13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
–James 5:13-18 (ESV)

How can I hope to pray as a righteous person? From the earthly perspective, the Bible makes it clear that no one is righteous, so the answer must involve a heavenly perspective.

A lesson of Holy Week is the great exchange. We come to the cross with our sin-stained robes. Our Lord exchanges our dirty robes for clean robes of His righteousness.

This makes righteous in God’s eyes when we pray in Jesus’ name.