Sunday May 17th, 2009.

10. James 5:13-18 ... Powerful Prayer

This morning, I want to start with a little story:

A grandfather overheard his granddaughter repeating the alphabet in reverent, hushed tones.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m praying, Grandpa,” she said. “I can’t think of the right words, so I just say all the letters. God will put them into words for me, because He knows what I’m thinking.”

That’s an amusing story, but there’s a lot that we can learn from it about prayer. It’s true that prayer isn’t always easy (and some would say it shouldn’t be easy!): maybe sometimes we don’t know what to pray about; perhaps life events make us feel like not praying; or perhaps we’ve lost confidence in prayer. The fact is, we all go through times when prayer is a struggle – and I’m no exception!

The girl in the story is a good example to all of us. She had the confidence in God to keep praying, even though she herself couldn’t put her prayers into words – she knew that if she turned to God, He would be able to make sense of her prayers, because He is aware of our prayers before we even say them.

Today, we turn to the Letter of James for the last time in this preaching series and, at the end of chapter 5, we are prompted to consider the importance of prayer and the importance of praying in every circumstance of life. I’m going to make a few direct observations on the text, so you may want to have your Bibles open at James, chapter 5.

The first observation I want to make is that ...

Prayer is always appropriate (v. 13)

In verse 13, James writes this:
Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray.
Are any of you happy? You should sing praises.

When James asks if any are suffering hardships, he is particularly referring to the hardships that come from persecution, oppression and abuse, because, at the time he was writing, many Christians were subject to mistreatment as a consequence of their faith. So he urges them to pray about it, however rough it might get for them.

It seems to be getting tougher to be a Christian in Britain these days, too – obviously not as tough as it was in the Roman Empire nearly two thousand years ago, nor as tough as it is for Christians in some other parts of the world, but it is getting tougher. When we speak about our faith, work colleagues look at us as if we’re speaking a foreign language; Biblical values are being undermined and opposed through legislation; and the Church is increasingly being held up for ridicule and as a target for anger.

James’ guidance is to pray about it – “You should pray”, he writes – and the Greek he uses has the sense of praying, not just once, but continually. In effect, he is telling us to “keep on praying about it”: keep on praying about it, even though you feel miserable about the treatment you are receiving; keep on praying about it, even though you dread some of the conversations that arise in the staff room, or the office; keep on praying about it, especially when you wonder whether it is worth being openly Christian.

The implication is that there isn’t always an instant remedy to our suffering, that our afflictions may be ongoing. Of course, when we come under attack, when we experience extreme difficulties, and our prayers are not promptly answered as we would wish, there is a terrific temptation to stop praying, to give up on God – James says, “Don’t!!! Just keep on praying!”

Here’s a wonderful hymn, which we’re not singing this morning, but which sums up the need to be persistent in prayer:

What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

We have a Saviour who hears our prayers and who is able to give us peace and comfort, even when – for whatever reason – it is not God’s will to remove our problem immediately. Instead of blaming God, or retaliating against the oppressor, we are to keep on praying, we are to keep on turning to God.

A couple of years ago in The Baptist Times, there was a story about a widow and her son, who were both training to be Baptist ministers. The woman had lost her husband and her daughter at very early ages, but what she said in the story made a deep impression on me and I kept the quote. She said:

“There’s no getting away from the fact that as a family we have had more than our fair share of death at an early age. But we’ve also had a huge amount of joy. I have learned what it is like to walk in the dark, but we still have joy. Life has been difficult, and it continues to be, but God has been there.”

In the face of their loss, their hardships, they might have turned away from God, given up on Him, yet God was there when they were at their lowest ebb and, as they turned to Him in prayer, they both found comfort and direction in life.

The point is that prayer is appropriate – indeed, essential – when we are under pressure; but it is equally appropriate and essential to pray when things are going well and we are feeling particularly blessed.

And James goes on to write: “Are any of you happy? You should sing praises.”

Prayer isn’t limited to words spoken quietly under our breath, or even shouted out loudly. As we sing out songs of thanksgiving and praise, we are lifting prayers to the Lord – earlier on in the service, we were singing “My heart is filled with thankfulness”, a prayer of thanksgiving. And, again, the sense of what James writes here is that we should keep singing His praises.

I remember that, when I first gave my life to Christ, I was a teacher in Manchester and, when I wasn’t on lunchtime playground duty, I would go for a walk in the park next door to the school and spend the whole time singing praise songs quietly to myself as I walked around. We should keep singing His praises.

Yet, the strangest thing often happens: when we find that things are going well in our lives and we are happy, we can easily forget to give God the thanks and praise He is due.

