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*The Sufficiency of Prayer*
James 5:13-20
Introduction
E.M. Bounds was a deep man of prayer.
Not only did he pray diligently but he implored fellow Christians to do the same in his writing.
Prayer honors God, acknowledges His being, exalts His power, adores His providence, secures His aid.
Prayer goes by faith into the great orchard of God’s exceeding great and precious promises, and with hand and heart picks the ripest and richest fruit.
God’s greatest movements in this world have been conditioned on, continued and fashioned by prayer.
God has put Himself in these great movements just as men have prayer.
Persistent, prevailing, conspicuous and mastering prayer has always brought God to present.
How vast are the possibilities of prayer!
How wide its reach!
It lays its hand on Almighty God and moves Him to do what He would not do if prayer was not offered.
Prayer is a wonderful power placed by Almighty God in the hands of His saints, which may be used to accomplish great purposes and to achieve unusual results.
The only limits to prayer are the promises of God and His ability to fulfill those promises
What the Church needs today is not more or better machinery, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use—men of prayer, men mighty in prayer.
The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men.
He does not come on machinery, but on men.
He does not anoint plans, but men—men of prayer.
· Prayer is one of those Christian activities that we would confess without hesitation is vitally important to our lives.
· But if I were to ask each of you how much time you spend in your lives praying what would be your answer?
· Would you want to answer?
· I don’t know if I would even want to answer myself.
· On one hand prayer is extremely easy.
· There are no set rules of how long or when you do it.
· You can pray almost anywhere because there is no requirement to pray out loud or with you eyes closed and head bowed.
· Prayer can be done with thees and thous or as a simple conversation.
· Prayer can even be silence before God.
· You can pray as a family, as a group of friends, as a church or all alone.
· On the other hand prayer is extremely difficult.
· We are fighting an enemy that does not want us to pray because he knows that prayer is effective.
· We so often cannot find the time.
· Some times we set rules for ourselves as to how prayer should go and fail to live up to those expectations.
· Sometimes we hear of people praying for hours each day and become discouraged that we could never meet that standard.
· Prayer is too be one of the greatest and most intimate times of fellowship with God by which we intercede on the behalf of others and ourselves, acknowledge the majesty of God and simply enjoy his favor.
· James ends his book on the most fitting note.
· He has implored his readers to live a life worth of their calling, to not only to say they know Christ but live consistently for him regardless of the circumstances.
· In 5:13-20 he speaks about prayer and its effectiveness to maintain the Christian life.
\\ We Can Pray in our Weakness (5:13-14)
*5:13* Is anyone among you mistreated?
He should pray.
Is anyone in good spirits?
He should sing praises.
*5:14* Is anyone among you weak?
He should summon the elders of the church, and they should pray for him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.
· If a person unfamiliar with the church were to observe the prayers of Jesus’ followers what would they conclude?
· They would observe that Christians pray before a meal in order to some how bless the food.
· They would see that we pray when a friend or relative is sick or dying.
· They would notice that we pray for the weather and other physical needs that will help to make our lives easier.
· They may even see us pray for them, seeking God’s power to help an unbeliever discover Christ.
· There may be the occasional time where they may catch us thanking and praising God for his goodness.
· In my observations of Christians praying it seems more times than not prayer times are seeking God for needs.
· Is that all bad…absolutely not but it is not balanced.
· Prayer to God is more than praying for great aunt Sally and her arthritis or that the weather holds off so that our trip to the zoo will go well.
· Prayer should be praise to God as well as expressing our need.
· It should be about praying for sickness and God’s sustaining grace.
· It should be about praying for the lost and thanking him for saving our souls.
· It is gratefulness for the hope he gives us and asking him to restore our faith in times of trouble.
· It has been common for interpreter of these verses to think of James addressing physical sickness.
· The context though does not support this interpretation.
· The word in Greek that has often been translated ill or sick has in other passages of Scripture been translated weak or weary.
· Given what James is addressing…suffering physically, mentally and spiritually in their faith it is better to translate them as weak or weary.
· James is not addressing a disease or other illness, he is speaking about our spiritual condition in the midst of facing adversity.
· When he calls the church to pray in all circumstances he is telling them that when you are being mistreated you should pray.
· When everything is going well and spiritually you are close to God pray and praise God.
· If you find God to be distant and seemingly non-existent because you have had no relief from your anguish then you should pray.
· James tells his followers that when a person is weak he should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil.
· Again this is not a call for the sick to receive healing although calling the elders to do so would not be out of line Scripturally, but James is concerned for those that feel that God is distant.
· If you are is despair and God does not seem to care, if you feel your spiritual life is ebbing away and it frightens you then call the elders of the church and they will pray when it seems that you cannot.
· When we are weak and cannot seem to appeal to God on our own we need to rely upon those in the church who have been through many of the hard knocks of life.
· They have seen suffering and come to trust God even more.
· They have a wisdom that comes from seeing God faithful and can impart to you their faith so that you can see how great God really is.
· The Elders of the church first and foremost are to be spiritually mature and attuned to God men that want to help you to see yourself clear of your circumstances.
· So when times are tough and your spiritual life is weak, call upon those who are spiritually strong.
· When life is hard turn to Jesus who can make your burden light.
· If you have praise in your heart express it to God and glorify him by expressing his goodness.
Sir George Adam Smith tells how he and his guide were climbing the Weisshorn in the Swiss Alps.
It was stormy and they were making their climb on the sheltered side of the peak.
When they reached the summit, they were filled with the exhilaration.
Sir George forgot about the fierce winds, leaped up and was nearly blown over the edge to the glacier below!
The guide grabbed hold of him and exclaimed: “On your knees, sir.
You are safe here only on your knees!”
\\ We Can Expect Results from Prayer (5:15-16a)
*5:15* And the prayer of faith will save the one who is weary and the Lord will raise him up – and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
*5:16* So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be restored.
· The thing that is so profound about a simple conversation with God is that it contains the promise that God is listening and he will answer.
· James makes it very clear that the person that is going through troubles and is tempted to falter can expect that God will save them.
· James is still talking about the intercession by the Elders.
· As they come in faith knowing that when they pray for God to strengthen and encourage a person He will deliver and answer their prayers.
· It is interesting that the reference to faith is on the part of the Elders.
· When a person is in spiritual despair it is difficult to see through the circumstances.
· It is extremely difficult at that time to have the faith to believe that God can do anything for them.
· But if they have the strength to call upon others for help it is not their faith that is needed but the faith of those asked to pray.
· When God raises up a person who is in this condition it is a truly remarkable occasion.
· The idea of being raised up is that the person has been previously dead or asleep.
· The idea in Scripture is that when a person is without God they are spiritually dead although they may be physically alive.
· So it is with people who are Christians but have lost their hope in God.
· When someone is spiritually weak they have fallen and are unable to get up.
· They are caught in a pit of quick sand that will not release them
· It is as James describes; they have fallen asleep spiritually and must be awakened.
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