The Ties That Bind Us: Prayer

Begin Sermon

But now, let’s jump into this beautiful Scripture which God has given to us. And we’re not just going to look at this one Scripture! No! Let’s look at the whole of Scripture. So I am going to invite you, as I stand before you today sharing this reflection, to break open the Scriptures with me! If you don’t have a physical Bible with you pull up a Bible app on your phone and explore the Bible with me.

So, this passage which we have just heard read for us touches on a theme – and it is a theme which I believe is essential to our life as Christians. This theme is prayer. Prayer is a topic that is not only important to us as humans, but even more so to God!

Let’s consider this for a moment. Look at the Bible as a whole with me. What is one of the longest books in your Bible? (Pause for a moment and take a look.) If you are thinking it is the Psalms you are correct! Yes, right in the center of your Bible lies that precious compilation of prayers which God has given us by the inspiring work of the Holy Spirit.

Now think about that with me. We have a book of Scripture entirely dedicated to prayer. This is how precious prayer is to God! He want’s us to know how to pray and so he gives us a whole book just on prayer. In fact we are given a vast selection of prayers (150 of them!) which run the whole gamut of the human experience and how to bear those various experiences in prayer before God. In the Psalms we find words of praise, supplication, frustration, fear, and even ANGER. (And just a footnote here… yes, in Scripture we see that it is okay to be angry – as long as we release the anger in the right way. What God does is to invite us to learn how to pray in that anger and hand it over to him. And if you don’t believe me just read Psalm 58. What is God doing here in inviting us to express anger? One theologian, Walter Brueggeman, ponders this question and offers the following. He notes ““it is an act of profound faith to entrust one’s most precious hatreds to God, knowing they will be taken seriously.””[1])

And so God teaches us how to pray! Whatever the circumstances are our first invitation as a people of faith is to bear the whole of our lives up before God, in prayer. And that is not my own pious meditation, that comes right from the Scriptures. For instances see 1 Thessalonians 5:17. What does the Holy Spirit say through Paul’s writing? “Pray at all times.” Some translations render this passage to say: “Pray without ceasing!” And in another place in Scripture we find the church being exhorted to “pray in the Spirit on every occasion.” (That was from Ephesians 6:18.)

So just from a few brief examples from Scripture we see that prayer is precious to God. God wants us to pray. Prayer is precious because it unites us in intimate relationship with our heavenly Father. But I would also invite you to consider with me that prayer is not only a vertical thing between us and God. It is at the same time horizontal. It is a connector between you and me – between us and our neighbor. It is as our sermon series is titled, one of the “ties that bind us.” And why, because in being formed in love by intimate communion with God we are at the same time being formed to love one another. When we live in communion with God we are also drawn into loving relationship with other people! That is a fruit of prayer. And we will explore that a little further on.

But let us return to our Scripture reading for today and see what God is saying to us there about prayer. What does God teach us here?

When We are To Pray

First – let’s check out v. 13. What does James write? Inspired by the Holy Spirit James writes: “Is anyone among you suffering? They should pray. Is anyone cheerful? They should sing praises.” I think that there are a couple of things for us to pay attention to here. First, let’s notice the dichotomy of situations noted here. What does James say? He says whether we are suffering or cheerful we are to pray.

A) Prayer in Suffering

The first situation James puts before us is that of suffering. “Is anyone among you suffering?” Now, when James wrote this the word he uses for suffering is a broad one. It does not mean only physical suffering. The word here encompasses the whole range of what we humans can suffer. It entails physical, social, emotional, mental, and spiritual suffering or distress.. And that makes sense in the context of what James is doing in this letter. So just for some background: James was writing, as he notes in the very first verse of this letter, “to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion” (1:1). That is he is writing to the members of the church dispersed throughout the known world and who are experiencing a mix of local persecutions as well as social and economic oppression and tensions which is being experienced both from outside of the church as well as among the churches’ members. We can see references to this scattered throughout the letter.

And Jame’s first word of advice to all those who will hear or read this letter is to pray. Now I would like to offer a word of caution here. James is not telling us that we should just pray in situations of suffering and distress. This is not like the often repeated phrase we hear in our current times when something bad happens and a politician or other important person says that they are offering their “thoughts and prayers.” James is not offering a platitude. What James is saying is that our first response must be prayer. And the reason for this is that in prayer we are bearing the “suffering” before God who will comfort us and who will also, by his Holy Spirit, give us the wisdom to know how to address the situation.

