Praying with Faith
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Intro
Welcome to RC again. We are glad you are hear. If you are watching online, we appreciate you watching. We would love for you to be here in person.
We are in the last week of the Book of James. We will do some more book studies in the future.
James is the most practical book in the NT. What he writes is easy to apply into our every day lives. But there is a twist at the end.
Up until now, we might say, I can tame my tongue… I can not sho favoritism… but now instead of practical, James gets spiritual.
13 Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. 14 Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. 16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
James 5:13–16 “ Are any of you suffering hardships?
Everyone is going through difficulties. Everything bad is up.
You should pray.
I am not being cliche. James says to pray.
Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. 14 Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord.
15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well.
And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. 16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”
Why did he focus on prayer? We can all get better in the area of prayer. We might be able to improve our tongues, but there are things that we are facing or will face that we need to go to God about and we do that through prayer.
Prayer is the difference between the best I can do and the best God can do.
Prayer is the difference between the best I can do and the best God can do.
There are times when we are not enough and we need God’s supernatural intervention.
We need to pray more. We need some folks who will come to the church and pray before the services on Sunday mornings and even Wed nights. Just to walk around and pray for the people who sit in these seats.
We start the year and the Fall with 21 Days of prayer and fasting. We need to connect with God.
When we don’t know what we are supposed to do, we need to pray. Prayer is the difference between what we can do and what god can do.
James comes along after all the practical teaching he has done and says, If anyone of you are in trouble…
Here are three things about prayer we need to know tonight.
Prayer puts my unknown future in the hands of an all-knowing God.
Prayer puts my unknown future in the hands of an all-knowing God.
13 Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises.
If you don’t know what you need to do, put it in the hands of our all knowing God.
One of the worst things about a problem is not just the problem, but where is it going? Is it getting worse or better?
Marriage problem - is it getting worse?
The fear of the unknown is what scares us. You need to know, God is at work in YOUR situation. Whatever you are going through didn’t catch God by surprise.
You may be worried, but God isn’t. Look what Jesus came a long and said,
31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. 34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
He tells us not to worry about things the way unbelievers do. God knows what we need.
When we are facing something, we need to pray… first.
If we will seek His kingdom first, he will do the rest. If we will just say…
10 May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
He also said that if you are sick pray.
Prayer puts my hopeless situation in the hands of an all-powerful God.
Prayer puts my hopeless situation in the hands of an all-powerful God.
14 Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.
If you feel hopeless, put it in the hands of our all-powerful God.
I wonder how many people here feel hopeless. You may think it’s too late…
It’s never too late for a God who raises the dead.
18 Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!” 19 And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb. 20 Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. 21 He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.
Whatever your hopeless situation is, God is able to work it out. If you don’t have the faith, borrow it. I know he can work it out.
Prayer puts my broken life in the hands of an all forgiving God
Prayer puts my broken life in the hands of an all forgiving God
15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. 16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
Who is righteous? No body. In fact, God says there is none righteous, not one. But there is good news. You can become a righteous person.
A righteous person is someone who all their wrongs have been made right by God. How does that happen? Through and In Christ.
21 How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.
That’s available for you today.
13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
You can bring your broken life to God and he will fix it. He makes it right.
Pat Sullivan story - can your God ever love someone like me?
There is no broken in your life that God can’t make right.
Building Our Faith
Building Our Faith
How can we build our faith.
Check this out…
17 Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! 18 Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.
We look at Elijah and think he is different. James said, no. Elijah is a person just like you and me. But he prayed.
Listen to the story.
1 Now Elijah, who was from Tishbe in Gilead, told King Ahab, “As surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives—the God I serve—there will be no dew or rain during the next few years until I give the word!”
This is when the famine began. He had a word from God already. It didn’t stop raining because Elijah said it. He had gotten word from God.
1. Faith begins with a word
1. Faith begins with a word
You get a word from the Word.
If you want your faith to grow, you will need a Word and you get a Word by being in God’s word. Are you reading your Bible? If not, you are not going to have faith. And if you don’t have faith, your prayers are not going to work. If your prayers don’t work, it will all be up to you. But if you don’t want it to be all up to you, you have to pray, but when you pray you will need faith and to have faith you find it in God’s word.
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
When you find yourself in a situation, get a word about that situation.
If you are worried about your family serving the Lord? Check this out…
15 But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”
What about all this sickness that’s been going around? Here’s a rod for you. Psalm 91:2-3
2 This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. 3 For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease.
What about this economy?
19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
What about the elections?
1 I look up to the mountains and hills, longing for God’s help. But then I realize that our true help and protection come only from the Lord, our Creator who made the heavens and the earth. 3 He will guard and guide me, never letting me stumble or fall. God is my keeper; he will never forget nor ignore me.
Yo have to get a word…
Back to the story of Elijah…
41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go get something to eat and drink, for I hear a mighty rainstorm coming!” 42 So Ahab went to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and bowed low to the ground and prayed with his face between his knees.
Elijah said it was going to rain on a day as clear as can be.
Elijah is teaching us that when we have a word from God, that…
2. Faith builds when we determine not to give up.
2. Faith builds when we determine not to give up.
We give up too quickly. Don’t give up.
Look what he tells his servant…
43 Then he said to his servant, “Go and look out toward the sea.” The servant went and looked, then returned to Elijah and said, “I didn’t see anything.” Seven times Elijah told him to go and look. 44 Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.” Then Elijah shouted, “Hurry to Ahab and tell him, ‘Climb into your chariot and go back home. If you don’t hurry, the rain will stop you!’ ”
When his servant didn’t see anything, Elijah didn’t give up. He said go back.
You may say to me, I’ve been praying about this… go back. You may have been praying for years.
Elijah never gave up. What is it? It’s called endurance.
36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. 38 But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
45 Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. 46 The power of the Lord came on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
He outran the chariot. That’s not physically possible. Rain doesn’t happen on a beautiful day and men can’t outrun horses.
3. Faith breaks through the natural into the supernatural
3. Faith breaks through the natural into the supernatural
You may think or even say, this can’t happen. You are right. It can’t happen with man, but it can with God.
26 Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”
19 My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
He is saying that even if you get or don’t get your miracle. The most important thing is… not that everything works out here on earth.
The greatest miracle of all: Eternal Life
The greatest miracle of all: Eternal Life
The greatest miracle of all is that we all see each other in heaven and we take our family and friends with us.
Think about your Family, your friends and neighbors and even your co-workers who do not know Jesus. Invite them to join you this Easter.
Conclusion -
If you are here and you would say, I am the person. I am not right and I want them to be right. I’m tired of being separated from God. If that’s you, I will lead you in the same pray that I have prayed for myself and others.
Salvation Prayer -