James 3:13-18 The Power of Prayer

Intro:

Today we are going to take a jump to the book of James and consider what James has to tell us about prayer and the wonderful truth and promise that is to be found about prayer there in the last few verses of James chapter 5. I was intrigued this week by this text as I listened to a sermon on it one morning on my way to work and so I decided to do a little bit of study of my own and as I did it seemed like this would be a great place to turn this week in our study of the great and precious promises of scripture.

Now our focus today is going to be on prayer and the promise that we find there that prayer is a powerfully effective gift that has been given to the people of God. However, we also need to be warned that this is not the easiest of texts, particularly what James has to say about prayer in relation to what appears to be healing in verses 14-16.

As we prepare ourselves to dive into this text here this morning it is important to realize that there are varying differences of opinion on this text and in fact the view that I am going to propose this morning isn't even that of the gentleman that I was listening to on the radio this week. My plan when we get to that point is to share the view that I believe to be the best fit for the text and its context here in the book but also to share some of the other views as ultimately it is our duty as followers of Christ to carefully consider these things and to prayerfully draw our conclusions about them.

Now, I want us to keep in mind though that the central element of this text is not healing but rather prayer. This is a message about the power and efficacy of prayer not a message on healing the sick. This is helpful because even if you find that you disagree with me and the interpretation that I will propose for those several verses I hope that we can all find ourselves, as we spend this time here in these verses this morning, brought under conviction of the need for us to truly embrace and give ourselves over to prayer as a central element in not only our own personal lives of faith but also in the gathered life of the local body of Christ.

This is the central theme of this text, to embrace the call to be a prayerful people to be a people who devote ourselves to spending time often in prayer and not just some nebulous undefined heart/mind meditation or listing out wants and desires before God but to truly pursue what we find in the bible to be the fervent and effective prayers of the righteous! The be people devoted to righteous prayer, this is the call of this text.

Lets take a moment to pray and then we will lay some ground work for the text from the book of James and consider what he has to tell us now, here at the end of his letter about the nature and power of prayer.

PRAY & Read

English Standard Version Chapter 5

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.

Now before we consider this text we need to just get a high level overview of the letter that James has written. Many of you are likely familiar with it but this will help as we consider what James says about prayer here in these verses.

The letter is written, as we find in the opening chapter, by James who most believe is James the brother of Jesus who rose to prominence in the early church as a central figure in the Jerusalem church and this makes must sense of the text as James is writing to the 12 tribes which seems to indicate Jewish believers who have been scattered in the early persecution that arose from Saul as he traveled around imprisoning men and women who followed Christ. This drove the church from Jerusalem out into the gentile word and it is likely to these individuals that James’s epistle is addressed. It would make sens then that as a principle leader in the Jerusalem church he could speak so forcefully to these people who had once been members of this assembly before it had been scattered.

The setting for James is hard to pin down but we can tell that this is a people who are being prepared for or are facing trials and persecutions.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4

It seems as though James knew that as these people faced trials and persecutions they would be tempted to pervert the gathering of the church and their own lives by compromising especially as it related to wealth and prestige and those who had it. They were in danger of showing partiality to the rich and wealthy, likely because it is precisely these types of people who from a worldly standpoint might lend legitimacy to the faith and by seeking to please them they might gain some sort of worldly favor.

English Standard Version Chapter 2

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5

In addition to this showing of partiality to the wealthy and powerful they had plenty of need to be reminded not to compromise in their own personal holiness. Again, when faced with trials and temptations and persecutions there is ample opportunity to bend and compromise when it comes to seeking to live out a holy life. Some were seemingly even tempted to console their minds by claiming faith while severely compromising their own living out of the demands of the gospel for their lives, the good works that we read else ware have been prepared for God’s elect to walk in once they have been saved by His grace.

English Standard Version Chapter 2

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15

They were being tempted to turn back to living worldly ways:

English Standard Version Chapter 4

4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Who among us hasn't felt this tug? Especially when trials and persecutions come there is a very real danger that we can grow weary in doing good and can fall back into our sinful worldly ways, compromising with the world that we might live our lives in relative peace and security in the here and now.

This in summary was what was facing this church and for nearly 5 chapters now James has warned and exhorted them and now we come to his closing remarks and he is going to show them that the most important stay for those seeking to hold fast to Christ and remain faithful in this world that is ardently opposed to them is prayer! Prayer is a key element in the battle to remain faithful to Christ and to endure to the end here in this wicked and perverse world.

