PRAYERS OF FAITH

PRAYERS OF FAITH James 5:13-20 Jun 5, 2011 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction Today we draw our study of the Book of James to a close with the 22nd message from these five chapters and 108 verses of text. If you’ve been here for the formal teaching each Sunday you have invested a little over 13 hours of encounter with James through the message, not counting the time you’ve spent simply reading and studying, or reviewing the message manuscripts and Mp3 audio programs online. What have we gotten out of it all? Eternal wisdom concerning prayer, perseverance and the power of the tongue; how to beat the devil, be consistent and put faith into action; purifying speech, behavior and motives; submitting to God and one another; living circumspectly in poverty and riches, being pure in speech and patient in suffering. Fittingly, as James began this letter with instructions on prayer, so he ends it with three paragraphs about faith and prayer. The Individual at Prayer (James 5:13) Ever the crusader for infusing religion into every area of practical life, and taking every aspect of life captive for Christ, James is not interested in just giving theological information about prayer. Rather he wants to tell us how to put it to work in our lives. Back at the beginning of the letter of James he insisted that life’s trials are not barriers to our successful walk with God, but they are actually God’s appointed way forward to spiritual maturity. We grow through our trials, not in the absence of them, nor even in spite of them. Every problem is an opportunity for growth. When have you sought God with the most fervor? In what seasons of life have you grown closest to the Lord? During times of struggle and pain, right? Now, if it is God’s will that we believers should draw near to Him, and grow in personal spiritual maturity, why would we ever question God when He allows difficulties in our lives? We could answer that question with a simple observation: it’s the only time we really listen to Him! With three simple words James counsels what a Christian should do when he is in trouble: Let him pray. Philip Yancey wrote: If prayer stands as the place where God and human beings meet, then I must learn about prayer. Most of my struggles in the Christian life circle around the same 2 themes: why God doesn't act the way we want God to, and why I don't act the way God wants me to. Prayer is the point where those themes converge. When you are in trouble, pray. But, while life has its inevitable troubles, there are also times of joy and celebration. Here is James’ equally important advice: Go ahead, be happy, sing songs of praise! Too many people live their lives trying to stoically endure problems, not getting excited about anything. But James releases us, saying that religion includes all of life’s experiences, and there is no time in which God does not invite us to Himself.   Whether acknowledging Him as the source of help in our time of need or as the target of our praise in times of happiness. God is our sufficiency, and our place of safety. In His presence it is safe and right both to mourn & supplicate and to sing & dance for joy. So don’t deny yourself the resource of prayer and song before Him. Nothing is more appropriate than a child of God praying to Him. Your loving relationship with your children is deepened when they come to you crying in pain and when they dance and scream in delight. It is in prayer—all kinds of prayer—that we find the fullness of our relationship with the Lord. The Elders at Prayer (5:14-15) Verses 14-15 – Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. • Special needs: physical and spiritual – The sickness referred to here is something serious. We know that, because suddenly the one who is in trouble who was going to pray for himself in verse 13, now is to call upon the elders to come to pray for him. The word applied to him in verse 15, the sick person, means someone who is weary and worn out from sickness (not just a cold or flu). The implication of the language —the elders should pray over him—implies he is confined to bed. It may also refer to one who is mentally, emotionally depressed. Our difficulties in life have to do not just with physical illness, but also with emotional struggles. And usually the two go together, as more modern studies in the mind-and-body integration have shown. More about that in a moment. Whether a special need for physical healing or emotional healing, call for the elders. • Faith that asks (humble assertiveness) In this “calling” or “beckoning” there is an implicit faith. People are naturally not going to call someone to come to them for care and prayer for every little thing. Even when the issue they face is huge, they are not necessarily going to trouble others to come. There comes a time, though, when things get serious enough, that a line is crossed, and the person of faith knows it. And it is at that point where they feel the need for intervention by those who are over them in the Lord and whom they trust. Then they are to call for the elders of the local church. Still, it is difficult to ask them to go out of their way to come and pray for them. Whether out of the courtesy that says I don’t want to bother the elders or out of pride that says I don’t need anyone’s help, there is a natural hesitancy. James says that when the sick person is desperate enough, and believing enough, to cross that line and call for help, there is a level of faith at work that releases spiritual healing in a way that is beyond normal. So, if you are seriously ill—physically or emotionally—don’t hesitate to request this special ministry. • Sin and sickness: that mysterious mixture I mentioned the mind and body connection. Without dabbling in things paranormal, let me just point out how James’ language here marries the two needs in a sick person. The prayer of faith will make the sick person well and if he has sinned he will be forgiven. Sometimes physical sickness will result from sin. But even if there is no causal connection, we all struggle with sin and there is always the issue of seeking forgiveness and restoring our transparency with God through our faith in Christ in prayer. What God is interested in, James is telling us, is wholeness, body and soul. You see, we don’t have to know necessarily if we are sick because we have sinned. We are to ask Him for healing, period. And wouldn’t it be foolish to say to God, I’d like healing for my gall bladder, but not my spirit? God knows our physical and our metaphysical needs, and He is able to provide healing. • Prescribed method: anointing with oil When the elders arrive for prayer, they are instructed to pray and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. What kind of oil? It was probably common olive oil. And what kind was apparently immaterial to James; it was the anointing that seemed important. Why? I don’t know. But God knows, and so we do it. • Anticipated outcome: faith that heals When this kind of special prayer is requested and carried out there is a degree of certainty concerning the outcome: the prayer of faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. And, If he has sinned he will be forgiven. There are some who will try to ignore this passage or explain it away (Well, it may have been true in the first century, but not anymore!). But I will tell you that the God who insisted that James include these instructions in his inspired writing is still on His throne, and He is still able to keep His Word. And I tell you