James: Where Faith
and Life Meet
Prayer & Faith
6/3/12
Introduction:
Last week I did finish the sermon on patience and
suffering so as an introduction for today I would like to pick up with the
concluding and practical application of last weeks sermon which transitions
nicely into today’s text.
As you recall James spends verses 7 – 12
in chapter five talking about patience during times of suffering. For most of us in this room those two words
are not widely welcomed with open arms into our lives; especially when the two
are connected. Patiently enduring during
times of suffering and difficulty is probably one of the hardest things for us
to do. As humans we all face trials,
tribulations and difficulties. They are
a part of the fabric of life. However as
believers our response to trials must be different than that of the world. Those in the world experience pain and cry
out in hopelessness because they have no hope.
Christians respond differently
because we know our difficulties in life are temporary even if they last a
lifetime. We live in the hope or the
expectation that one day there will be relief from the distresses and hardships
of life. So we patiently endure, until
we meet the Lord or He comes to us. We
wait in anticipation because our Lord has a perfect eternity waiting for us
where there will be no more sorrow, no more pain, and no more suffering. We have put all our faith into this truth and
yet we do not know when our suffering will end.
Relief is an open ended promise. It
may come at the end of your life or it may end when the Lord returns. We must live in expectation and anticipation everyday
for Jesus as though it were our last day because, who knows, it may be.
We also know the return of Christ is
imminent (could be any moment) and this should help us live victorious lives
because we know how the story of history ends.
Our God is victorious over all evil and being his children we share in
this victory as well. We will triumph
over pain, suffering and evil. So let us
start living in this expectation and in anticipation of his return. Let us not waste our time here on earth grumbling
against one and verbally abusing one another, oppressing the weaker in faith
and finances, saying and not doing, living worldly lives instead of godly lives,
and making selfish plans for the future because the coming of the Lord is
near. Knowing his coming is near should either scare you to death (because
you have not put your faith in Christ) or make you shout out with joy
(because all of your hope and faith is in knowing that one day you will be
eternally in the presence of our Lord and King Jesus Christ).
Know this… suffering is only for a
moment. May we be reminded of the words
of the Apostle Paul who writes in Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the
sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is
to be revealed to us.”
Prayer and Faith
In the last paragraph James now begins his conclusion.
This transition seems abrupt and out of the blue but actually is a typical
response for New Testament authors to end their letters this way by encouraging
his readers to pray. He spoke moments
ago about patiently enduring in times of suffering and trials now he informs these
readers of the importance of prayerfully enduring both individually and in the
body of Christ.
Verse 13: This letter
was written to persecuted and oppressed Christians so James is well aware there
are people suffering in the midst of this body of Christ. What he tells them is not anything they
didn’t already know nor is he informing them of something new formula for
breaking free from pain and suffering.
He simply reminds them that in their suffering they should be covered in
prayer. Those suffering should pray for spiritual
strength to endure these difficulties before them. In their suffering they should certainly pray
for relief but also knowing that they should find their comfort in trials
through prayer.
However prayer is not only for those
suffering but also for those who are “cheerful”. Douglas
Moo writes, “A reminder to turn to God is needed even more in times of cheer
than in times of suffering.” How
true this is. I find personally I am
less likely to be in a prayerful mindset when things are going great than I am
in times of extreme darkness and pain. This
should not be the case for me nor any Christian. This is why James exhorts the cheerful to
sing praises. Praise should be as much
of a priority in our prayer lives as that of intercession, thanksgiving,
confession, supplication etc. When all
is well we still need to be mindful of our desperate need for God.
Verse 14: If there is
any sick among the body then they are commanded to do the following. Let’s pause here for a moment and look at
what James is saying. What are most of
our natural responses when we are faced with sickness or health issues? We tend to keep it to ourselves because we
are stubborn like that. We don’t want to
be a burden, or we don’t want to seem like we can’t handle it, or maybe we are
just private people and don’t want to broadcast to the world our health issues. James specifically tells us that we are to
call upon the elders to pray over us, and to anoint with oil in the name of the
Lord.
Now this church does not have “official”
elders. Our Deacons would be the closest
thing to elders. The prominent role and qualifications of an elder suggests that an
elder be spiritually mature people (most probable men) who oversaw the
spiritual progress of the body of Christ.
The elders (whether formal or informal) cannot pray and anoint if
they are never called upon. Prayer is
one of the main purposes of the church body.
This is one of the reasons why we meet together. Praying for one another is a privilege and a
blessing so why would we want to hinder these prayers by not making our
requests known to the body of Christ?
Laying hands and anointing with oil are two practices I would like to
see happen more often in this church. Whether
you are a private, stubborn, or worrying person we are truly missing out on the
blessings of God when we refuse to allow others to pray over us.
Anointing with oil is an ancient
practice that has both medicinal and spiritual value to it. Oil has been used in the ancient world as a
skin conditioner and medicine. It is
also symbolic of the Holy Spirit. When
we anoint with oil we in essence are symbolically anointed in the Holy Spirit. It is not the oil or the prayer that heals
the sick person it is ultimately the Lord.
It is a symbolic act to show that we believe that through the Holy
Spirit the Lord will heal whomever he chooses regardless of our prayers yet we
fully believe he still uses our prayers as a means of healing.
Verse 15: Here is a promise, “The prayer of faith will save
the one who is sick…” So often we look
at this passage and think that if we can muster up enough faith then God will
do the healing. Yet we forget that faith
is a gift from God. When it comes to
praying in faith we should understand that the faith we pray in is given to us
by God. I don’t really think God is up
in heaven measuring our faith and saying, “Oh, if you just had a little bit
more then I could heal you. Sorry try
again tomorrow.” James tells us that our
prayers in faith will save the sick yet God is the one who gives us the
necessary faith we need to bring healing.
Isn’t God wonderful like that? He
gives us the necessary resources to accomplish what he sets out to do. It’s amazing that he puts it on our hearts to
pray for individuals and gives us the faith we need to believe so that He will
heal. It’s all about him!
You may notice that James seems to be
tying sin and sickness together. Well,
in the ancient world the two were often associated together. The reality is that some sickness is a result
of sin. In Jesus’ encounter with a
paralytic man in Mark 12 Jesus heals the man by declaring his sins are forgiven
and I Cor. 11:27 – 30 implies that sin is the result of some sickness. On the other hand all sickness is not a
result of sin.
Overall we can look at these verses and
conclude that those who struggle with illness can take confidence in knowing that
God will heal us in the end. One of the
main factors that we all must take into consideration is God’s will. Moo writes, “A prayer for healing, then, must
usually be qualified by a recognition that God’s will in the matter is
supreme. And it is clear in the NT that
God does not always will to heal the believer… The faith with which we pray is
always faith in the God whose will is supreme and best.”[1]
Verse 16: “Therefore…” Since what has been stated is true then the
logical conclusion is pray for one another and confess your sins. Why should you confess? Because there may be sins present in the body
that are hindering the prayers for healing.
We see in this passage that when we confess and pray healing happens.
“The prayer of a righteous person has
great power…” One who is in tune with God through prayer and is a spiritually submitted
man or woman will pray according to God’s will because His will is what they
seek. Our goal and purpose as
followers of Jesus is to be righteous men and women whose prayer has great
power and we should seek out men and women who pray powerful prayers. I have people in my life who I know are
righteous men and women and I exclusively ask them to pray for me when I need
wisdom, comfort, and guidance. Yet I also
desire to be a man who prays great prayers.
This is why I invest much of my time praying with other men. In our weekly Monday morning men’s prayer
time I feel as though we are praying powerful prayers and God is moving in this
group of men as we pray for God’s Spirit to fall on this community. I go to Minnesota twice a month to pray with
other pastors and these guys have prayed me through the past few years and they
continue to pray for God’s blessing. I
believe these prayers are powerful prayers and God will attend to them in his
will and we will see healing in both this town and this church.
Conclusion
Prayer is the heartbeat of the Christian
life. Without it we are dead. With it we can accomplish amazing things
according to God’s will. As we conclude
this chapter and hence this Epistle I want to encourage you to consider being a
part of our last Sunday of the month prayer time. I believe in the power of prayer and I believe
that God answers our prayers because we are seeking his will thus praying in
accordance to his will. Many of us are
faced with sickness, health issues or even in difficult circumstances, so we
must be men and women of prayer. May we commit today to becoming these righteous
men and women who pray powerful prayers and ultimately bring healing and
restoration to a town and church in desperate need of both?
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