Prayer

So now we turn to verse 13 of chapter 5.

English Standard Version Chapter 5

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.

We see this reminder for these people and by extension for us. There is no reason to relegate this only to the original predominately Jewish audience, this is a message for God’s people in this wicked world. And as God’s people here in this world we are assured that we will face times of trial and persecution.

Paul had admonished Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:12

2 Timothy 3:12 ESV

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

The author to the Hebrews a book earlier had said in Hebrews 13:12-14

Hebrews 13:12–14 ESV

So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.

And Jesus Himself had admonished His followers in Matthew 10:24-25

Matthew 10:24–25 ESV

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

We do not know to what level these people were currently experiencing the trials James is warning them are coming but James has told them that they are to endure and he now reminds them that when they do they need to not forget to pray.

Now some commentators make much of the fact that we find three distinct types of praying here in this passage. We find here individual prayer, then we find the prayers of the elders in verse 14 and we find church members praying for each other in verse 16. I simply think it is sufficient to note that all of these types of prayer are mentioned thus showing the pervasiveness that prayer is to have amongst God’s people. We are to pray ourselves before our Lord, the elders of the church are to pray for those who have been granted to, and have submitted to, their care and members of the local body are to be in prayer for each other. In just a few short verses it would be hard to overstate the, again, pervasive nature that James is showing us that prayer ought to have in and among us.

Now, though, because we have this admonition we ought to be reminded that we do not necessarily always turn to the Lord in prayer when we face suffering. Honestly the most natural response to suffering and hardship is to focus on the suffering and hardship not to focus on turning to the Lord in prayer. These people were apparently willing to consider all sorts of compromise filled solutions to their suffering, making friends with the world in and effort to escape the suffering and trial.

James reminds them then to turn to the Lord in prayer!

James is reminding them of the exact same thing that those who recieved the epistle of Hebrews were reminded of in Hebrews 4:14-16

Hebrews 4:14–16 ESV

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Are you suffering James says, and this seems to really speak to suffering evil and persecution at the hands of the world for the sake of Christ as it is the same word used by Paul in 2 Timothy 2:9

2 Timothy 2:9 ESV

for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!

If you are facing the ire of the world turn to Christ and pray, draw near through prayer to that throne of Grace and find mercy and grace to help in your time of need.

When we come to God in prayer in the midst of suffering we show that we are trusting Him and we cast our cares on Him because we know and trust that He cares for us. Read any account of believers who have suffered greatly for the gospel and you will doubtless find that these men and women, these giants of the faith be they well known or lost in obscurity have all been people of prayer!

Cheerful

Next James reminds them that if they have reason for cheer and we understand that as those saved by grace there is great reason for cheer even in the midst of trial, that when we have reason for cheer then we sing praise which is really another way of praying with melody. They Psalms are prayers and also the worship book for the people of God.

Now, John MacArthur who I am going to lean on heavily here shortly sees this as sarcastic. But I just don't see the need to go there. Paul after all had told the Corinthians that we are to be “sorrowful and yet always rejoicing...”

There is a reminder here that in the midst of suffering we ought also, even as we find cause to pray, we ought also find cause for praise.

Pray for the Sick

Now this brings us to the hard part of our text for today. Verses 14&15 though I will make the case that everything through verse 18 is connected to this and even verse 19&20 though we wont really look at those.

Now as I said I am going to lean heavily on John MacArthur here. He notes in his messages on this text that the way he handles the text is relatively novel which he also readily admits is something that he is hesitant to do. Typically it is never a good idea to understand a text in a novel way. However, he has done his homework and so while his view is not going to mesh with what most commentators try to argue for and what you have probably heard and thought about this text I was quite convinced in reading him on it.

Now as you can guess, most commentators handle this text in line with the translation that you likely see before you and that what is spoken of here is prayer for the sick by the elders of the church. Most will note that this is sickness that is serious resulting in the infirmed individual being bedridden and that this is not a call to reach out for prayer for every little headache and scratch.

Now the difficulty in this text has to do with the certainty of verse 15.

English Standard Version Chapter 5

15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick,

Obviously many prosperity teachers and so called word of faith healers totally abuse this text and try to say that in each and every circumstance God’s will is healing and if you just have enough faith that you will be made well.

Now this is an obvious error but even outside of these heretical circles there is still a difficulty in handling this text.

John Calvin and others in his camp assigned this text to the apostolic age alone. Saying that this prescription was for a time when God did indeed heal almost at will through His apostles but that this time has ceased and so has the assurance of healing that this text seems to imply.

