2019-11-17 James 5:14-15 LET’S PRAY (2): THE PRAYER OF FAITH

LET’S PRAY (2): THE PRAYER OF FAITH (James 5:14-15) November 17, 2019 Read James 5:14-15 – This is a difficult passage. It’s used to justify extreme unction practiced by RC’s, faith healers guaranteeing healing thru prayer and others who treat anointing oil as a magic potion. The interpretive questions are many. What kind of suffering is in view? Why must elders come? Why the anointing? Why type of healing is in view? Does it always work? What is clear is we have here a message of hope. So put your thinking caps on. We will not all agree, and that is okay. But let us do our best by God’s grace to understand this difficult passage and, as always, to obey. I. The Condition “Is anyone among you sick?” Sounds like a serious illness is in view. But the root meaning of ἀσθενέω, is “weak.” TDNT says the “first meaning is weak.” It “signifies weakness or impotence of various kinds.” So it can mean physically ill, as it does some 35 times in the NT – all but 5 in the Gospels or Acts. However, 46 times (all but 3 in the epistles), it’s translated “weak.” Which is it here? V. 15 refers to the “one who is sick” – κάμνω – but root meaning, “weary.” “Sick” is a secondary meaning. It’s used only 1 other time in NT – Heb 12:3: “Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.” So, word usage suggests Jas is referring to those who are fainthearted, weary, soul sick. Context also points that way. Just prior to this (vv. 1-11), In 5:8 Jas advises the poor who’ve been unfairly treated: “You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” They’re faint of spirit. And the following context (vv. 19-20) addresses one who “wanders from the truth” – spiritually AWOL. All this points to fallen warriors -- weary, defeated Xns. Paul addresses the exact same situation in I Thess 5:14: “encourage the fainthearted, help the weak (adj form of ἀσθενέω), be patient with them all.” So Jas is primarily addressing spiritual battle fatigue – spiritual PTSD. But Jas words also apply to physical illness. For example, there is the promise in 15b: “and the Lord will raise him up (ἐγείρω) – root meaning “to awaken”, “restore to a previous state.” In the NT it is used for waking someone, for restoring a sick person to health, and resurrection. As used by Jas it could refer either to a spiritual renewal or physical healing. So, I believe Jas’ primary 1 emphasis is on spiritual renewal, but secondarily on physical healing. His words apply to either condition, with emphasis on spiritual weariness. II. The Cure – (Three things) A. Prayer of Faith – V. 14: “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him – the “prayer of faith” in v. 15. Interestingly, elders are called, not someone with the gift of healing. The fact that in this earliest of NT epistles, Jas says, “Call the elders,” is one indication the gift of healing was diminishing. And calling elder would be especially applicable in the case of spiritual faintheartedness. Pray what? The prayer of faith – which is not what most Xns think it is. Most people think this is a prayer of certainty that God will do as asked. It is prayer without doubts as to the thing requested. This misunderstanding has caused untold heartache. A person with a “healing” ministry says, “You must ask with no doubt that God will heal this person. Any doubt kills the request. So the prayer is made. The person is not healed and the conclusion is, “Someone is not believing,” thus imposing a load of guilt. But this is not a prayer of faith. That is a prayer for magic, God as puppet – faith in faith, not God. Prayer is a request, not a command. The prayer of faith is always qualified by one thing – God’s will. I Jn 5:14: “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” At the heart of every prayer of faith, is the objective of God’s will. Jas himself previously warned, Jas 4:15: “You ought to say, ‘If the Lord will, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.” In other words, “Don’t flatter yourself that you have special insight into my will and ways. I’m looking for submission, not reporting for orders.” The prayer of faith is not a prayer without doubt as to the thing requested; it’s a prayer without doubt as to the One being asked. It is faith in the Giver, not in the gift. It’s, “I seek Your answer to my request!” True prayer says, “I believe in God. Period. Here is my stake in the ground. I believe in God -even if he takes my life or that of this loved one.” Example: Job 13:15: “Tho he slay me, yet will I trust him.” Another example: The three Hebrew boys on their way to Neb’s fiery furnace: “’Our God will deliver us out of your hand, O king, but if not’ we believe in him anyway’. Ultimate example: Jesus: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Lu 22:42). That’s the prayer