Thus, when he addresses the problem of Christians honoring those who are wealthy within their churches but dishonoring the poor who are also present in those same churches James points out that this is not the way of God – this is not how Jesus has taught us to live. And the way we come to know this is by living in relationship with our God by prayer. That is why James says that we are to first pray. For as our Lord Jesus Christ taught in Luke 6:45: “the good person out of the good treasure of their heart produces good.” And what is that treasure? It is God’s grace at work within our hearts bringing us into relationship with him and making it possible for us to live as citizens of the kingdom of heaven – where we are made into a people whose lives are animated by our loving relationship with our God and with one another.

That is why prayer is so important in any type of suffering. It is not an escape, it is a cry out to God to help us and sustain us in the midst of our various sufferings and it is also our reaching out to God asking him to guide us to respond to those situations in a Christlike and godly manner.

So as we consider prayer in the midst of a variety of sufferings and distresses, I would encourage you to take a moment with me and think: What are those situations in your life where you may have a suffering, distress, or hardship? And how do you engage that? Do you pray in the midst of that? I hope so! When hardship hits: pray. When hardship strikes another person, I encourage you to pray for them as well. Prayer for another is a beautiful expression of the bonds that unite us with each other and that we are responsible for each other (to love and care for one another). We pray because we know that God is good and hears us. And I can tell you from personal experience that our God is a good and faithful God… a loving Father who has his eye upon us at all times and desires us to come to him. He desires to strengthen you and me in the midst of every hardship that comes our way. And why? Because our God is not stingy. He loves you and me so dearly that his desire is to pour an abundance of his goodness upon us. And if you need proof of that I invite you to turn to one of the Gospels and read them where we find the greatest proof of his love for us in Him sending his Son on our behalf.

B) Prayer in Joy

But, let us continue on and see what else James has to say to us. What is the next things he says? Well, he points out that it is not only in suffering that we are to pray. James reminds us that we must be people who also pray when everything is going right! So, in v. 13 he also says: “Is anyone cheerful? They should sing praises.” And what a powerful teaching this is!

Why do I say that? Well, I don’t know about you, but I can tell you just looking back over my own life as a Christian that in those times when things get rough or when I have found myself in times of suffering or distress it was easy to pray! I was there in what felt like a dark pit and I was reaching out to God begging him to be with me, to strengthen me, and to guide me. Prayer just seemed to flow from out of me. It came out as the most natural thing to do.

But what happens when life is going well and everything is just falling into place? Well, it is embarrassing to say, but I must admit that I have definitely had those times in my own life when all felt great, everything was going smoothly and in those moments I forgot to remain in prayer. (Perhaps this has happened for you as well? It is certainly a common experience I have heard from others over the years.) In the ease of those moments when everything is comfortable and filled with joy it we can forget to stay in relationship with God, and to acknowledge that those moments come from him as a gift and a reprieve in the midst of the trials of this life.

Well, because James saw this in the church at his time, he offers a reminder to the Christians he is writing to. He reminds them to remain in prayer not only when things are tough, but also when they are feeling cheerful!

But notice that James does not simply remind us to pray. What is the expression he uses? Yes, he says that we are “to sing songs of praise” (Jms. 5:13). Doesn’t that seem extraordinary to you? Why does he give us this command… to pray in this particular way: to sing songs?

I would suggest that the reason he tells us to pray by means of song is that James is trying to remind us of how over-abundant the gratitude of our joyful prayer should be! James is in essence saying: Are you joyful? Awesome! Praise the one who has given you the cause of this joy, and praise him in a way that shows forth the full strength of that joy! And this is a deeply biblical response. Think for instance of the Psalms again. For instance look at Psalm 145. The whole Psalm is a song of praise to God for his goodness to his people. Just look at v. 1: “I will extol you, my God, O King, And I will bless your name for ever and ever.” Immediately we are caught up into a great song of praise, and perhaps as you read it you feel your heart lift up with an overwhelming sense of joyful gratitude. That is what what James is talking about.

