All Encompassing Prayer
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James 5:13-18
James 5:13-18
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.
Prayer
Prayer
It is clear to anyone that has ever read the Bible that pray is an essential part of the Christian walk.
In the English Standard Version of the Bible, there are 322 instances of the word “pray.”
Furthermore, There are over 650 prayers in the Bible.
And Scripture records 25 prayers of Jesus.
But, can I confess something to you all, Saints?!?
I must admit, that I, like many believers, find prayer to be a difficult part of my faith walk.
There is just something about it that I find difficult.
I can spend hours reading God’s Word.
I have shelf upon shelf of Biblical commentaries and the like that my son often asks me how I could have ever read that much about God and the Bible.
I’ll spend countless hours preparing to teach a Bible study or give a sermon.
But there is just something I find difficult about PRAYING!
Maybe I find it awkward to talk out loud to God.
Sometimes I find myself thinking “Why would God want to hear from me? After all, I’m just a regular guy with first world problems.
Sometimes I get worried that I am praying in a wrong manner, such as heaping up empty phrases that Jesus warns about.
Sometimes, when I make time to pray, I find my mind wandering to my current life’s troubles, or the hunger in my stomach, or the fatigue of the day.
But when I hear a true prayer warrior, I find myself not only being in awe of the power of those prayers but also a bit envious.
You see, I, like many, desire greatly in my heart to be a powerful, consistent, and fervent prayer warrior!!!
As a little background on this passage, there are a couple of things I would like to share with you.
First, as we all know, James is the half brother of Jesus.
What you may not know is what the early church fathers tell us was James’s nickname.
Anyone here know?
It was OLD CAMEL KNEES, as it was said that James was found in prayer so much that it rendered his knees as calloused as that of a camel.
It would also be wise of us to remember what the overall theme of the Book of James is.
The ESV Study Bible states that “James’s primary theme is living out one’s faith, being a doer and not just a hearer of the word.”
And one of the major subplots in James is the idea of perseverance through suffering, and you will see undertones of this in this closing passage of his epistle.
I. WE ARE TO PRAY IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES.
I. WE ARE TO PRAY IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES.
This is a theme that runs throughout the entire Bible.
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
In Luke 18:1 Jesus taught
1 …… that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.
And finally…
16 Rejoice always,
17 pray without ceasing,
18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
But here James gives us some more practical advice on when to pray.
James tells us to pray in four specific circumstances:
When we are suffering.
James 5:13 (ESV)
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.
Fortunately, this is one of the times that most of us, even those who find prayer difficult, seem to have down pretty well.
When we need the Lord, we are often quick to fall on our knees and lift our requests to God.
We feel free to ask Him for an end to our financial issues, or our marital problems, or strife, or the death of a loved one.
When natural disasters hit, there are national calls for prayer.
On 9/11 the whole world it seemed prayed.
And there is nothing wrong with that.
God wants to hear our needs.
After all, God is the one that will see the believer through any and all types of suffering and evil.
But have you ever stopped and thought about HOW you pray during these times?
Almost always, we pray for deliverance.
We pray that we will have enough money to pay our bills.
We pray that our spouse will just see it our way.
We pray for a hedge of protection around of families, our communities, our nation.
But do you ever stop and pray that God would simply LEAD YOU THROUGH the tough times?
Do you simply ask God to teach you and strengthen you through the tough times RATHER than get you out of them quickly?
Remember what I said, that James has just finished writing earlier in Chapter 5 about persevering and having patience in suffering!!!
The Apostle Paul is a perfect example of this:
In Acts 16, Paul and Silas were jailed, and the scriptures tells us that Acts 16:25
Acts 16:25 (ESV)
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God…
Who among you have sang a song of praise to the LORD during your times of trouble?
Who has lifted his voice in praise to the ALMIGHTY when going through it?
Who has lifted his hands to GOD and said “Thank you for this hardship, for it is your will to strengthen me in this way!!!”?
But that is exactly what the Bible teaches us we should do.