of faith, Beloved, and it cost Jesus His life. If we can’t say, “Your will be done”, it’s not a prayer of 2 faith in God, it’s a prayer of faith in God’s answer. So to simplify: prayer is asking, not ordering; faith is believing in God, not the result. Anything else is arrogance! Says who? God! Rom 8:26-27: “For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words . . . according to the will of God.” We can’t be like the woman who wrote her pastor: “Your Jesus didn’t work. My husband left, my son’s in the hospital and I have a terminal illness. Your Jesus didn’t work!” She was looking for a miracle, not the Master! Oswald Chambers said it well: “Faith for my deliverance is not faith in God. Faith means, whether I am visibly delivered or not, I will stick to my belief that God is love. There are some things only learned in a fiery furnace.” B. Anointing With Oil – Why anointing? Is the oil like a magic potion? That cannot be. First, of the 2 words for “anointing”, Jas chose the one that’s not ceremonial, but simply practical. The phrase literally reads, “oiling, rubbing with oil.” It is not a ceremonial act imparting some special grace. Second, “anointing” is a participle, making it subordinate to the main verb, “let them pray.” Prayer is primary, anointing secondary. Others take the anointing to be medicinal – like the good Samaritan pouring oil on the wounds of the victim in Lu 9:34. The idea is we should see the doc and pray. But, while that’s true, elders weren’t docs! Oil was also used for hygienic and refreshment purposes – as when Jesus told Simon in Lu 7:46: “You did not anoint my head with oil, but she (the saved prostitute) has anointed my feet with ointment.” This possibility fits nicely with the fact that spiritual fatigue is the primary issue here. Elders might indeed anoint with oil to invigorate the body prior to praying to invigorate the soul. Maybe. But I think it most likely that oil here symbolizes the HS as often in Scripture. The oil, then, prepares for a prayer invoking a renewed outpouring of the HS on this life. It represents visibly a renewed commitment to His ministry in one’s life. It is not a treatment to be used lightly, nor regularly. The HS is always in residence without the need for visible reminder. But in an extreme case, the anointing may be useful. The oil is not magic, but is a visible reminder of the supernatural power at work to answer the prayer of faith. C. Confession of sin – Where is that? 15b: “And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” No one can seek forgiveness for another. That’s personal. I can’t repent for you and you can’t repent for me. Confession by the ill person launches this whole process. Without confession, the rest is 3 of no merit. Jas says, “And if he has committed sins.” Sure he has committed sins. We all do every day. So why “if”? The answer must be, “If he has committed sins leading to this debilitating condition,” those are forgiven, and along with them the resulting affliction. Is illness always the result of sin as people in Jesus’ time assumed? Like the disciples in: Jn 9:2b: “’Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind.’ 3) Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” Jesus’ answer shows we must never assume some affliction is the direct result of sin. But often, it is! David’s sin with Bathsheba brought on a spiritual malaise that he described in Psa 32:3: “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4) For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up (spiritual fatigue). Jesus said to a blind man He healed: Jn 5:14, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” Paul in I Cor 11:29) For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30) That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.” So, it is entirely possible for spiritual or physical ailment to be the direct result of sin. Heb 12:5, “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves.” So any physical illness or spiritual weariness should lead to careful self-examination and confession of sin. Confession is the cornerstone of this whole passage. III. The Culmination So what is the result of Jas’ process? “And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” Forgiveness certainly. But also 15) And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.” Unconditional promise? Confess sin, call the elders, pray with faith, anoint with oil, and healing will result? If not, someone didn’t have faith? In truth, it can’t mean that. Jas is giving a short lesson on a long subject here, not trying to cover all contingencies, but it cannot be an unconditional promise. It does mean sin is no longer a barrier to God restoring spiritual or physical health. But it cannot mean immediate physical healing in every case. Why is that? First, experience shows this