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Introduction
Introduction
This morning we are looking at two passages that look at prayers offered in faith and not causing followers of Jesus to stumble
James 5
James 5
James has a lot to say about the importance of prayer.
He is ending his letter to the churches with this.
Prayer for anyone who is sick
Prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well - because the Lord will raise them up - so it is not the prayer that does the healing, the Lord does
But there seems to be a link between righteousness - prayer - and healing
It is a really tricky topic
Healing is always difficult to talk about because we all have examples of unanswered prayer - times we’ve prayed for people and nothing has changed - and we ask why?
Is it something that I did or didn’t do?
Is it something that they did or didn’t do?
Or is it because God decided not to heal?
Or is it just because we live in a broken world?
I think with all of these questions, we never fully know the answers - we don’t always know why things happen - because we live by faith and not by sight.
I think what it does is lead me to live humbly - we do not understand everything and we never will - we can’t fully understand God and God’s ways and plans - but what we can do is live as faithfully as possible and follow Jesus as closely as possible
James tells us that we are called to pray in faith - the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well - so God calls us to offer prayers in faith, we are not told why, we are not told how much faith we need, and we are not told about any prayers being unanswered
Then there is something about sins being forgiven in the context of prayer for healing. And that confessing sins can be the thing that enables healing to take place - that in some cases sinfulness blocks healing.
We are not told why, we are not told what sins create blockages, and we could then go further and ask how much do I need to confess?
It all gets a little complicated when we start to ask the ‘what, why, when, how’ questions. And the challenge is that the passage doesn’t give us the answers.
So, I think where I come back to is living humbly. We live in a western culture that likes to know and understand anything and everything. The idea of living by faith is quite a hard concept. We have so many advances in technology and science that we probably understand more about creation than we have ever known before. So much so, that we have separated it off from the creator.
But living humbly by faith brings us back to the place where we have to acknowledge that God is in charge, that Jesus Christ is on the throne, that all things were made by him and for him and that in him all things hold together.
So, when we come to questions of healing, where I come to is a place where I do not understand why things happen the way they do all the time - because God is in charge and not me. And so what I then need to do is follow his commands as faithfully as possible, and leave him to do the rest.
Offering prayers in faith - to the extent that I have faith - maybe asking for more
Confessing sins - not which ones, or how often - but always confessing sins
Following God as closely as possible - living as righteously as possible
Not doing all of these things out of fear of what might happen if I don’t. But in the knowledge that I have a loving and gracious heavenly father who sees me and loves me. And trusting that he will do the rest.
Mark
Mark
38-41
Not being one of us
Actually if we believe in Jesus, if we follow the Messiah, we are all part of one body
42-50
Really strong language to say that God takes this seriously