But the Old Testament is not the only place where we find examples of praising God. Think of how many times in Paul’s letters he breaks out into joyful thanksgiving. For instance in Philippians 1:3 Paul writes: “I thank my God every time I remember you! In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel.” Notice how for James and Paul the immediate reaction to cheer and good is to praise God. To turn their hearts immediately to the one from whom every good thing comes.

So I hope that you find inspiration from the Scriptures today to remember to pray at all times… both when you find yourself in difficulties and trials, as well as when you find your life going smoothly and your heart is cheerful. And I would also point out that a beautiful experience of turning to prayer and praise in times of joy is that you will find your joy increased all the more!

Moreover, we find that when we have sustained a practice of joyful praise and thanksgiving, we have a reserve that we can draw upon when the going gets tough. In those moments we can remember the joy of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit can shed his light once again into even the darkest of places. And this is not just for us, it is also a joy that can be shared with others when they may need it most.

Corrie ten Boom – a Christian woman who partook in efforts to hide Jews from the Nazi’s death camps during the Second World War – shares a story of how after the war she found a moment when she could turn to joy while working visiting prisoners in a dark and depressing prison. She wrote: “I experience that Jesus is always with me. He lives in my heart; He has never left me alone.” And when she went in to minister to these prisoners she recalls that: “I felt in my heart a great joy that imparted itself to the men who were sitting in the pouring rain. Then I saw that the joy of the Holy Spirit can be experienced in all circumstances.”[2]

The Communal Nature of Prayer

And that example leads me to the next point that James makes in his letter. After essentially telling us in verse 13 that we need to pray in both the good and the bad times of our lives, he then switches modes.

Now at first it looks like he is just listing of another instance when we need to pray. He writes “Is anyone among you sick” in v. 14. And what follows also sounds similar to what we have seen before. He continues “Then they must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him…”.

However, I would suggest that in spite this looking like James is continuing on with what he has been teaching about prayer, this is not just another listing of a time when prayer is needed. It is, but there is also something deeper happening here.

What is it that I am talking about? Well, look at vv. 14-16 with me for a moment. Do you notice something here? Take a moment and look over the passage.

If you are thinking: “Oh, isn’t it interesting that the prayer is not just coming from the individual anymore.” You are right! James now draws our attention to the communal nature of prayer. He is pointing out how prayer is a necessary part of our life together. That we are tied together in relationship with and by our Lord Jesus Christ. We are being fashioned by the Holy Spirit into a new community. And part of the way this new community lives out our life together is to pray for one another.

Notice how this plays out in vv. 14-16. The sick one is to “call on the elders” who are “to pray for the sick person.” James reminds us here that we are not alone. In the church God has given us the gift of ministries and those who are called into them. And here James reminds us of the church’s ministers. These ministers help remind us that we are not alone in this journey of life. We have those who we can turn to for support and prayer and wise counsel. But James does not only talk about the church’s ministers.

Look at v. 16 with me. What does James write here. He says that we are to “confess our sins to one another, and pray for one another so that [we] may be healed.” Notice that we are now no longer talking about the work of an ordained minister. Here James is talking about what every Christian can and should do. He says to “confess your sins to one another.” Now that is a hard thing to hear… Isn’t it? But the Holy Spirit gives us this word. And why does he give it to us? I don’t think it is to put us into an embarrassing situation. No, rather it is so that we can support one another. (And anyway, all of us have sinned and do sin! So when James commends this practice to us there is the assumption that the one hearing their brother or sister bearing their soul before them does so not in superiority but humbly and in recognition that this is what each of us experiences.)

And notice too what follows after“confessing your sins to one another.” James immediately follows this with “and pray for one another.” So in this community that God is forming us into, we hear each other out – listening to what is burdening each other – and then we pray for one another. We pray so that our brother or sister may be strengthened and renewed. We pray for one another out of love! As Jesus says in the Gospel of John (13:35): “By this will all people know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” And because we are called to love one another we are seeking the other’s good. And one of the deepest, most beautiful, and most profound ways we can love one another is to pray for each other.