After all, James himself writes:
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
And the Apostle Paul teaches us in one of the most misquoted passages of the Bible
Philippians 4:11–13 (ESV)
11 …I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.
13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
If the Apostle Paul can praise God through beatings, and stoning, and jailing why can’t you and I praise Him through the relatively minor problems we face in our modern world.
Because I tell you, the times are at hand, Brothers and Sisters, when persecution is coming when our faith will be tested.
And if we cannot learn to pray and praise God now, then I hate to see what is gonna happen to us then!!!!
During times of Joy.
I don’t know about you, Saints, but if I find it difficult to pray in hard times, I find it ten times harder to pray in good times.
You see it is during the good times that we as humans tend to think we have it all under control.
We think “I’ve got this.” And we, or at least I, tend to neglect my prayer life.
But what does James say here?
James 5:13 (ESV)
13 …Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
Just look at how many times in the Bible praise is lifted up to God:
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!
2 Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!
1 O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
And finally:
13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
If the Psalmist, Ladies and Gentlemen, who lived in a time that nearly everyone lived farm to table in a barren and desolate place filled with disease, and war and hardships could praise God, WHY DON’T WE?!?!
Are we not living in the most prosperous time in history, in the greatest, freest, least racist country the world has ever known?
Are we not blessed by God every morning with the breath in our lungs, the food on our tables, and clean water to drink?
If we as Americans in the 21st century cannot find joy in our heart to praise the Lord, then what are we doing??
When we are sick.
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.
There is some debate here among scholars as to exactly what type of illness James is referring to.
Some believe that James is only referring to physical ailments.
Others believe that he is referring to spiritual ailment or possession because he later mentions that the sick will be forgiven of sins and “lifted up.”
Personally I believe through my study of this passage that there is a double meaning and both are in view.
First, James says that the elders (plural) are to pray over the sick and anoint them with oil.
This, of course is similar what is said about the apostles when Jesus sent them on their missionary journey …
13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.
Scholars also know that olive oil was felt in ancient times to have broad medicinal purposes .
Practitioners would often massage the olive oil into the skin overlying the injury or illness.
But it strikes me here that James is offering a bit of practical advice when it comes to illness.
See over my 20 year career, I have met quite a few people who either sat around letting cancer eat away at their body until there was nothing we could do for them all because they thought prayer was all they needed in order to be healed.
Furthermore, I have looked patients square in the face who were told they had cancer and that I could cure them surgically tell and had them tell me that they believed that God would heal them through prayer.
To which I responded, “Have you ever thought that the physicians you are talking to right now are the means by which God has sent His healing power?”
Now don’t hear what I’m NOT saying.
Prayer alone can most definitely heal.
I am a witness to what I consider the miraculous healing power of prayer.
Rather, what I am saying is that James is saying that God’s healing often comes through not only our individual prayer, but the corporate prayer of our elders, and the healing power of medicine!
Praise God, Amen!!
But as I said, I believe that there is a dual meaning here as well.
This brings me to the fourth time or circumstance in which we should pray…
Pray in times of sin and spiritual darkness.
James 5:15–16 (ESV)
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.
Just look at the language here.
Yes, clearly, James means that the sick will be healed of their physical ailments.
But look what he also says, “The Lord will raise him up!”
Does this or does this not remind you of the words of Jesus when He says:
40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
Paul talks about the transformed, incorruptible body that we as believers will put on in Heaven.
And let’s face it, Saints, when Isaiah 53 says that by the Messiah’s wounds well will be healed, it is NOT just talking bout our physical wounds.
Jesus Christ took on the sins of the whole world, NOT that we would never again face illness or injury!
Rather the Son of God took on the chastisement that you and I deserve in order to free us from the bondage of slavery to sin.
And that, my friends, is why James says that we are to confess our sins to one another.
Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand!!
Repent, and run from your sins!!
Repent, and be healed by the blood of Jesus Christ!!!
Be healed of your ailments!
Be healed of your scars of bondage to sin!
Be saved from the torment that awaits the unbeliever in Hell.