So, James is telling us that, whether things are going badly or well for us, we must remember to keep on praying and to keeping on singing. Prayer and praise are absolutely ESSENTIAL!!! So, let us be quick to turn to Him who perfectly loves us in every circumstance of life

Next, James tells us that ...

Prayer is healing (vv. 14-15)

In verse 14, he writes:

Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord.

This verse suggests that the practice of anointing those who were sick had become a common practice within the very early church. Today, many Non-conformists may have reservations about the use of oil in this way, yet here is a Biblical endorsement for doing it. James isn’t claiming that the oil itself has healing properties, but is testifying to the tremendous power of prayer.

Verse 15 says:

Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well.

The anointing doesn’t act like some kind of medication, which heals the ailing person – no, it is the use of the name of Jesus in the prayer of the church leaders which effects the healing, and the oil is purely symbolic of Christ’s healing power. In some cases, people with seemingly incurable conditions have been healed in quite miraculous ways.

But it’s not just about physical healing, because James adds:

And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.

For James, physical and spiritual healing go together. The Jewish view was that body, mind and spirit were inextricably linked and that, when one of them was unhealthy, all would be affected. This is a very holistic approach which is being taken increasingly seriously in modern medicine.

And notice that the sick person is instructed to call upon the leaders of the church to come to anoint and pray over him, or her. Illness moves from being a personal burden to being a concern of the whole Christian fellowship – it is not to be kept private, but to be addressed by the Body of Christ. After this service, you may ask me or any of the deacons of this church for prayer, whether your ailment be physical, emotional or spiritual – please don’t go home without asking.

But what of those cases where prayers of faith are not followed by physical healing, but by continuing illness and pain, or even death? Does this mean that in the sufferer, or in the ones praying, there was insufficient faith?

No, I don’t believe that to be true for two reasons: first, because I myself have witnessed people of great faith being prayed for by others of great faith and yet death has followed quite quickly; and, second, because the words of the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 stand out to me:

“[T]o keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”

Paul himself prayed three times to be relieved of what was almost certainly a physical ailment and yet he wasn’t healed, because the Lord wanted Paul to depend totally upon Him and not rely upon his own strength.

Why does God heal some and not others? I have to say that I honestly don’t know and neither does anyone else, but I choose to put my complete faith in God nonetheless and I continue to pray, believing wholeheartedly in God’s power to heal.

The next thing that James says is that ...

Confession is good for the soul (v. 16a)

At the beginning of verse 16, he writes:

“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”

These days, we are perhaps happy to participate in generalised prayers of confession during congregational worship, but probably wouldn’t entertain the idea of routinely and openly confessing our sins to other people. Yet that seems to be what James is advocating. In his scheme of prayer, people confess to one another, then pray for each other about those specific areas identified, then receive forgiveness or absolution, and, as a consequence, healing takes place – whether that is healing of relationships, healing of the spirit, or even physical healing.

Now, I don’t think James had in mind the idea of sitting in a confessional box with a priest – that’s a construct of the later, institutionalised church – but the principle of sharing one’s indiscretions with at least one other believer and praying it through is definitely advocated here.

That sort of openness and vulnerability may be a difficult thing to contemplate, but can we, in all integrity, simply ignore a Biblical injunction like this one? I’d be interested to know your thoughts on it.

Finally in this short passage, James tells us that, in the hands of righteous people, ...

Prayer is powerful (vv. 16b-18)

In the second half of verse 16, he writes:

“The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”

And he cites Elijah as a prime example, causing a drought to befall Israel and then ending it ... all through prayer. The implication of what James is saying is that the prayer of those who are strong in faith and godliness is more powerful than that of those who are not.

Now that may well be true and we can accept the example of Elijah and, of course, the ultimate example of Christ; but, what it all comes down to in the end is the grace of God, because it’s true to say that He answers the prayer of the weakest believers, as well as the strongest. The worldly person who has reached the end of their tether, turns to God and screams, “God, please help me”, will have their prayer answered if they are sincere in their plea. The weaker we are in faith, the more reason to turn to God in prayer, because as we trust in Him our faith is strengthened and we are made whole..

Yes, prayer is powerful, but it is God’s power that is manifest, not our own. So, however weak in faith you feel this morning, turn to prayer, not away from it, and allow God to do a powerful work in you and through you.

So, as I draw to a close, let us remember what we have learned this morning:

· prayer is always appropriate;
· prayer is healing;
· confession is good for the soul, and
· prayer is powerful.

Let’s pray ...

All-seeing God,
teach us to be open with You about our needs,
teach us to seek Your support in our trials,
teach us to admit before You our sins
and to thank You for all Your goodness;
for Jesus’ sake.
Amen.