Sermon Tone Analysis

James 5:16-18

 

The subject of “effective prayer” is intriguing to many people, especially unbelievers.

In some contexts it suggests that if we only pray a /certain/ way or use a /certain/ formula God will absolutely, positively give us exactly what we desire.

This would be a form of the pagan ‘Jeannie in the bottle’ concept where “your wish is his desire”.

But is that what the Bible means by effective prayer… that your wish is His desire?

I don’t think so.

The problem is that until our desires are redeemed and mastered by submission to Jesus Christ, they will seldom if ever coincide with the good and perfect will of God.

This morning, I don’t have a list of strategies for effective prayer or a guaranteed formula for always getting exactly what you want from God.

But I can tell you that all effective prayer is prayed in faith and is rooted in a correct understanding of God’s Word.

John Calvin said, “Prayer flows from doctrine.”

That is, our prayers are effective when they flow from what is true about God.

Effective prayer is predicated on the power of God and is based on the promises of His Word.

Jonathan Edwards said, “That which God abundantly makes the subject of His promises, God’s people should make the subject of their prayers.”

The Word of God reveals the will of God; so effective prayer is always based on a correct understanding of God’s Word.

This is doctrine.

The letter of James has been dealing with the role of prayer in the life of a believer who is weak from ongoing spiritual distress.

The distress came from persecution.

It came from fighting their besetting sins and losing.

It came from the emotional sense of failure in the spiritual life to such an extent that some of them could no longer pray for themselves.

They were spiritually weak.

So they called for the elders to pray for them and to assist in their spiritual restoration.

By this means, the Lord raises the weakened believer up and his sins are forgiven.

This is straight from James.

In James 5:16, the author expands effective prayer to the church as a whole.

But what does it mean to confess our sins to one another?

Is this really safe?

Are there some boundaries we need to observe?

And how do we protect the church from the scandal of too much information from those who might abuse the privilege of public confession.

James 5:16-18.

In honor of God and His Word, let’s stand.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.

The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

17 Elijah was a  man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.

18 And he prayed again, and the sky poured rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

[NASB]

 

[Prayer] I want us to consider two key points in this passage on the meaning of effective prayer in your life.

The first point explains the /purpose/ of effective prayer; the second point explains the underlying /power/ of effective prayer which makes it possible for us.

First, the purpose:

 

*I.

Effective prayer confesses sin, intercedes for others, and has restoration and wholeness as its goal *(16).

Listen again to verse 16: “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.

The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

Up to this point, James has been addressing believers who have been defeated in the spiritual battle.

They were spiritually and emotionally weak so they called for the elders of the church to pray for them.

The prayer of the elders was for restoration and forgiveness.

God’s verdict for the repentant believer is that if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.

From there, James turns to the congregation as a whole.

The word “therefore” connects what he’s about to say with what he has just said about having the elders pray for those who are spiritually weak.

The idea is that believers need to deal with sin immediately and not wait until they’re burdened down with shame and despair before seeking help.

This verse teaches us that believers can and should pray for each other.

Christians aren’t limited to the prayer of the elders; or, as the Catholic Church teaches, to the confessional booth of a parish priest.

Any believer can pray effectively for any other believer at any time.

Any believer who knows you and loves you can be a partner in hearing your confessions and praying for your recovery.

The priesthood of all believers removes the limitation of being bound to the help of the ordained clergy.

The elders can certainly be called in for matters requiring doctrinal correction and spiritual oversight.

Sin breeds in secrecy and it undermines your prayers.

God wants to expose sin with the light of His Word.

When God’s Word exposes our sin, our response should be to gratefully receive God’s Word and instantly take it to heart.

We must kill the sin in our lives or it will kill us.

As John Owen said, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.”

God hates sin because it destroys what He loves.

It ruins lives.

It destroys churches, marriages, and other relationships.

We need to be /restored/ when sin has broken our fellowship; that’s what the word “healed” (v.

16) literally means.

It’s not talking about physical healing; this is about spiritual restoration through confes-sion and repentance.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another.

Confession means to agree with God about your sin.

In this context, it would involve agreeing with God about your sin in the presence of at least one other believer so that he or she can affirm the rightness of your confession and the goodness of God.

We are also to pray for one another.

The specific purpose of this kind of prayer is for spiritual restoration when we’re weak; “healed” is better translated “restored” in this context.

So effective prayer in your life begins with confession of your own sins… to God and then to another believer in the church; in this state of confession, we can then intercede in prayer for one another.

The purpose of this effective prayer is spiritual restoration and wholeness in the Body of Christ.

Whether we are physically healed or not, the most critical factor in the church is the /spiritual/ wellness of the members.

Better to be spiritually whole in a broken and dying body than perfectly healthy with a corrupt and dead spirit.

If every one of us had an incurable physical illness and limited time to live on this earth, we could still experience glorious worship together as long as the Spirit of Christ was uniting our hearts in obedience to His Word.

But if we all had perfectly healthy bodies and no unity of God’s Spirit within us, we wouldn’t even have a church, we wouldn’t have Christian fellowship, and we wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything for the glory of God.

So, spiritual restoration and wholeness is the goal or purpose of this effective prayer mentioned in James.

The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much (16b).

The word “effective” means /energetic/.

And the phrase “can accomplish much” means it “is very strong”.

So the energetic prayer of a righteous man is very strong in the life of a spiritually weak believer.

Of course, it is God who restores the weak, not the prayer itself.

People often say, “We believe in the power of prayer”, but what we really mean is that we believe in the power of /God/ who hears and answers the prayers of His people.

Prayer by itself can accomplish nothing.

Muslims pray; Hindus pray; Buddhists pray, as well as Wiccan animists, but those prayers are not to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ – and they have none of His power.

So we don’t merely believe in the power of prayer… we believe in the /power of God/ who hears and answers prayer.

It is the power of Jesus Christ Himself who makes our prayers effective!

And that introduces the second point…

 

*II.

Effective prayer is based on the power of God, not the spiritual excellence of the one who prays* (17-18).

This sets the stage for a reference to Elijah in verses 17 and 18. Elijah is a highly regarded prophet in the history of Israel.

He was considered one of the greatest of the prophets due to the numerous signs and wonders that accompanied his ministry.

It was Elijah along with Moses who appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration.

And yet, here’s what James tells us about this great prophet: “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.

18 And he prayed again, and the sky poured rain, and the earth produced its fruit.”

It would be easy for the original readers of this letter (as for us) to imagine that a great prophet like Elijah could make great things happen through prayer.

I mean, come on, he was Elijah!

But God is telling all of us, through James, that effective prayers have nothing to do with having a superior spiritual pedigree or with being a prophetic worker of miraculous signs and wonders.

When it came to prayer, Elijah was just a man with a nature like ours.