Prayer

Prayer

James 5 13-18

James begins and ends the letter in much the same way. He appeals to his hearers to have patience and to pray. This is an encouraging and revealing section on prayer. If there is anything that we do not do enough as believers it is pray. James mentions prayer seven times in these verses. He teaches us four things about prayer in these passages. He teaches us who should pray, when we should pray, how we should pray and why we should pray. Let’s consider those things.

Who should pray? James identifies three groups that should pray

*Individuals should pray. We see that in verse 13. One of the great things about being a Christian is our ability to come directly to God in prayer. Because of Christ, our prayers can go straight to God (Heb. 4:16). We don’t need an earthly priest or a heavenly saint to take our prayers to God. Christ taught us to pray directly to the Father (Matt. 6:9). He said we should ask, seek and knock expecting our prayers to be heard.

* Elders should pray. Elders were the leaders in the local churches (Acts 20:17). They were known for their spiritual maturity and Christ like character. They were commissioned to watch over the flock they had been entrusted with (1 Peter 5:1-4). The elders were to be called on for prayer, James tells us in verse 14. James specifically mentions that the elders be called upon when a person was sick. It’s difficult to pray for yourself when you are sick. Probably the sickness alluded to is more than a common cold. It was probably a serious illness. Part of the elder’s responsibility was to gather around the sick person and pray that God would bring healing.

*Congregations should pray. In verse 16 James says the church is to be praying for one another. It’s our responsibility as brothers and sisters in Christ to lift one another up in prayer. When are sick or struggling in sin or going through a trial, it is an encouraging thing to know that we have others praying for us.

When we should pray. Look At verses 13-14. James tells us three times we are to pray.

*We are to pray when we are afflicted. This word means to suffer evil. It describes persecution. Sometimes we are afflicted by the ungodly actions of others. It could be through slander. It could be they use their position to oppress us. It could even be physical persecution. When we are afflicted, the natural thing to want to do is fight back. We want to hurt those that hurt us. Instead James says we are to pray. We are to pray for ourselves. We have to pray that God gives us the grace to respond in humility. We need to pray for those persecuting us. Pray for their salvation. That’s what Christ did (Luke 23:34). When we are afflicted, we should pray.

*We are to pray when we are happy. James says that when we are merry we should sing psalms. That means to sing praises. Did you know that singing to the Lord is actually payer? I mean, think about it, prayer is talking to God. When we are singing praises to God, we are talking to Him. When our hearts are filled with the joy of the Lord they should overflow with songs of praise. As they do, we should take to heart the fact that we are talking to God. That means:

We should know what we are singing. Have you ever been singing a song and suddenly thought “Now what does this word mean?” I have. We shouldn’t just sing songs because they are in a book or up on the wall. We should sing them because we comprehend them and they convey a message to God we want Him to hear. By the way, you don’t have to be in church to sing praises to God. You can be anywhere. But just know that when you sing to Him you should know what you are saying because you are talking to God!

We should mean what we are singing. Just as we should mean what we say when we pray, we should mean what we say when we sing. Our songs must be sincere. When we sing Victory in Jesus, we should be excited about the victory Jesus has given us. It is just as important that the songs we sing are sincere as it is that our prayers are sincere.

*We are to pray when we are sick. This certainly doesn’t mean that we should not go to the doctor. It just means that we should come to God when we are sick. There is a temptation to draw away from god when we are sick. Especially if we are seriously ill. We tend to want to blame God or be angry with Him. Instead of turning away from God in sickness, we are to turn to Him. When Jesus walked the earth the sick came to Him constantly. They came to Him because they knew He had the power to heal. For that same reason, we are to go to God when we are sick.

How we should pray. I want us to see three things James mentions that goes along with prayer in these passages.

