Prayer - Primary Tool of Faith

Introduction

Many times in my life I have tried to follow in my father’s footsteps of being a capable carpenter. I often start a projects with the greatest of intentions and excitement but begin to fizzle out because something is harder than I expected. Often I am tempted to think if I just had this tool then it would make the job easier. I will briefly share one of those experiences.

Most of you know me and that I have a handful of chickens I raise for eggs. What most of you may not be aware of is the million dollar coop that I built for my first batch of chickens. Well, it might not have actually cost that but I have been accused of it a very costly project. I went into this plan with great ideas in my head and all the tools that I thought I possibly might need. I had a corded and cordless drill. I had saw horses. I had a miter box saw and skill saw. I had hammers, screw drivers, nail guns, staple guns, levels, measuring tapes… I had everything I could possibly need. I had the space in my garage to be able to build the coop sheltered from the weather.

I set off to draw out my plans and purchase all the supplies I needed. I got the lumber, screws, hardware cloth, staples, paint… everything I thought I needed. All my my great preparation was paying off for the first little bit of the project but what happened was a rookie mistake.

My foundation was not square. I had made my base which was the foundation to the whole structure and it was not square. I pressed on thinking oh its just off a little bit but the more I adjusted the harder it got to cobble it together and the more exceptions I had to make. In short, my coop ended up costing me twice what it should have and instead of being the lightweight chicken tractor I thought I had designed, I had a 250 pound building I had to try and maneuver and navigate on two little wheels on uneven ground.

It is safe to say, I learned my lesson about the importance of a solid foundation. If the foundation is out of square it throws the whole building out of balance. When I was using the tools wrongly to try and make adjustments, none of it worked out correctly. I was missing a solid foundation which made the rest of the building out of square which meant exceptions were made all over the place.

Christian life is a lot like this. When we miss the solid foundation of prayer, our faith becomes shaky and wobbly and wavers with the wind. We find ourselves making exceptions and adjustments to accommodate what life throws at us. Today we are continuing our study in the book of James 5:13-20

James 5:13–20 NRSV

13 Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 14 Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest. 19 My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, 20 you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Trouble in the Text

If we go back to the first century church, there were lots of challenges in life. There were lots of challenges in that the church was just getting started and nothing had been formalized for the most part. If we recall, the first century church was persecuted by Jews and Romans for being an illegitimate off shoot of Judaism. In digging in a little bit about why James wrote this passage, it helps to remember the context in which he was working.

Eerdmans’ Bible Dictionary gives one possibility.

Eerdmans Bible Dictionary II. Addressees and Date

It is possible that James wrote to Jewish Christians who had fled to Syrian Antioch after Herod’s persecution (see Acts 11:19).

and Holman’s Bible Handbook gives a more general view on what Christians in the first century were likely encountering.

Holman Bible Handbook Purpose and Theology

James wrote to Jewish Christians facing trials and persecution. Under the threat of persecution the readers considered compromising their Christian commitment and accommodating themselves to worldliness. James spoke as a pastor to urge his friends to develop spiritual stamina in facing persecution. He also spoke as a prophet to urge those who considered compromise to give evidence of their faith.

So in looking back on who James might have been talking to in this first century setting, it looks to be that persecution and dispersion were forcing Christians to flee under pressure and threats. It is hard to follow what a Christian should be if you are under the pressure of persecution and coercion. As Holman pointed out, there was pressure to compromise their Christian values to blend in.

Common at the time was the Hellenistic philosophy where it was a blending of cultures and religions into a melting pot where compromise and blending of cultures was strongly encouraged as the normal expectation of peoples and religions. So it is no strong stretch to say that compromise of the Christian values were expected to go along with worldly ways rather than Christian ways.

What is it about faith that is in trouble in this passage? It has to do with prayer being at the center of their faith. A lot of circumstances were out of their control. They could not control. Christians experienced suffering. Christians experienced sickness. Christians experienced the feeling of defeat sin placed on your heart. Christians experienced pressure to compromise their faith because culture around them demanded it.

In other words, Christians in the first century church experienced much of life’s trials and tribulations and were not excluded because they were Christian. In fact, being a Christian added to their trials and tribulations. Think of the way in which we are introduced to the Apostle Paul in the stoning of Stephen. Stephen’s testimony was reacted to violently. Paul was stoned and left for dead. All around there is this struggle between culture demanding Christians either renounce and fall back in line with Judaism or compromise their faith in another way.

How were they to deal with all of these external pressures to compromise their faith and practices? The answer was prayer.

