The Words we Say and Pray

Intro:

James 5:12-20 “But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation. Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 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. 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. 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. 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. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth …”

Live by Your Word

We are a people that puts a lot of value on oaths or making promises.

We do this with friends, parents, and even in our legal system (swear on the Bible)

We swear on the Bible, on our mother’s life on our own pinkies, etc.

The reason that we put so much emphasis on oaths and promises is that we don’t trust people.

You wouldn’t ask someone that you trust completely to promise anything, because you would know that if they said that they wouldn’t do something, they wouldn’t do it.

We, as Christians, shouldn’t need to swear by something or give an oath, we need to be trustworthy.

Take your word seriously.

When you say something, realize that there is a weight to what you say.

So don’t be flippant abut that words that you say, they matter.

Pray for Everything.

In everything, we need to always be praying!

Whether you’re happy or sad, in pain or ecstatic, PRAY!

We treat prayer like a last resort, it might be the last thing that we do before we give up, but it should be the first thing we do in any circumstance.

Pray for everything.

Ex.

Praying for healing.

V.14: This could be read as whoever is sick should just get a bunch of people to pray for them and then they’ll be fine, but that doesn’t seem to be the message of what is communicated.

The word for “sick” is actually more commonly translated as weak. It’s used to mean sick, but it more often means a weakness, like a time of suffering.

Beyond that, the promise that we’re given is not that everything will get better, it’s that we will be restored. That doesn’t mean healed, that means that we will be able to deal with the suffering that we are dealing with better.

The Holy Spirit empowers us to endure the suffering that we experience well, not just heals every injury we have.

This is not to say that people can’t be healed!

I’ve seen people get healed, I’ve talked to people about their cancer going away, theres a multitude of different times when God shows up in really powerful ways!

BUT THAT’S NOT ALWAYS THE CASE

God doesn’t just fix every physical issue, because that’s not the point! God cares immensely about you and your suffering, but sometimes our suffering is necessary for our souls!

And, beyond that, you will one day die, and it’s got to happen somehow!

I’m not saying in this that God won’t heal, but I am saying that you do more harm than good often by telling everyone who’s sick that you KNOW that God is going to physically heal them, because He isn’t guaranteed to do it, and you will hurt your and the other person’s relationship with God if you claim to know God’s will better than anyone else.

Encourage One Another

We have probably all known people who have walked away from God.

If you don’t, then unfortunately, you will.

Love them enough to encourage them to come back to God.

You don’t do this by being a nag or a jerk, you do it by loving people.

Talk to them about God, invite them to youth group or camp, or just remind them of the love of God.

Beyond that, encourage people, even if they haven’t gone away from God.

I want us to be a youth group that is filled with people that love God and each other, and that means we need to be encouraging!

We should always be calling people to a greater love of God by loving them, and God well.

Youth groups that don’t love each other kind of suck, and I don’t want that!

Questions.

If you could have one animal as a pet, what would it be?

Read v. 12. Why is it so important to live by your word?

How can you become someone who prays more?

Who is someone that you can encourage this week? How will you do it?