We can see this in our Lord’s own life. What was one of the last things that Jesus did before he went to the cross and offered his life so that you and I may be saved (which is the greatest expression of his love for us)? But what did he do before going to the cross? Yes! He prayed… he prayed for his disciples and for all those who would be his. He prayed for our sanctification, he prayed that we be one, he prayed that we may be with him and that we may see his glory. All of that can be seen in the 17thChapter of John’s Gospel. And in doing this we see just how deeply he loved us – how deeply he loves you and me and every person who is called unto him. So our Lord himself shows us that prayer is one of the most profound ways we can care for and love one another.

An Example of the Power of Prayer

Finally, in today’s Scripture we find James encouraging us to pray by giving us an example of the power of prayer. He writes in vv. 16-18: The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. 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. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.”

Now that last portion of v. 16 is an interesting one and it has been translated in many different ways. The reason for this is because James was articulating a rich theology of prayer in compact language. First, notice he points out that he is speaking of “the prayer of the righteous.” However, he is not speaking about someone who is spiritually elite! What he is talking about are all those who have been declared righteous by God and “justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus!” as Paul writes about in Roman 3:24. So that includes everyone who has been saved by God’s gracious action!

Next James says that the Christian’s prayer is “powerful and effective.” What does this mean! I would suggest that what James is reminding us of is the fact that our prayer has God who is at work in it. Another way we could translate James here is like this: ““prayer is very powerful when it is energized (by the Spirit of God).” So in effect, James is saying that every Christian should have confidence that their prayers are powerful and effective, precisely because our faithful and good God hears us and is already active in our praying!

In short James is encouraging us to pray – he is reminding us that God is faithful from beginning to end. Just like Paul says in Romans 8:26 – the Holy Spirit is at work in us, guiding us in our prayer and empowering our prayer.

And then finally in vv. 17-18James gives us yet another word of encouragement. He reminds us of the story of Elijah – which you can find in 1 Kings 17-18. If his word of encouragement above is not enough he continues on to reminds us that when God’s servant Elijah prayed his prayer even effected the weather. And to make the point even more poigniantly James reminds us that Elijah was a “human being just like us.” Yet again, this is not about being a spiritual superhuman – it is about what God does.

So what James is trying to tell us is to trust God and pray. At the beginning of your bulletin you will find a quote from Rowan Williams. It says this: “Very near the heart of Christian prayer is getting over the idea that God is somewhere a very, very long way off, so that we have to shout very loudly to be heard. On the Contrary: God has decided to be an intimate friend and he has decided to make us part of his family, and we always pray on that basis.”

Conclusion

My friends this is how rich God’s love is. He draws so near to us that he is at work even in our prayers. And when we pray we are in conversation with our God who is not distant to us but in fact rejoices to be in relationship with us, and speaks with us, and answers us when we pray.

He also draws us together as a community when we pray. In fact prayer is an essential part of the life of God’s people. For when we pray we learn from God how much he loves us. And we also learn his love for our brother and sister which in turn should draw us closer to one another. And one important way in which we do this as Christians is in prayer.

So what does all of this mean for us? Well, I would suggest that it means that after reading and reflecting on this Scripture today that we begin by remembering just how precious prayer is to God. It is precious to him because he longs for us to be in relationship with him. And when you and I realize this I hope that our hearts start to burn with a passion to grow in prayer. I hope that we grow more and more each day to love prayer and to seek it out. Prayer at home, prayer alone, prayer with your family, and prayer as a church community. And we can take advantage of all the many means of prayer that our church gives us! And if you are new to the Christian faith or here just seeking answers I hope that you feel welcomed to join with us in this community as we all learn together how to pray. We’re all continually learning as God draws us together into a community where we are continually growing and encouraging one another.

So already here today we are in prayer. This whole worship service is a prayer! We are glorifying our God as we sing hymns, read Scripture, meditate on the Scripture and approach the Lord’s Table. And then our church offers other opportunities to pray together as well! There are the prayer meetings here in this church on Tuesday evening and in West Philly on Wednesday. And there is the Morning and Evening prayer which you can sign up to receive in your email and pray alone or with your friends and family. And finally in your small groups, we have the opportunity to pray as well!

Yes, we have so many ways to practice this precious gift of prayer as a community drawn together by the working of the Holy Spirit. I hope that each of us finds some way to connect to this precious gift of prayer that God calls us to in his holy word. For that is part of God’s mission for us as his people – to be a people who pray!

Let us Pray

[1] The Message of the Psalms, 77. [2] Marching Orders for the End Battle, 85