Altar-ed: Pray Again

James 5:13–18 | 1 Kings 18:30–39

Last week I challenged you to 10/10: ten minutes in the Word and ten minutes in prayer. Some of you have been doing it. Some of you discovered ten minutes goes fast. Some of you discovered ten minutes of prayer can feel like a long time. That is all right. We are learning. We are building a rhythm. We are repairing the altar. And today I want to take us one step further. What if ten minutes is not the destination? What if ten minutes is training? What if we are learning to stay a little longer? What if we are learning to pray again?

Prayer Is What Faith Does

James was known as a man of prayer. Early church tradition says he prayed so much that his knees became hard and calloused. They called him Camel Knees. Imagine being known because your knees told the story that you had spent time with God.

James understood that prayer is not an accessory to faith. Prayer is what faith does.

Listen to James 5. “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.” “Pray for one another.” “The prayer of a righteous person has great power.” Elijah prayed, and then Elijah prayed again.

Prayer is everywhere in this passage.

James is writing to believers who know pressure, hardship, suffering, and persecution. And his counsel is simple: pray.

If you are suffering, pray. If you are joyful, praise. If you are weak, call somebody to pray with you. If you are struggling, confess it and pray for one another.

Prayer is faith breathing.

When things are bad, trust God. When things are good, thank God. When you are strong, pray. And when you are too weak to pray, let somebody else pray for you.

When You’re Too Weak to Pray Alone

James says, “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.”

There are moments in life when you do not have many words left.

You have prayed about the diagnosis. You have prayed about your family. You have prayed about your child. You have prayed about the anxiety. You have prayed about the grief. And you are tired.

James says: do not suffer alone.

Call somebody.

Let somebody stand beside you.

Let somebody pray when you cannot find the words anymore.

There are times when one of the most spiritual things you can say is, “I need somebody to pray for me.”

And James says they should anoint with oil.

The oil is not magic. The pastor is not magic. The prayer team is not magic. The power is in God.

But the oil becomes a sign.

You feel it. You smell it.

It says, “You are being cared for. You are being entrusted to Jesus. You are not alone.”

Then James says, “The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up.”

That word “save” is the Greek word sozo. It can mean save, rescue, deliver, restore, make whole.

We have a Sozo Jesus.

A saving Jesus.

A restoring Jesus.

A delivering Jesus.

A Jesus who sees the whole person: body, mind, soul, pain, sin, fear, weariness.

And notice this: James says, “The Lord will raise him up.”

The oil does not raise them.

The elder does not raise them.

The prayer team does not raise them.

The Lord raises them.

So we pray boldly, and we leave the outcome with God.

Repair the Altar

Then James gives us Elijah.

“Elijah was a human being, even as we are.”

That matters.

Elijah got tired.

Elijah got afraid.

Elijah got discouraged.

Elijah was human like us.

And he prayed.

Now picture Mount Carmel.

Three and a half years without rain.

The land is dry. The crops are gone. The people are desperate.

And spiritually, Israel looks like the ground beneath their feet: dry and divided.

Elijah says, “How long will you limp between two opinions?”

Then Elijah steps forward.

Before he asks for fire, 1 Kings 18:30 says, “He repaired the altar of the LORD that had been thrown down.”

Before the fire, repair the altar.

Before the rain, repair the altar.

Before the supernatural, repair the altar.

The broken altar is a sign.

Israel’s relationship with God has become neglected. Their attention is divided. Their allegiance is divided. Their hearts are divided.

And maybe that is where some of us are.

We love Jesus.

We believe.

We are here.

But our attention is divided.

Our schedules are full.

Our phones are loud.

Our minds are racing.

And somewhere along the way the altar became neglected.

That is why we are doing 10/10.

Ten minutes in the Word.

Ten minutes in prayer.

Not to earn God’s favor.

We are repairing the altar.

And that is why we are fasting.

Fasting says to one appetite, “You are not my master.”

My stomach says, “Feed me.”

My phone says, “Check me.”

My schedule says, “Hurry.”

My anxiety says, “Worry.”

And fasting creates space where my soul can say, “Right now, Jesus gets my attention.”

Pray Again

Elijah repairs the altar, lays the sacrifice on it, and then pours water over everything until the wood is soaked and the trench is full.

Everything says fire cannot happen here.

Then Elijah prays.

“Answer me, LORD, so these people will know that you are God and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

And the fire falls.

But Elijah does not make the fire.

God does.

Our job is not to manufacture a move of God.

Our job is to pray.

Fast.

Seek.

Wait.

And leave the fire to God.

And after the fire, Elijah goes right back to prayer because they still need rain.

He prays.

He sends his servant to look.

Nothing.

Go again.

Nothing.

Go again.

Again.

Again.

Seven times.

Until finally the servant says, “I see a cloud about the size of a man’s hand.”

Sometimes you pray and the fire falls.

Sometimes you pray and all you see is a small cloud.

Sometimes you pray and you see nothing.

What do you do?

Pray again.

That is where I want our 10/10 challenge to take us.

Ten minutes is not a box to check.

It is training.

We are learning to remain.

I have been challenged by stories connected to Pastor David Yonggi Cho and Prayer Mountain in Korea, where believers learned to spend extended time in prayer. Some prayed for an hour. Some prayed longer.

I am not asking us to become somebody else’s church.

But I do want their example to stretch our imagination.

What if ten minutes is not our ceiling?

What if ten minutes is where we begin?

What if ten becomes fifteen, and fifteen becomes twenty?

What if one day you look up and realize you have been with Jesus for an hour, not because your pastor required it, but because you learned to remain in His presence?

I do not want us simply to be a church that believes in prayer.

I want us to become a church that prays.

So today, we are going to practice.

If you are sick, come.

If you are weary, come.

If you are carrying something too heavy to carry alone, come.

If you need healing, restoration, strength, peace, or deliverance, come.

We are going to anoint with oil in the name of Jesus and pray.

And everybody else, you are not spectators.

James says, “Pray for one another.”

Turn toward two or three people near you.

Ask one question:

“How can I pray for you?”

You do not need to fix them.

You do not need to give advice.

Just listen.

And then pray.

And when you have prayed everything you know to pray, pray again.

When you have done 10/10 and have not seen anything yet, pray again.

When you have fasted and heaven still looks empty, pray again.

When all you can see is dry ground, pray again.

Because we have a Sozo Jesus.

A Savior.

A healer.

A restorer.

A deliverer.

The One who raises up.

The One who sends rain on dry ground.

So church:

Repair the altar.

Stay a little longer.

Pray for one another.

Pray again.

And leave the fire and the rain to God.