FAITH & WORKS: WAITING & PRAYING

Waiting & Praying

Scripture: James 5:7-18

James 5:7–18 KJV

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation. Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? 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: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

Introduction

Well church, we’ve made it to the final lap. It’s been an encouraging and inspiring series through the book of James. We’ve learned a lot from him, the half-brother of Jesus and pastor of the church in Jerusalem. And there’s been a lot to learn; Each week we tackled 2 big ideas. Week 1 was testing and persevering, week 2 was listening and doing, week 3 was faith and works, week 4 was speaking and boasting, and this week we’re finishing strong with waiting and praying. Waiting on God and praying in faith are two of the most powerful actions a believer can take.

James writes from an impassioned perspective as the leader of a church who’s facing persecution. He’s a good pastor who cares for his church and his letter is packed full of practical advice, Godly wisdom, care, and compassion.

Today, as we look to him to learn more about waiting and praying I want you to remember the context he’s writing from. Can you even imagine how difficult it would be to face persecution and be told you should wait on God, or pray God would provide a miracle. For many of us, we’re quick to try and figure out how to remedy any situation we’re stuck in. And that’s not inherently wrong, in fact we live in a culture where we can order pretty much anything we need and have it delivered to our homes within 2 days. We don’t really have to “wait” for anything let alone pray in earnest that God would show up and do the miraculous.

But that’s the life that James was living. That’s the life the early church was living. And whether or not you’ve ever faced life or death persecution I can guarantee you that the longer you follow Jesus the more opportunities you’ll have to learn the value of waiting and praying. It’s where He does some of His best, and inspiring work.

For those who believe, we know that we need patience and prayer which are two of the most powerful forces on earth.

BE PATIENT

Read James 5:7–12 “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.”

Be patient… What an incredible way to begin the text. What a powerful encouragement for believers both ancient and modern.

Patience is one of the 8 fruits of the Spirit outlined by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 5:22. And patience is one of the core characteristics of those who follow Jesus.

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. There are several things that jump out in this first statement from our text today. Patience, first and foremost, but also the object for which the community is patient for… The return of the Lord was front and center to the early church. And it cannot be understated how much this belief, that Jesus would return in their lifetimes, formed the preaching, thinking, and action of those early believers.

For as much as James talked about action and works, he also believed that being patient and waiting were powerful options in the hands of the church:

Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. James 5:7-10

Look to the farmers, look to the prophets… These are practical examples of patience James points to. And then he makes the ultimate point and encourages the church to remember the story of Job… Which if you’re familiar with, you know that Job lost everything; His family, his fortune, and even his friends through a prolonged season of suffering in his life. But, as we now know, Job’s perseverance in the midst of suffering was greatly rewarded. In fact, I think we can all agree that we greatly esteem the stories and testimonies of those who’ve suffered greatly, and persevered in patience.

Waiting isn’t easy, and in this fast-paced immediate gratification world we live in, I suspect waiting is a distant afterthought for most of us. Why wait when we can fix most of our problems with a few simple mouse clicks? Why wait when there are things like 60-day same as cash financing, or YouTube, instant coffee, and 5-minute rice? We’ve built our entire culture to be efficient, precise, and productive. And amazingly, we are no closer to being peaceful, content, and satisfied than when we began.

But the word has some powerful encouragement for those who find themselves in prolonged seasons of waiting.

● Isaiah 40:30–31 “Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

● Psalm 27:14 “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”

● 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

Waiting isn’t passive. Waiting is powerful. And adopting a posture of patience is a strength, not a detriment to all of those who profess to be followers of Jesus.

And there are some other things we do in the midst of waiting that make it even more powerful. They supercharge the waiting you could say. James tells us not to grumble against one another, not to swear by heaven or earth, and finally, to be prayerful. BE PATIENT

ALWAYS PRAY

Read James 5:13–18 “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? 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: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.”

This section of James starts off with a series of questions and responds.

Are you in trouble? Pray.

Are you happy? Pray louder.

Are you sick? Call for the elders of the church and have them pray.

The response to every one of these situations is the same… Which really begs the question, should that be our default response too? Should prayer be a habitual response to each and every situation we may or may not find ourselves in? I know this sounds crazy, but elsewhere in the Bible the answer to these questions would in fact be yes!

And more than just yes, but yes…It’s actually the will of God for your life… Listen to this:

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

Church, the will of God is that we would always rejoice, always pray, always be giving thanks. And I know how impossible this all sounds… For most of us we find it hard to even sneak away for 15 minutes to pray, let alone praying and rejoicing all day long! But let’s suspend our disbelief for a moment and just consider the heart behind this instruction.

James 5:16 “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. .”

The prayers of the righteous are powerful. Singing songs of praise in the midst of suffering is powerful. As we learned last week, our words matter… And in the kingdom economy they carry an immeasurable value.

So, if you want to supercharge the waiting and maximize the returns on your patience, then add prayer to the waiting. Whether you’re in trouble, happy, sad, or sick… make a habit of prayer and trust that every word offered up to the Lord carries with it the power to effect change in the midst of your circumstance.

1Kings 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. *

1Ki 18:41 And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. 42. So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, 

43. And 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 it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not. 

This is the attitude Elijah had when he prayed again and again that rain would fall on the land:

James is saying in verse 17(NIV)Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Obviously, we know Elijah was one of God’s chosen prophets of old, but pastor James reminds his hearers that at the end of the day he was still just a human. The extraordinary thing he did was pray fervently (It is the powerful and effective… prayer of a righteous person) and He believed, and God brought healing rain on the land.

Prayer matters. And when you add fervent prayer in the mouths of the righteous, you supercharge the season of waiting. ALWAYS PRAY

Conclusion

As we bring our time in the book of James to a conclusion, I want to reiterate the care and compassion he had for his church. I believe that same compassion extends to all who have read his letter through the centuries. And if he were standing here today, I trust James would speak with the same passion and care he did 2000 years ago.

The trials and tribulations haven’t changed so much over the years. Sin and destruction are still crouching at your doorstep every morning, and their desire is to “have” you. (Genesis 4:7) The enemy of our souls is still seeking to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10) But in the midst of this present darkness and chaos shines the ever present light of Christ. His glory, power, and majesty won’t fade away and someday sooner or later he’ll return for the Church. His bride.

I pray we would take to heart the encouragement of pastor James. That we would persevere in the testing, we would be doers of the word and not hearers only, that we would be known for both our faith and our works, that our mouths would be filled with praise, and that we would be marked by our deep commitment to prayer and patience.

These characteristics have set us apart from the world for hundreds of years and there’s no reason to think that’s going to change anytime soon.

So over the next few weeks take one or two of these big ideas from the book of James. Ask God to expand your courage and increase your strength. Ask Him to use you in the lives of others, to shine the light of the gospel in the midst of darkness.

And do it all with faith that God will see you safely through until the very end.

“For behold,” Jesus says, “I am with you always, till the end of the age.” - Matthew 28:20

Psalm 27:13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 

Let’s pray together.

Prayer: “Lord we repent of any time we thought that prayer was too trivial or simple for us. Increase our faith and expand our understanding of the power of prayer and the righteous action of waiting.”