The problem with this view is that by including the elders, the principle leadership structure of the church this seems to indicate that this text is to be prescriptive for all churches not just those in the days of the apostles.

Alister Begg who despite his recent errors has a lot of solid content gets closer to a view that I would probably have espoused if I had not come across MacArthur. Begg, who I was listing to on the radio when I was moved to take a closer look at this texts makes the case that the elders in this instance are to pray in this way only if moved to do so by faith and that in these instances God will answer the prayer that He has moved the elder to pray. Begg makes the case that this is the important role of the elder, to discern the will of God and through faith to make the prayer. I hope that this is a charitable and accurate summary of his view and like I said this is probably what I would also be proposing had I not come across MacArthur because Begg’s view seemed to handle the text better than the other commentators I read.

However, MacArthur takes this text in a very different direction.

Now I will summaries his argument and view because this really isn't a message on this particular text and I want us to close by seeing again the prevalence and centrality of prayer in the life of the believer and the church.

So now on the surface it seems so clear that this passage references what to do when someone is sick however when you dig down into the Greek a bit you will find that the word here that is often translated sick actually has the meaning of week or feeble. Its not that it cant reference sickness its that it primarily speaks of weakness. In fact this is the same word that Paul uses when he makes his famous thorn in the flesh statement and says that God’s power is made perfect in his weakness.

Now this truly does impact the meaning of the passage and I hope you'll see how well it then correlates with the rest of the passage and even with the overarching themes that we discussed for the book.

This passage I am persuaded is referencing those who have experienced trials and tribulations and who have, likely as a result of a failure to pray and persevere have come dangerously close to the point of giving up and giving in, these are individuals who are at a point of spiritual despair. They have not considered the promises that we have considered already this summer and as a result of failing to heed James’s words they have indeed grown weary and lost heart.

However, James’s instruction is not for this one to just give up and leave the church. No, the answer incredibly is to call for the elders of the church that they might anoint him with oil and pray for him and as a result of this prayer God will indeed strengthen the weak one and raise him up to new spiritual vigor.

Interestingly enough we also see this idea of the forgiveness of sins which also fits well with MacArthur’s view. It is possible that physical sickness can cause one to fall into sin but it is far more likely that the one who has grown so spiritually weary will have themselves begun to fall into some serious sins and that a part of this restoration through the prayers of the elders will be a repentance of that sin and a forgiveness from the Lord because this whole episode shows that this individual though at the end of their rope and spiritually bone weary and wading again into their former sins, never the less their faith is shown by their call to the elders and because they are indeed shown to be a true blood bought child of God they can be assured of the forgiveness of these sins.

Now I am not arguing that there is not scriptural warrant for the elders of the church to pray for the sick, ill and infirmed. However, you can see how important this passage could be for the life of a child of God. It deals honestly with the depths that one can sink to in their spiritual weariness and shows how it is that one can be brought out of these circumstances. How desperately this is needed in the church today, that men and women who have grown weary and are in spiritual despair would call for the elders of their church and seek to be strengthened and restored!

Membership

And just as a side note here this is then an important passage for a commitment to membership in a local church. While it is true that membership per-say is not explicitly outlined in scripture or a specific process of church membership this weak individual clearly knows who their elders are and to whom they can turn for this type of restoring ministry. These types of things just don't make any sense for those who are not fully committed to and actively participating as members of one local assembly of believers. This is the reason why we as a church have a membership process so that we can know those sheep who are under our care and pray for and minister to them.

Confession

This then leads us to verse 16 and the idea of confession. This is actually then right in line with the flow of this text. You see James is acknowledging that one of the things that has the greatest capacity to cause someone to fall into the type of spiritual weakness that he has just mentioned is continuing in unrepentant sin.

The remedy for this is to confess your sins one to another. And as you confess your sins they you pray for each other. The aim of this process is to prevent the need for the previous process. The Bible does not give any sort of promise that on this side of eternity that believers will be able to live lives that are sin free. Actually the more you grow in your sanctification and knowledge of and love for the Lord and His word the deeper you will grow to know the depths of the sin that we read in Hebrews clings so closely.

It has always amazed me that this truth doesn't loom larger for people in the church because it is clear as day. If you read solid Christian books you will find that those who speak the most deeply about sin and struggling with it aren't those newly saved believers who are fighting “BIG sins” no those who share the deepest sorrows over sin are those who have been long at the battle and though they have seen triumph over the sins of youth yet they know full well the presence of indwelling sin and the long road of mortification and they are those who as Romans 8 says grown inwardly as they eagerly await their adoption as sons the redemption of their bodies!

