James: Waiting & Praying Week 5

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Scripture Reading by Lady Pepper (Show Slide)

(Show Slide) Thank you Lady Pepper for the announcements and the reading of God’s Word.

Welcome! to everyone and especially those who are joining us for the first time. My name is Pastor Doc, and I will be sharing the Word of God with you today.

Please have your Bibles ready and Take Note’s

-Show Video - Week 5

Title of the message this Morning

James: Waiting & Praying - Week 5

Big Idea:

Waiting on God and praying in faith are two of the most powerful actions a believer can take.

Prayer:

“Lord we repent of any time we thought that prayer was too trivial or simple for us. Increase our faith and expand our understanding of the power of prayer and the righteous action of waiting.”

Scripture: James 5:7-18

(All scripture quoted comes from the ESV unless otherwise noted)

Introduction

Well friends, we’ve made it to the final lap.

It’s been an encouraging and inspiring series through the book of James.

We’ve learned a lot from him, the half brother of Jesus and pastor of the church in Jerusalem.

And there’s been a lot to learn; Each week we tackled 2 big ideas.

Week 1 was testing and persevering, week 2 was listening and doing, week 3 was faith and works, week 4 was speaking and boasting, and this week we’re finishing strong with waiting and praying.

James writes from an impassioned perspective as the leader of a church who’s facing persecution.

He’s a good pastor who cares for his church and his letter is packed full of practical advice, Godly wisdom, care, and compassion.

Today, as we look to him to learn more about waiting and praying I want you to remember the context he’s writing from.

Can you even imagine how difficult it would be to face persecution and be told you should wait on God, or pray God would provide a miracle.

For many of us, we’re quick to try and figure out how to remedy any situation we’re stuck in.

And that’s not inherently wrong, in fact we live in a culture where we can order pretty much anything we need and have it delivered to our homes within 2 days.

We don’t really have to “wait” for anything let alone pray in earnest that God would show up and do the miraculous.

But that’s the life that James was living.

That’s the life the early church was living.

And whether or not you’ve ever faced life or death persecution

I can guarantee you that the longer you follow Jesus the more opportunities you’ll have to learn the value of waiting and praying.

It’s where He does some of His best, more providential, and inspiring work.

(Pastor - this could be a great place to share a powerful story about a time you or your ministry had to wait and pray to help setup the rest of the sermon)

For those who believe, patience and prayer are two of the most powerful forces on earth.

Main Teaching

I. Read James 5:7-12

Be patient… What an incredible way to begin our passage. What a powerful encouragement for believers both ancient and modern.

Patience is one of the 8 fruits of the Spirit outlined by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 5:22. And patience is one of the core characteristics of those who follow Jesus.

“Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.”

There are several things that jump out in this first statement from our passage today.

Patience, first and foremost, but also the object for which the community is patient for… The return of the Lord was front and center to the early church.

And it cannot be understated how much this belief, that Jesus would return in their lifetimes, informed the preaching, thinking, and action of those early believers.

For as much as James talked about action and works, he also believed that being patient and waiting were powerful options in the hands of the church:

“See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains… As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.” James 5:7-10

Look to the farmers, look to the prophets… These are practical examples of patience James points to.

And then he makes the ultimate point and encourages the church to remember the story of Job…

Which if you’re familiar with, you know that Job lost everything; His family, his fortune, and even his friends through a prolonged season of suffering in his life.

But, as we now know, Job’s perseverance in the midst of suffering was greatly rewarded.

In fact, I think we can all agree that we greatly esteem the stories and testimonies of those who’ve suffered greatly, and persevered in patience.

(Pastor - Consider sharing a story of patience and perseverance here. the story of Nelson Mandela’s long imprisonment in Africa,

Mandela is considered the father of Modern South Africa.

He was instrumental in tearing down the oppressive government and installing democracy.

Mandela received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for peacefully destroying the Apartheid regime and laying the foundation for democracy.

27 Years in jail.

We count these people as fortunate, blessed, and strong in their faith because of their willingness to be patient in their suffering)

Waiting isn’t easy, and in this fast paced immediate gratification world we live in, I suspect waiting is a distant afterthought for most of us.

Why wait when we can fix most of our problems with a few simple mouse clicks?

Why wait when there are things like 60-day same as cash financing, or YouTube, instant coffee, and 5-minute rice?

We’ve built our entire culture to be efficient, precise, and productive.

And can you believe this? we are no closer to being peaceful, content, and satisfied than when we began.

