The Effect of Prayer

Happy Mother’s day to all of my mothers in the congregation. Life doesn’t happen without a mother. I remember when Naomi was born here at the Madigan Hospital 6 years ago, as I witnessed my wife give birth to a new life, I knew from that moment that the strength she showed would be an enduring strength for the life we were building with each other. If I could brag on this mom real quick, she is supporting my ministry as a Chaplain, keeping up with the chaos of making sure that everyone in our home is taken care of, and simultaneously going to school. This is not easy task, and she was accepted into the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society. I am proud of you babe, thanks for all that you do for our family.

How many of you know that nothing compares to a mother that prays, Amen? I believe that I am ministering today because of praying mothers, like my pentecostal holiness, holy spirit filled grandmother, who prayed for a lineage of Christ followers who would impact the kingdom of God. I’m sure many of you can testify to having a praying mother in your family. As we near the end of our series in the book of James, today we will talk about The Effect of Prayer.

James shows us that the benefit of prayer is healing. Christians experience Divine healing in 3 ways

James 5:13–20 (NRSV)

1st Way- Spiritual Healing (vv.13, 15)

13 Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise.

-Suffering comes in many forms. To name a few that are relevant to our society are fear, depression, and anxiety. We are faced with many mental challenges and resilience. Our modern lifestyles are conducive to many great tools that are often mismanaged. Our schedules are so busy that stress dominates our day, leaving us paralyzed with unhappiness and discontentment. James advised his audience to pray! This echoes the same theme given by the Apostle Paul, “Philippians 4:6–7 “6 Do not worry 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.” Prayer guards the anxious heart. I wonder how many of you in the congregation are dominated by anxiety in your daily life. When you are faced with situations you can’t control, or fear from not knowing the outcome of something in the future, It is God’s peace from prayer that trumps what is rational. This results in spiritual healing of the heart!

2nd Way- Physical Healing (vv.14-16)

14 Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.

15 The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.

When I pastored a church in the civilian world, there was an experience that happened in the congregation, where a well know lady with MS was healed by the power of the Holy Spirit. The pastor anointed her with oil and she looked over at her mom and said, “ I feel like I need to run around the church. The mom looked at her funny and said, “well honey, if God is telling you to run, you better run.” She flinged her walker out of the way, stood up, and took laps around the church. To this day, Ms Kay of Great Falls, SC is walking miracle and a symbol of God’s healing to the town. How many of you know that God can do the same for you too?

3rd Way- Communal or Fellowship Healing (v.16)

16 Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.

This verse displays the power of congregating as believers in Christ. Many ask the question of why church or chapel is important. What you are doing as you come together is fostering community. We are all sick with a sinful nature. As we confess and prayer over each other, God restores and heals us. I can imagine a congregation, full of the Holy Spirit, that is close knit in Christ. People can speak life into each other without judgement. When you come together for women’s ministry, you get encouraged to overcome the challenges you face in life as women. When you go out together on a Saturday to hang out with each other and pray, God will orchestrate your healing.

Effective Prayer is the Result of Trusting God!

17 Elijah was a human being like us, 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 the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.

19 My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another,

20 you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.