Pray to God in times of sin and spiritual darkness, for the Light of God has come into the world to save us from the darkness that has no power to overcome!!
Pray to God and be healed!!!!
II. PRAYER HAS POWER.
II. PRAYER HAS POWER.
James 5:16 (ESV)
16 …The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
I love how the New King James Version puts it:
“The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
We have already seen in verses 14-16 how prayer of righteous elders can heal the sick.
But look at what else the Bible says.
In Matthew 7:7-8 Jesus says
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
Three times in the Gospel of John Jesus promises that prayer said in His name will be answered.
John 14:13-14 (ESV)
13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
And finally:
23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.
Let us also not forget that Our Lord Jesus Christ said
22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God.
23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.
24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
But the only way we can unleash the unstoppable power of prayer is if we practice it, day in and day out.
We have not because we ask not.
We want because we fail to fall on our knees, praise the Holy and Loving God of heaven.
We fail to unleash the POWER of Prayer because we fail to stay in a state of daily prayer!!
I know I am guilty of this.
The question is are you?
And if so, what are you and I going to do about it?
III. WE MUST PRAY IN THE WILL OF GOD.
III. WE MUST PRAY IN THE WILL OF GOD.
As James closes this section of scripture, he gives the example of Elijah. He says:
18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
Now you may be asking yourself, why does James end this passage in this manner?
I believe it is to teach us that we must pray in the will of God.
After all the scripture says:
1 John 5:14 (ESV)
14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
And James says earlier in his epistle:
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
So let’s go back and review the life and times of Elijah the prophet.
He was living at the time of King Ahab and his Non-Israelite pagan wife, Jezebel.
Now before this incident that James recounts, recall that Elijah in 1 Kings 17 had prophesied by the Word of the Lord that there would be no rain in the land.
That had come to pass, and there was a great drought in the land.
Now this flew in the face of the god of Jezebel known as Baal, who was worshipped as their god of weather.
Then Elijah challenged the priests of Baal, knowing that they could not do what God Almighty can do.
So he had them pray to Baal to bring down fire on their sacrifices, but they couldn’t of course, because Baal really isn’t anything.
Then Elijah put his offering on the alter and had water poured on and around it several times and prayed to God who then rained down fire on the sacrifice showing that He is in control of the universe.
And then here is the key that James is getting at:
41 And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.”
42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees.
43 And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again,” seven times.
44 And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.’ ”
45 And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.
46 And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
Notice two main things here about these prayers of Elijah.
First, Elijah’s prayers were in line with the Will of God.
Now, you may rightfully say to me, yes, but Elijah was a prophet that God had spoken to and therefore he knew the Will of God more directly.
That’s a fair point, but I will challenge you that we too know the Will of God, and we know it for certain!!
How, you ask?
I’m glad y’all ask such good questions.
You see we have the Will of God spelled out for us in great detail right here in the words of scripture.
What’s more, we have the clear revelation of God in the person of Jesus Christ.
And if that wasn’t enough, we have the gift of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to guide and shape our hearts and minds if we just let Him!!
Amen?
Elijah’s prayers were persistent and fervent.
You see God answers the the effective fervent prayer of the righteous man.
Elijah did not give up on his prayers when God didn’t answer them immediately.
Rather, the Bible persisted seven times to pray for the rain to come, and when that small cloud appeared in the distance, Elijah KNEW God had answered his prayer.
And just like Elijah, we must be persistent in prayer.
We must be fervent in prayer.
And we must pray in the Will of God!!!!!
This brings me to my conclusion:
What does God will for the His creation?
God, in His Holy Word says that He desires that “all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
So I ask you today, are you praying for others to be saved?
Are you praying that your enemies be saved?
Are you praying for your lost family and friends to be saved?
Most importantly, if you yourself don’t know the loving embrace of the Lord Jesus Christ, are you willing to come to the altar, fall on your knees in the presence of a Holy and Loving God, and give your life to the one that gave His Life for you?
Are you willing to come and start a life of fellowship and prayer with the creator of the universe?