And so we learn that we have to often be at this task that is not a fun or delightful task but yet it is a necessary task that we confess our sins to one another and the result of this confession is what follows that you may be healed, again this can be a reference to being strengthened or spiritually enlivened! And in the context this is exactly what is happening! As confession is made it opens the opportunity for believers in the local body to pray specifically for one another and this leads to seeing each other strengthened in their faith.

And then we have this text that held me to this particular section of verses and one that I would like to make the focus of the great and precious promise for today:

English Standard Version Chapter 5

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17

Now this is a tremendous promise, that prayer is very powerful! And notice that this isn't just referencing the prayers of the elders in verse 14, this is following the statement in verse 16 about confessing sins to one another and praying for each other. The righteous ones here are the general believers in the church, those who have been made righteous by Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

If you are in Christ you have become righteous, you have been declared righteous and had the righteousness of Christ imputed to your account. This makes you a righteous one! This makes your prayers powerful and effective.

Now this is not to disregard the warnings in scripture that if we are willfully living in unrepentant sin and seeking rather to hide our sin and not confessing it to each other and to God that our prayers can be hindered. The statement here is that those who have been made right with God through the blood of His Son, who have been made righteous and are seeking to walk as James has been talking of here in his letter, those whose faith is not in word only but also in deed, those in other words who are truly Christ’s these people, the everyday faithful follower of Christ is capable of powerful prayer!

And notice something from a few verses up. Notice verse 15:

English Standard Version Chapter 5

15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.

Notice that prayer here is the instrument but the work is the Lords. Prayer is only powerful because prayer is the instrument that God uses to accomplish His purposes in the world. There is nothing magical or superstitious about prayer, prayer isn't a Harry Potter spell that can magically cause things to happen. No prayer is the way that God sees fit to bring about His powerful workings in the word and therefore the prayer of faith, a faith that says in all things, “You’re will be done.” that prayer as it is uttered by God’s children is mighty and effective because it is the tool of Almighty God!

This is the purpose as well of James’s use of Elijah as an example.

English Standard Version Chapter 5

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.

Now on one sense Elijah was a prophet, a man called by God and used mightily by God for His purposes and yet Elijah was just a man, a man like we are. He was a flesh and blood human and we see in the stories about Elijah that this was so. He was capable of fear and worry and anxiety and even moments of self pity and yet God used this man and His prayers as might instruments in bring about his plans and purposes.

It is also interesting to note that if James was indeed talking about physical sickness here that he could have used a story from Elijah related to sickness but he doesn't and in fact he uses a story that almost seems to be a metaphor for what is happening here in these verse. God called Elijah to pray and the sky opened up after three and a half years of drought when the land was bone dry and wasted away and Elijah prayed and God sent water that restored the land just like God will use your prayers for each other and the elders prayers for the spiritually weary to bring reviving spiritual rains into the life of those for whom those prayers are offered!

Closing

And so we see that this indeed is a passage all about prayer at the end of a letter that has sought to encourage and strengthen believer to endure trouble and hardship in the world, to avoid compromise and seeking the favor of the world and to live out lives of holiness and godliness, lives of living faith.

To be one who seeks to do this you must, and I mean must cultivate a life of prayer! I will admit this is easy to say and yet takes a lifetime to put into practice. There will be times and seasons in life where prayer will come naturally and there will be times when prayer may seem like the hardest thing in the world.

It takes discipline to make room in our lives for prayer and in addition it takes a commitment to a local body of believers to see the prayer talked about in this passage become a reality in your life.

We aren't in this alone. Jake and I count it a privilege to pray for each and every one of you and I would hope that if you find yourself in the position that we have seen today of feeling spiritually bone weary that you would not hesitate to call and seek prayer that you might be encouraged and lifted up.

There is also the express need to be embrace confession and prayer within the body. To share your struggles with those within the body with whom it is appropriate and to diligently be in prayer for each other that you might not get to the point of spiritual exhaustion and weariness.

And also we have see that you are to cultivate a life of personal prayer. Is anyone suffering, let him pray. And not only that but in your suffering and prayer also seek to find moments when you can also acknowledge the wonderful grace and mercy you have and are receiving from God’s hand and be a people also marked by cheerful praise.

That we might be a people of prayer and a people of praise!