James 5:13-20; Keep Praying Until You See God

Introduction

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During a prayer meeting, a member of Colgate was sharing with a group about a time she prayed for this man. This man was a Jewish man that she knew. He heard the gospel, and was respectful to Christians, but he rejected Christ. He moved to another state and she didn’t really hear much from him for years.

Somehow, she heard that this man came to faith in Jesus. She was so excited to hear about this! Soon after this, she told the pastor, “Brother Jim, you will never believe this. This man came to salvation in Jesus.” Brother Jim said, “Why are you surprised?”

Need

Saints, when we pray, we ought to expect God to answer. It may not be the way we want him to answer. However, he will answer. Saints, we need to be people that pray until we see God.

Referent

James 5:13-20

Organization

In our last section (5:7-12), James told his audience to be patient, wait, and be steadfast 7 times. Here in our text this morning, as we read, I want you to count how many times James tells his reader to pray.

Pray until we see God

Bring Health (vs. 13-15a)

Bring Repentance (vs. 15-16)

Bring Miracles (vs. 17-18)

Bring Restoration (vs. 19-20)

Sermon in a sentence:

I will keep praying until I see God.

Brings Health (vs. 13-15a)

James comes back to the same place where he began: suffering and steadfastness.

James commands his audience to respond appropriately to the situations God has placed them.

Prayer

Praise - literally Psalming

Pastor Philip’s sermon was a great example of how to pray and praise God through his Word.

Donald Whitney’s Praying the Bible

Songs from Corner Room, Ghost Ship, Shane and Shane, The Psalms Project

James connects sin and sickness

Paul also warns the Corinthian church that they have become ill because of their sin of mistreating the Lord’s Supper.

We must be careful with this. Jesus tells his disciples in John 9 (the blind son) that not all sickness is brought about by sin.

James tells the church to have elders anoint and pray over the sick.

Alec Motyer’s commentary on this passage is incredibly helpful. I will attempt to highlight some different things than he does.

First, it is the universal expectation of the NT that a church has elders. The elders of the church oversee, shepherd, and care for the congregation.

I am so thankful for the prospect of pastoring with faithful elders.

This sickness appears to be different from the average sniffle.

This is a practice for the church today!

vs. 14 aleipho is used not chrio

Mark 6:13 “13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.”

Saints, there are times that the Bible may ask us to do things that we think are odd or strange. Yet, our faith is one that should be visible and tangible.

Rob Plummer

Hebrews–Revelation Comment

The oil, both there and in

5. verse 15 uses the word sozo - and it carries this spiritual salvation connotation. Health is more than merely physical. We should want healthy churches, marriages, families, etc.

ant healthy churches, marriages, families, etc.

Bring Repentance (vs. 15b-16)

We should pray until our brothers and sisters repent.

The first step of repentance is confession.

Our own salvation begins with our confession of sin and need of salvation!

Romans 10:9 “9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Confession is corporate and private!

Nations, clans, families, and individuals confessed sins and repented in the OT.

The Passover is a family event.

Job personally morns and confesses God’s goodness.

The entire city of Nineveh repents and fasts.

We are not catholic! We do not have priests in the NT! No matter how wrong their doctrine of confession is, this does not mean we should stop following Scripture because Catholics twist it. We need a revival of corporate confession. We need a revival of confessing our sins to our brothers and sisters. Things like a confessional prayer. Time for confession of sin and assurance of salvation.

Bring Miracles (vs. 17-18)

God is still a miracle working God!

We need to not fall into either ditch of this truth.

We do not get to declare over things or “release” some anointing.

We do not want to give up praying for God to do the miracles because of really bad theology!

James reminds his audience that Elijah was human just like us.

1 Kings 19 tells us that Elijah fled Jezebel after he struck down the prophets of Baal.

He had fears and doubts. He didn’t always want to do what God called him to do.

He was like us. Yet he was a righteous man that prayed.

Saints, what miracles are you praying for? Does the God you serve still do miracles? If the God you worship doesn’t still do miracles, then I am afraid that we do not serve the same God.

When we pray, do we actually believe that God would bring dead men and women to life? When I look at Colgate, I see a church that has been around for 60 years. I look at all the space we have. I look at all the Sunday School rooms, the nurseries, and the sanctuary. I have prayed that God would fill up that building for his glory and the good of his people.

Saints, I do not want to presume anything. However, I want us to not expect God to do get things for his glory.

Bring Restoration (vs. 19-20)

This whole section, James has called his audience to pray in a way that leads to action.

The prayer for the sick leads to the anointing and gathering of the elders.

The prayer of a righteous man brings about the will of God.

A believer praying for his fellow believer causes that person to seek out those that wander.

Those that reject truth are liable to the judgement of God.

As the church, we do not want anyone to wander from the truth.

Our first tool for the wandering brother or sister is constant prayer.

Then we must recognize our responsibility to engage with our fellow believers.

As part of our spiritual disciplines, we ought to be praying for and seeking those who have wandered from the truth.

I have seen so many churches where people will lie. They will say things like, “I wasn’t getting feed there.” Now that may be true! A lot of churches have week man-centered theology. But most of the time I see people not willing to be an active member of the church they criticize.

3. James ends his epistle with reminding his audience that there is coming judgement.

Eschatology is not the biggest theme in his letter, but it is a key theme.

James 1:9; 12; 2:5; 4:12; 5:1; 8

The final exhortation from James is the remind that the Lord is coming again. Saints, what a better response than to be praying until we see God!

Conclusion

George Muller - a man of prayer and faith

The Milk and Bread Miracle

Context: One morning, the orphanages had no food for the children's breakfast. 

Prayer: George Müller led the children in a prayer of thanks, trusting God would provide. 

Provision: Immediately after the prayer, a baker arrived, having felt impressed by the Lord to bake extra bread. He was followed by a milkman whose milk cart had broken down, and he offered the fresh milk to the orphans. 

The Prayer of Salvation

1. The Initial Prayer:In November 1844, George Müller began praying daily for the conversion of five of his friends. 

2. The First Four Friends:

The first friend was converted after about 18 months of prayer. 

Two more friends came to faith about five years later. 

The fourth friend was saved after 25 years of Müller's persistent prayer. 

3. The Last Friend:Müller continued to pray for the fifth friend for almost 52 years. He prayed for this friend until the day of his death. 

4. Answered After Death:The fifth friend was finally saved a few months after George Müller passed away. 

Muller prayed for his friends until he saw God show up! He was able to see four of his friends meet God. Muller prayed for his final friend until he himself was able to see God!

Application

Confess your sin and pray to God for his salvation!

This week, confess your sin to one another and this week, pray big prayers. Pray for God to show up in your life and the life of our churches.