*The anointing of oil. James mentions this especially for the person that is sick. The elders of the church are to anoint the sick person with oil in the name of the Lord, and the pray for them. There are two views on the significance of the oil. One view is that the oil represents medicine. Oil was used as a medicine in James day. In the story of the Good Samaritan, the individual that was beat up had his wounds anointed with oil (Luke 10:34). The other view is that the oil represents the anointing of the Holy Spirit (Exodus 28:41, Luke 4:18). This would mean the person was being set apart for the blessing of God.

Either way, the point is that God is the One that heals, not the oil. So whether James is saying use medicine and pray or that the oil represents the Holy Spirit, he is still encouraging the people to come to God in prayer when they are sick. There is certainly nothing wrong with using medicine. As well, there is nothing wrong with a person symbolically anointing a believer with oil and then praying for them. It is important that we understand that there is nothing magical in the oil. It is symbolic and can no more heal a person than baptismal waters can save a person.

* The prayer of faith. James mentions that in verse 15. The faith is not in the oil, in the medicine or even in the elders. The faith is in the Lord. When we pray we should trust that God is able to heal us. We should come to Him in faith asking for Him to heal us. James warned about double mindedness in 1:6-8. He said we should not expect God to answer the prayer that is not offered in faith. When we do pray in faith, we should trust that God will hear and answer our prayers (Mark 11:23-25).

*The confession of sin. In verse 16 James says that we are to confess our faults to one another. Some sickness is the result of sin (1 Cor. 11:30). The prayers of individual and congregations are hindered by sin (1 Peter 2:7). Some physical illness is the result of sin but are spiritual illness is the result of sin. Therefore, confession of our sins enables us to receive both physical and spiritual healing from the Lord. James is probably making a specific reference to the sin of schisms in the church. If the church members would forgive one another and walk in love, their prayers would be heard. We need to keep this in mind when we pray. Sin hinders our prayer life. Confession of sin is necessary if we want a prayer life that God will bless.

The power of prayer. James tells us some of the results of a proper prayer life. Let’s look ate each.

The healing of our bodies. James says in verse 15 that God will heal our bodies. He says we will be raised up from our sick bed. That’s a pretty sick person. They are in their bed, unable to get up. Then God steps in and heals their bodies. The Old and New Testaments are full of accounts of God healing sick people. Prayer gives us access to the power of God. His power can heal any disease, no matter what the disease might be.

The forgiveness of our sin. It seems that James connects the sickness with sin in verses 15-16. Once the sin was removed, the healing came. That is true in some cases, but not in all. What is true in all cases is that we are forgiven when we sincerely pray for forgiveness. 1 John 1:9 tells us that. It is also true that we will not be forgiven of our sin if we do not pray for forgiveness. David said in Psalm 32:5 that forgiveness came when he confessed his sin to God. In Psalm 32:3-4 he described the inner turmoil he experienced when he did not confess his sin. Prayer is important because it enables us to experience continual cleansing from the Lord. Without it we would live in despair with the guilt of our sin upon us.

Powerful results. When we confess our sin we can be the righteous man that prays the effectual prayer James speaks of. “Effectual” means active and energetic. James illustrates this type of prayer with the example of Elijah. Elijah prayed for a drought and the drought came. He then prayed for the rain to return and it did (1 Kings 17). James says that Elijah was just a normal guy. But he had an amazing prayer life. The Lord did powerful things because Elijah prayed. There are two things we need to notice about the type of prayer life that moves the hand of God:

*It is “effectual fervent”. That is, it is alive. It is full of passion. It’s full of life because it is inspired by the Spirit of God.

* It comes from a righteous person. We need holiness in our life if we want the type of prayer life Elijah had.

We all want to see our prayers answered. We want to see miracles. We have desires and dreams. With that in mind we need to confess our sins, believe God and pray. We need to pray individually. We need to pray for one another. Sometimes we need to have people pray over us. As we do we will see the hand of God move and the blessings of God fall.

Thoughts to Consider

1. There is always a reason to pray.

2. Be humble enough to tell people you need prayer.

3. Prayer without faith is like a car without gas.

4. Prayer works.