does not happen unconditionally, even when all the conditions are clearly met. Often the same people praying for two different people at the same time will see one restored and another not. Second, as shown earlier, the true prayer of faith defers to God’s specific will or it would not be a prayer of faith. Since we are not fully privy to the mind of God, we 4 know it only when we see His answer. Isa 55:8 holds: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” Third, even in the Bible, physical healing isn’t always unconditional. In II Tim 4:20 Paul notes, “I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus.” In Phil 2:26, Paul notes Epaphroditus “was ill, near to death.” Had Paul’s faith failed?! Paul told Timothy in I Tim 5:23, “No longer drink only water, but use a little for the sake of your stomach.” Why not heal him? Paul had his own affliction that he asked 3 times for God to remove. God said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (II Cor 12:9). God says, “Paul, I can get more glory in your ailment than by your healing, so get on with it.” I love that Paul didn’t pester the Lord further. Three times was enough. Fourth, to those who say, “I’m praying what I absolutely know God’s will to be,” be careful, Beloved. Even Jesus, in His humanity, didn’t go there. He prayed, “Father, if you are willing, let this cup pass from me.” It’s a request, not an order. But He didn’t stop there. “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Lu 22:42). How dare we go where Jesus Himself didn’t go?! Fifth, if this promise were unconditional, true believers would never die. If the prayer of faith always heals, we’d never die. But we do! It’s not an unconditional promise. Jas readers would not have thought it so. It shows two things – first, it shows us how to remove any barriers of sin or lack of faith in God that might be preventing healing. Second, it frees God to heal in His time and His way. It is ultimately about trusting Him instead of ourselves. Whatever His answer, it’s bc He loves us. We must embrace that. Suppose God actually said to you, “From now on, anything you ask believing it to be my will, I’ll give it to you.” If God said that and you had any brains at all, you would stop praying immediately and never pray again. Your friends would say, “Never pray for me again.” Why? Because as Jas says in 4:13, “You do not know what tomorrow will bring”, let alone the rest of your life. We’d choose healing over suffering every time, tho it would not always be best. And we’d be like the anti-gun comedy sketch on TV. Everyone in the family has weapons. So little kid says, “Dad, how come you haven’t given me a .45 magnum with armor-piercing ammo?” Dad looks down and says, “Well, Son, you know you’re too young for that. Wait until you’re 10.” The point is, God’s going to hear, honor and answer our prayers – but He’s not going to give us a .45 magnum. We’re not ready to run the world yet. 5 Conc – It has been my privilege on a number of occasions to join other elders in praying for the fainthearted or sick. My own father developed colon cancer at age 59. Didn’t attend to it bc it happened as his own mother was dying. Meantime, it became a serious problem. So before surgery, we called the elders and prayed the prayer of faith while anointing him with oil. The surgeon later found a grapefruit sized tumor in his colon and commented, “I’ve never seen anything like it. The blockage should have killed you and the cancert should have spread to other organs long ago.” He required no colostomy; no radiation and no chemo, but was in the peak of health for another 24 years. It was unquestionably a providential miracle. Then, at age 83, he was felled by a stroke. Once again the elders were called and we prayed for him. This time the answer was 6 tortuous years during which he could not speak beyond jibberish, other than a strange ability to sing Happy Birthday to family members. The last four years he was completely bed ridden. Failure of faith? No way. God had His purposes – some we know; some we don’t. A number of hospice people either came to faith in Christ or had faith renewed by being around Mom and Dad in those days, to say nothing of other lives, our own included, that they affected. After 6 years, the Lord healed him completely by taking him home to heaven. In our own church, we’ve prayed for some who have been miraculously raised up, and others who have been healed by their own homegoing after a time. The point is, God is sovereign. What Jas prescribes is prayer that acknowledges that, gets our own sin and self out of the way so that God can do the work of healing and raising up as He knows best. The best culmination of all is not physical healing, but increased faith in our loving Father. Whatever His answer, it’s because He loves us. Let’s pray. 6