But the word has some powerful encouragement for those who find themselves in prolonged seasons of waiting;

● “Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” - Isaiah 40:30-31

● “Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!” - Psalm 27:14

● “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” - 2 Peter 3:9

Waiting isn’t passive.

Waiting is powerful.

When you adopt a posture of patience, you are adopting strength!

There are other things we do in the midst of waiting that make it even more powerful.

You could even say, it supercharges the waiting

James tells us not to grumble against one another, not to swear by heaven or earth, and finally, to be prayerful.

II. Read James 5:13-18

This section of James almost starts off like one of those Sinach worship songs… “Way Maker”

Are you in trouble? Pray.

Are you happy? Pray louder.

Are you sick? Call someone else and have them pray.

The response to every one of these situations is the same… Which really begs the question, should that be our default response too?

Should prayer be the response to each and every situation we may or may not find ourselves in?

I know this might sound strange, but ever where in the Bible the answer to these questions would in fact be yes!

And more than just yes, but yes…It’s actually the will of God for your life… Listen to this:

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Church, the will of God is that we would always rejoice, always pray, always be giving thanks.

And I know how impossible this all sounds…

For most of us we find it hard to even sneak away for 15 minutes to pray, let alone praying and rejoicing all day long!

Let’s suspend our disbelief for a moment and just consider the heart behind this instruction.

“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.” - James 5:16-17

The prayers of the righteous are powerful.

Singing songs of praise in the midst of suffering is powerful.

As we learned last week, our words matter…

And in the kingdom economy they carry an immeasurable value.

So, if you want to supercharge the waiting and maximize the returns on your patience, then add prayer to the waiting.

Whether you’re in trouble, happy, sad, or sick… make a habit of prayer and trust that every word offered up to the Lord carries with it the power to effect change in the midst of your circumstance.

This is the attitude Elijah had when he prayed again and again that rain would fall on the land:

III. Read 1 Kings 18:41-46

The book of James says, “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours and he prayed fervently…”

Obviously we know Elijah was one of God’s chosen prophets of old, but pastor James reminds his hearers that at the end of the day he was still just a human.

The extraordinary thing he did was pray fervently and believe, and God brought healing rain on the land.

Prayer matters.

And when you add fervent prayer in the mouths of the righteous, you supercharge the season of waiting. Please remember, for those who believe, patience and prayer are two of the most powerful forces on earth.

Conclusion

As we bring our time in the book of James to a conclusion, I want to reiterate the care and compassion he had for his church.

I believe that same compassion extends to all who have read his letter through the centuries.

And if he were standing here today, I trust James would speak with the same passion and care he did 2000 years ago.

The trials and tribulations haven’t changed so much over the years.

Sin and destruction are still crouching at your doorstep every morning, and their desire is to “have” you. (Genesis 4:7)

The enemy of our souls is still seeking to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10)

But in the midst of this present darkness and chaos shines the ever present light of Christ.

His glory, power, and majesty won’t fade away and someday sooner or later he’ll return for His Church. His bride.

I pray we would take to heart the encouragement of pastor James.

That we would persevere in the testing, we would be doers of the word and not hearers only, that we would be known for both our faith and our works, that our mouths would be filled with praise, and that we would be marked by our deep commitment to prayer and patience.

These characteristics have set us apart from the world for hundreds of years and there’s no reason to think that’s going to change anytime soon.

So over the next few weeks take one or two of these big ideas from the book of James.

Ask God to expand your courage and increase your strength. Ask Him to use you in the lives of others, to shine the light of the gospel in the midst of darkness.

And do it all with faith that God will see you safely through until the very end.

“For behold,” Jesus says, “I am with you always, till the end of the age.” - Matthew 28:20

Let’s pray together.

Now for those of you who do not know Jesus!

Salvation:

The Word of God says in:

John 3:16

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Romans 10:13

13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

If you’d would like to receive Jesus today, please pray this prayer with all of us:

Lord I believe that Jesus is the son of God, and that He died On the cross for my sins and His resurrection from the dead gives me eternal life. I ask forgiveness of my sins, and I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Amen.

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Pepper Praise Reports

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Let us pray (P/P)

Jerry Beck - Heart & kidney transplant

Christine - heart attack

Wayne - kidney donor

Larry - cancer

Lord we pray not in our own strength, but in the power and in the name of our Lord and Savory, Jesus Christ!

Closing Blessing

The New King James Version (Jude)

24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, 25 To God our Savior,Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.

This is Pastor Doc & Lady Pepper with:

Faith Vision Christian Ministries

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