The Prayer of Faith
Notes
Transcript
Scripture Intro:
Scripture Intro:
Scripture Reading (“Please stand…”)
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
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.
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.
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.
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. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
Pray...
Intro:
Intro:
Basic breakdown of the passage:
“anyone among you”
“Is anyone among you suffering?”
“Is anyone cheerful?”
“Is anyone among you sick?”
(lots of details underneath that section)
“if anyone wanders”
“pray” and “prayer” - multiple times in this passage.
Even a couple of different Greek words used to describe it.
All pointing to the same thing...
living our life before the Lord.
“pros” - before, toward
“euche” - wish, vow
Regularity of Prayer
Regularity of Prayer
(Timer: 20 minutes left??)
"anyone among you"
suffering... pray
cheerful... sing praise
sick... call for the elders to pray
The point is that when things are difficult (suffering, sick)...
pray.
When things are good...
pray… but songs of praise.
We intuitively understand prayer when things are NOT going well.
Struggle, sickness, —> pray
B/c we really need it.
But when things are going well...
it’s very easy to forget God.
Israel going into the Promised Land (food and abundance)...
“Take care (be careful) so that you don’t forget the Lord.”
Pray when things are going well.
It keeps us in the right mindset that everything we have comes from the hand of God.
We are very aware of our need when we suffer.
We need to take equal care to be mindful of our need when times are good.
God did that.
Praise him for it.
App. Constantly in prayer.
Your life is lived “before the face of God”.
Pray at all times...
In all circumstances
In all of our emotions and demeanors.
Ecclesiastes...
“joy”/”rejoice”
in what God has given to you.
Relationships of Prayer
Relationships of Prayer
(Timer: 15 minutes left??)
“anyONE among you (all)”
Is there an individual among the many that is suffering?
“let HIM pray”
“cheerful?”
“let HIM sing praise”
For these two:
prayer is an individual thing.
Yet, that’s not the whole passage.
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.
“let him call the elders”
“let THEM pray over him”
Here… prayer is meant to be with other people.
Later, James 5:16… (“one another”)
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.
Back in James 5:14
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.
Alec Motyer:
the elders do all the praying;
“sick” (v. 15 different from v. 14) - the person is called “worn out” or “exhausted” in v. 15
the faith is also that of the elders, not of the sick person;
the elders pray “over” the person as if that one were confined to a prone position.
The elders represent the entire church.
When they are praying,
God’s people are praying.
Anoint with oil...
“anoint” here “refers to a physical action with symbolic significance.…
As the elders pray, they are to anoint the sick person in order to symbolize
that the person is being set apart for God’s special attention and care.”
Craig Blomberg points out,
“The participle “anointing” indicates concurrent but subordinate action.
The oil is the symbol of God’s presence,
but prayer is the mechanism for tapping into his power.”
And just so we don’t think that oil is what brings about healing...
(v. 14) “anointing him with oil IN THE NAME OF THE LORD.”
It’s NOT the oil that heals.
It is the power of God...
as he work on behalf of his people.
The results of prayer is amazing.
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.
“will save the one who is sick (exhausted)”
“will raise him up”
Later, in (v. 20)… “will save his soul”
Physical healing is definitely in view (still under the will of God)...
Yet, spiritual healing
Bring “saved”...
Is also in view.
“raise him up”
Both physically and for eternity.
My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back,
let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
Faith in Christ is a relational thing.
Community
Pray for each other
Go after each other.
“save his soul”
Requirements for Prayer
Requirements for Prayer
(Timer: 10 minutes left??)
Prayer of Faith
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. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.
What makes something a prayer of faith?
Mark 9:21 and following.
a man brought his son to the disciples and to Jesus.
His son had an unclean spirit within him.
The father says to Jesus...
But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
Jesus replied...
And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”
The man...
Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit to come out of the boy.
James said,
“the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick.
So does the man’s prayer in Mark 9 qualify as “enough” faith?
Absolutely.
Prayer of Faith...
before the face of God...
clearly and simply asking for healing.
App. So often people take this verse as a way of assessing their faith.
Is it strong enough?
Is it “faith” enough?
So if a prayer goes unanswered or unfulfilled...
the one who prayed must not have had enough faith.
But think about this...
Fiery Furnace from Daniel 3 (Shadrack, Meshack, Abednego)...
ordered to be thrown into the fire.
If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
And what happened?
They were not burned in the fire,
even though the fire killed the men that threw them into the fire (it was so hot).
The “prayer of faith” saved them.
But what about the Apostle Paul?
He prayed that the Lord would take away the thorn in his flesh.
Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Did Paul pray a “prayer of faith”?
Of course he did.
Notice that the Lord answered him.
His prayer was heard...
But the Lord answered it differently than he desired.
You might think that the “prayer of faith”...
is this prayer that has no uncertainty...
knowing exactly what you are praying for.
But even that, the Spirit of God covers us in that.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Righteous Person
You might be thinking...
“Well, that rules me out.”
“I’m not a righteous person.”
What makes someone righteous?
This passage is full of clues to help us understand this phrase.
First, he just talked about “confessing your sins to one another.”
If James meant “righteous” in the sense of “sinless”...
Then it makes no sense with the context.
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.
James is tying confessing sin with the “righteous person”.
So a “righteous person” confesses sin.
The “if” in v. 15 helps us.
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.
“if” he has committed sins.
Not all suffering and sickness is a result of sin,
but sometimes it is.
Confess it.
Healing will flow.
B/c the Bible says,
“No one is righteous. Not even one.”
The only way to be be righteous enough for God to hear your prayer...
is to be declared righteous...
to be given the righteousness of Christ.
AND to have one who is ACTUALLY righteous praying for you.
The prayer of a perfectly righteous man would avail perfectly, and you have One.
Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
We have the One who is exceedingly righteous...
praying on our behalf.
Jesus praying (interceding for us)
And just so we don’t miss that prayer is for regular people...
he draws our attention to Elijah.
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.
Elijah was a man… just like us.
He prayed and God answered.
Not b/c Elijah was this incredible archtype of righteousness.
Read about Elijah in 1 and 2 Kings,
you’ll stop beating yourself up.
He was scared.
He was depressed and discouraged.
He was far from the model righteousness.
He was a man… just like us.
Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
God's Response to Prayer
God's Response to Prayer
(Timer: 5 minutes left??)
“in the name of the Lord”
“The Lord will raise him up”
“he will be forgiven” (only God can forgive)
To whom does our prayer go?
Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
“hosts” - The Lord of the heavenly armies...
Our prayers have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.
Who is able to unleash his power.
Who is willing to unleash his power.
John Chrysostom (4th century AD preacher)
“There is in prayer an all-sufficient armory, a treasure undiminished, a mine never exhausted, a sky unobscured by clouds, a heaven unruffled by any storm. It’s the root, the fountain, the mother of thousands of blessings.” (John Chrysostom)
Close in Prayer
Close in Prayer
Closing Song:
Closing Song:
Benediction:
Benediction:
