Sermon Tone Analysis

I. Introduction

John Bunyan

“In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”

John Bunyan

This passage has been a battleground for interpreters over the centuries as various groups have used it as a proof text for their particular beliefs.

Roman Catholics find in it biblical support for the sacrament of extreme unction.

Faith healers of every stripe have used it to teach that all sick Christians are guaranteed healing through prayer.

Still others see in it a precedent for anointing sick people with oil.

This passage has been a battleground for interpreters over the centuries as various groups have used it as a proof text for their particular beliefs.

Roman Catholics find in it biblical support for the sacrament of extreme unction.

Faith healers of every stripe have used it to teach that all sick Christians are guaranteed healing through prayer.

Still others see in it a precedent for anointing sick people with oil.

Prayer is often mentioned in the last section of New Testament letters: James is no exception.

Pictures of prayers in Israel

Pray in all of life’s situations, including sickness, confession of sin, seeking God’s will, and reclaiming lost wanderers.

II.

Prayer in Life Experiences (5:13)

When “in trouble” we should turn to God for help; when things are going well, we should turn to God with praise.

When “in trouble” we should turn to God for help; when things are going well, we should turn to God with praise (5:13).

Suffering?

Includes physical and emotional stress arising from both ordinary trials and special spiritual difficulties.

includes physical and emotional stress arising from both ordinary trials and special spiritual difficulties.

Cheerful?

Describes a cheerful, elated, and optimistic mood not a giddy, flippant outlook.

Christians who face trouble often lose their awareness of the presence of God due to gloom.

Christians who have elation tend to forget God in the joy of their good success.

Both darkness and sunshine should lead believers to a consciousness of God.

Christians who face trouble often lose their awareness of the presence of God due to gloom.

Christians who have elation tend to forget God in the joy of their good success.

Both darkness and sunshine should lead believers to a consciousness of God.

Christians who face suffering often lose their awareness of the presence of God due to gloom.

describes a cheerful, elated mood.

Christians who have elation tend to forget God in the joy of their good success.

Both darkness and sunshine should lead believers to a consciousness of God.

Some people’s prayers need to be cut short at both ends and set on fire in the middle.

Anonymous

III.

Prayer in Sickness (5:14-15)

This is the work of restoration.

If sin has contributed to or resulted from the spiritual weakness and defeat of a fallen believer, that sin will be forgiven him when he cries out to God for forgiveness.

The elders can encourage him to confess, help him discern his sins, and join their prayers for his forgiveness to his.

Why call the elders of the church?

Why be prayed over specifically?

Is it because the elder has special access to God? (This is set up in a model where we have each others s back in accountability, friendship, and love.)

Sickness includes all types of bodily weaknesses—physical, mental, or spiritual.

Here the reference is primarily to physical illness.

Sickness includes all types of bodily weaknesses—physical, mental, or spiritual.

Here the reference is primarily to physical illness.

The sick person should take the initiative to call the elders of the church to pray for him.

The elders were church leaders who had the task of pastoring and providing spiritual leadership for a congregation ().

We would normally expect them to be able to pray with effectiveness.

These elders are called on to perform two tasks.

The sick person should take the initiative to call the elders of the church to pray for him or her.

Who were the Elders?

The elders were church leaders who had the task of pastoring and providing spiritual leadership for a congregation ().

We would normally expect them to be able to pray with effectiveness.

These elders are called on to perform two tasks.

First, they pray over him, suggesting that they stand over the bed of the sick person.

This is a special participation in prayer beyond the normal experiences of intercession.

The fact the ill person was confined to a bed implied a serious or painful sickness.

Second, they anoint him with oil.

The act of anointing with personal touch and contact served to strengthen the faith of the sick person.

This refers to olive oil, which served as a symbol of God’s healing power.

The oil had no healing power in itself.

The experience of anointing with oil appears elsewhere in the New Testament in reference to physical healing (see ).

The prayer offered in faith is a prayer based on confidence that God can and wants to heal.

The Bible nowhere teaches that all sickness is the direct result of an individual’s sins (except in the case of willful, continued disobedience).

Spiritual defeat, however, is often both the cause and result of sin.

When that is the case, the antidote is to confess those sins to God and obtain His forgiveness.

The Bible nowhere teaches that all sickness is the direct result of an individual’s sins.

Spiritual defeat, however, is often both the cause and result of sin.

When that is the case, the antidote is to confess those sins to God and obtain His forgiveness.

The prayer offered in faith is a prayer based on confidence that God can and wants to heal.

This does not imply that if a person has a sufficient degree of faith, God will automatically answer the prayer.

Rather, it suggests that believers have a right to faith in all of life’s situations.

Bottom line: If sin has contributed to or resulted from the spiritual weakness and defeat of a fallen believer, that sin will be forgiven him when he cries out to God for forgiveness.

The elders can encourage him to confess, help him discern his sins, and join their prayers for him.

Those who pray in faith receive two promises.

First, these prayers will make the sick person well.

Second, the statement about the forgiveness of sins suggests that in some instances illness may be due to the sins of the sick person.

In such instances the healing provided a sign that God had forgiven the sins.

IV.

Prayer in Confession of Sin (5:16a)

God hears the prayers of penitent people and forgives sin.

We should confess sins and pray for one another.

Because God hears the prayers of penitent people and forgives sin

What does the word “confess” mean?

.... “to say the same thing as”.

We are to agree with God about what he has already said about us and our sin.

Turning his attention from the sins of those believers who have been beat down in the spiritual battle or had fallen sick, James addressed the congregation as a whole, exhorting believers to continually confess their sins to one another and not wait until those sins dragged them into the depths of utter defeat.

So what is James asking us to do here?

Maintaining open, sharing, and praying relationships with other Christians will help keep believers from bottoming out in their spiritual lives.

Such relationships help give the spiritual strength that provides victory over sin.

And they also provide godly pressure to confess and forsake sins before they become overwhelming to the point of total spiritual defeat.

Turning his attention from the sins of those believers who have been defeated in the spiritual battle, James addressed the congregation as a whole, exhorting believers to continually confess their sins to one another and not wait until those sins dragged them into the depths of utter spiritual defeat.

Maintaining open, sharing, and praying relationships with other Christians will help keep believers from bottoming out in their spiritual lives.

Such relationships help give the spiritual strength that provides victory over sin.

And they also provide godly pressure to confess and forsake sins before they become overwhelming to the point of total spiritual defeat.

V. Prayer in Working Out the Will of God (16b-18)

The energetic (effective) prayers of a righteous man are a powerful force in calling down the power of God for restoring weak, struggling believers to spiritual health.