have no faith in God then exactly who do you hope will answer your prayer? If I have to explain sincerity to you, being ignorant of the components of prayer isn’t your biggest problem.
So let us examine James 5:16. James describes a "fervent prayer." The Greek for ‘fervent’ is ‘zelos,’ or zealous, i.e., enthusiastic or passionate. Zealous is also defined as industrious. There is a constancy implied in the word; a continuousness of motivation. That is what fervent means, not the flippancy of a cavalier tap of the ‘Like’ button.
James also describes the prayer as being that of "a righteous man." Yes! I’m aware that in Romans 3:10 Paul says- " . . . There is none righteous, no, not one
: . . ." But the righteousness James is referring to is that of a man’s heart, and we know from Proverbs 21:2 that, "Every way of man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart." Seriously, do you believe that by simply clicking on a ‘Like’ button you have sent a sincere, faithful and fervent supplication to God Almighty? As unbelievers, most people on the social network sites won’t give a hoot as to the legitimacy of fervent prayer or its make-up. But as Christians you have a duty to watch that you are not snared by contemporary culture’s allure. And that allure includes the minimalization of reverence toward God.
May Christ always guide you and keep you.