Trouble Today

Before we go down that path, what does that trouble look like for us today? In some ways we face a different culture that shares similarities. We are not a newly formed off-shoot of Judaism like the first century church was. However, culture around us does ask us to compromise our faith and beliefs to align with worldly ways.

Today’s trouble is different in that we are an independent people who don’t like depending on others. We base our strength on our own abilities and talent. Where the first century was rooted in Judaism, we in some ways our bound up in nationalism and pride. This is the center of us as a people.

We become comfortable because we assert we are a Christian nation with Christian morality. Yet, if we survey the landscape, this is a false assumption. We live in a land of compromise and define your own morality mentality. When we try to legislate morality and compromise our way to a better future, the result is not what we had hoped for but is something worse than before.

Today, we focus on debate as our means of communication with others. I know I pick on social media a lot but one sided communication seems to be the preferred way in which we debate topics. Social media posts often demand things we should conform to or vehemently respond against. How often do you see a post or read a news article that gets your stirred up? How often is your first reaction to respond with your words? This is the problem is it not? If our first reaction to anything is to react immediately, then we missing the intervention of God.

If we choose debate instead of conversation, then we miss the relationship factor. We we miss praying before responding, we miss the relationship factor with God. We then risk following earthly wisdom as we discussed in James 3:15-16

James 3:15–16 NRSV

15 Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. 16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind.

As we talked last week, we focus on our wants and desires, thus our envy and self ambition generate the disorder and wickedness we see prevalent today. Prayer being our center of faith helps to redirect what may start out as selfish ambition, debating to prove someone wrong and ourselves right, into a conversation to understand a different viewpoint. How can we inject prayer into our lives to support our faith?

Grace in the text

Lets go back to the first century church. In some ways the book of James deals comprehensively with the many circumstances of compromise and persecution they faced. Prayer though is to be their center of faith. God acts upon these prayers of faith offered up earnestly.

The first century church faced doctrinal definition challenges, persecutions, and a separation from Judaism. What we know from the book of Acts and James here is that prayer is the answer to support their faith. We see so many examples of healing and miracles performed when prayed for. Even while Jesus was still with his disciples, he sent them out and they prayed and performed the same miracles and healings he was. In the book of Acts, the same patter happens. Lepers are healed. Basic needs are met. People are freed from unclean spirits. There are a lot of examples that show what James is teaching his readers. Didn’t Jesus heal Peter’s mother in law when she had a fever. Didn’t people try to touch Jesus’ robe to be healed?

What is even better is when you see Jesus commission the disciples to go out and do the same. They report back to him that incredible work that they have been able to do now. God’s grace had empowered them to heal the sick, give sight to the blind, raise the dead back to life, and so many other ways in which God’s grace poured through them into others. There is something else worth noting here. Notice how James wraps up this chapter and the book with the redemption of a sinner. Do you recall the paralytic and his friends who lowered him down through the roof to get him to Jesus? What did he say to him? He said his sins were forgiven. What did the paralytic do? He did was Jesus said, and he got up, picked up his mat, and he walked out of there!

Grace in the world

We often discount or excuse away or praying for healings and miracles. Why is that? We sometimes are afraid God won’t answer those prayers. Yet God remains still patient with us today, that if we pray then God will answer. I want to close out today with a story from a book that for me illustrates the power of prayer of faith. If you are not familiar with the book, The Cross and the Switchblade, then I highly encourage you to find a copy and read it. There are so many stories of God intervening and transforming lives, redeeming sinners, and healing.

Dave Wilkerson spent his life working with inner city gangs in New York City. His life and the work he did there is a testimony to the power of a faithful prayer. He focused some of his time teaching these youth that prayer is powerful and works. All throughout this book you see prayers being answered. I would like to share one of those stories when the youth center ran out of food.

[Read excerpt from Cross and the Switchblade by Dave Wilkerson - bottom of p. 137-140]

[Story of youth center being out of food that day and the whole center praying for food - stranger then shows up with the exact amount of money to provide food for the day - the time they started to pray the stranger had a strong urge to give them the contents of her piggy bank]

While for us it may be something we take for granted, sometimes asking God to meet the basic needs is also a way in which God keeps answering prayers of the faithful. When someone needs prayer, then we pray for them. When we need prayer, we ask for it. For me and my earlier faith journey, this book helped me to realize, God’s grace is always at work in the middle of those prayers offered up by faith. We too have been praying for this church and the direction we should go and those prayers are being answered. I am seeing that fire being kindled where people are excited to be part of this church family and people are excited to journey with God in growing their own faith. Lets keep offering those prayers of faith!