I have seen it at work. (Story of Leroy) Friends at Prayer (5:16a, 19-20) Therefore, confess yours ins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins. • Prayer in trusted relationships is powerful Prayer is always appropriate, it is always powerful and it always pleases God. But when you talk about corporate prayer among people who love God and are seeking His will together in prayer, you have to add a coefficient. The power of the fellowship of two or more in intercession together is exponentially greater than solo prayer. Why and how? I don’t know and wouldn’t even try to explain the quantum spiritual mathematics of divine response to prayer. All I know is that God favors corporate prayer, and agreement in prayer by people of faith is powerful. Wm. Cowper: Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint upon his knees. • Loving context of prayer and care I think it would be hard to estimate the power of combining two of the most powerful forces at work in God’s world today: prayer and love. I’ve been in prayer meetings where prayer requests were handled in orderly, dutiful manner, each one prayed over with appropriate words and sufficient attention. God is faithful. But I’ve also been in meetings of people who truly loved those for whom they were interceding, and I tell you, it is viscerally different. You can be prayed for by someone who is assigned to the prayer team for that day, and it will be fine. But, you bring near you a good friend whose love and loyalty you are certain, and you feel that loving touch on your shoulder and that warm tear that falls on your forearm, and you hear those caring expressions of intercession, and you are not the same. Your healing instantly starts. That’s why the Bible says that, above all, love is important; that’s why the nearness of Christian fellowship is so critical and why we are called to cultivate that kind of closeness with fellow believers; that’s why Christianity without the koinonia of church is a no-show; that’s why it is important to call the elders for prayer, because if they are the kind of biblical elders they ought to be, their primary qualification will be their love for the flock of God. When I’m sick, when I am weary and worn, when I am like Job, feeling stricken, alone and sitting on a dung heap, I don’t want the sterile company of those who don’t care coming to “help.” Bring me someone who loves me. • Confession of sins and group prayer There in that safe company, I will be free to admit how miserable I feel, how far from God I may be. There among those proven friends and intercessors, I am not afraid to confess my sins and ask God and those praying for me for forgiveness. James didn’t need to remind that first century crowd what 1 Peter 4:8 says: Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. He didn’t need to quote for them (because they already knew it) what John says: Love is made complete among us and There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear… Here is what we need, brothers and sisters in Christ: we need each other, deeply loving each other, to the point that none of us is afraid to turn to the other with any need, physical or spiritual and be cared for. Where humility and gifts are free to flow in a context of acceptance and correction, encouragement and love. Do you see why I have so strongly encouraged you since I first knew you to be involved in a small group, where such relationship can more easily be cultivated and nourished? The Righteous at Prayer (5:16b-18) The second part of verse 16 – The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Verses 17-18 – Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. • Effects of Prayer Prayer is effective. That is, it changes things. God is not pictured as the Director of Fate who is unresponsive to people. He says, incredible as it seems, that we can make things happen by asking Him to do them. To illustrate, James refers to Elijah the Old Testament prophet, whose prayers stopped the rain and then started them again three years later. The Bible is clear: God wants to hear from you via prayer, and He wants to act in your behalf and in response to those prayers! You can read the whole biblical account of Elijah’s prayers in regard to rain in 1 Kings 17 and 18. James uses that story as an illustration of the power of prayer. But notice the juxtaposition of the phrase The prayer of a righteous man in verse 16 and the description of Elijah in verse 17: Elijah was a man just like us. So, for those of us who have balked at prayer because it looks like the powerful prayers are only available to a righteous man, we have a couple of things to learn. The term “righteous man” has a forbidding ring to it, doesn’t it? That’s why he uses Elijah, an imperfect man who could rise to heights of faith and commitment, but also sink to depths of despair and depression. He could be brave and he could be self-pitying and cowering. In other words, as James puts it: Elijah was a man just like us. But despite his human frailties, when Elijah devoted himself to prayer there were results that only God could bring about. Elijah was known as a man of prayer and James wants us to know that God wants each one of us to be known as people of prayer. Yes, He wants to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine through His power at work within us. • Foundation of righteousness So how was Elijah a righteous man? Listen carefully. He was a righteous man, not because he was flawless in what he thought, said and did. He was righteous because he lived his life with immediate reference to God. He sought to remain close to God. That means, when he was sad or depressed or in need, he talked with God about it; when he was happy he brought his praise to God. He sought to remain close to God. That is a righteous man. You are called to be righteous in that way. Not by tending to every little thought and deed to make sure no commandment is broken or you don’t get out of line, but by remaining close to God. This key to living a righteous life is exactly what Jesus said in John 15: I am the vine; you are the branches…Remain in me and I will remain in you…If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. Righteousness = remaining close to Christ. • Source of righteousness Listen, none of us is, or ever can be, righteous on our own. It is only in connection with the Lord Jesus that we can dare to use our name in the same sentence with the word “righteous.” The Bible teaches that man has forfeited his status of righteousness before God through sin. Each of us has done that. But when Jesus paid the ransom for us on the cross, He reconciled us to God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says it this way: God made him who had no sin to be sin (or a sin offering) for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Man, you might be thinking, that is a breathtaking notion—that Jesus Christ could make me “the righteousness of God”! But that is precisely what happened through the sacrificial death of the Son of God! It is a borrowed righteousness, of course, but God sees every Christian through the lens of Christ’s righteousness. Here is our life’s calling: to remain close to Christ, and remain in righteous standing with God. Then, guess what happens to our prayer life? Well, we don’t have to guess—verse 16 tells us: The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. The real question is not How good am I? The real question is, Am I in the righteousness of Christ? And the good news is, You can be.     [ Back to Top]