08.23.2009 James 5 - Pray!

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We are closing the book of James today – let’s pray
Heavenly Father – we thank You for the lessons You have taught us through this book of James – we appreciate all You do for us – we are grateful and want to stop and first be grateful. It is so easy to not be thankful and grateful. Even when difficult times come in and yet, You have given us life and have our best in mind. It will be proven to be true, so we want to say thanks in advance and thanks for all that has happened to this point. We don’t want to forget You – You warned Israel when they came into the promised land. We ask You to prepare our hearts – as I speak, that You would communicate and touch hearts – that I would allow Your Spirit to go to work. Speak now, we pray, in Your name.

We have looked at, in James –
2 things – the church is in a circumstance where there is a lot of struggle and difficulties – external pressures –
James 1:1-12 – Trials
James 1:13-18 - Temptations
Poverty in several passages, James 2, and 4:13-5:6 – there was economic difficulty they were facing.
Then today, we’ll look at sickness.

Internal pressures
James 2:1-13 speaks of partiality – favoring one group over another.
James 3:1-12– speech – saying bad things about one another
James 41:12 – Pride and selfishness
We have looked at all these.
Today – James 5:7-12 – James brings it all – suffering, pressure, difficulty – he talks about attitude and response. He uses the example of the prophets – and the example of Job. The person who can endure difficulty with patience will be blessed. The reason we won’t look at this today is – I have looked at this a lot.
Instead, beginning in James 5:13 – He gives us an action step – something you can do – when you are suffering – here is something that will really help:
James 5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray
How simple – let him turn to God.
You know – when we struggle, there seems to be nothing we can do. But no matter the circumstance, you can pray. This is the one activity you can begin doing at any point, at any time, in any circumstance of life.

When we think of praying, we think of it as a passive activity. It is almost viewed as a resignation – “nothing really good is going to come of this – so I’ll pray.” – Instead – Prayer should be viewed as a revolutionary tactic in our struggle against evil. It is active. It is not a cop-out. Someone shares a difficult circumstance – so what do you do? “I’ll pray for you.” – Maybe we do it to pacify our sense of responsibility. In our heart, we don’t really believe it will make a difference. But James is saying – “Prayer changes things; prayer changes lives!” But that change is not always what we think it should be or the timeframe we think it will be. We need to take this approach - - understand its value and make it a part of our lives.
I was watching The History Channel – there were two special ops stories - Prayer is like a covert action – the special forces of Christianity – It is unseen, and yet has a significant impact on the battle.
Here is a picture of the Cabanatuan POW camp – There were special op forces that was a new type of fighting unit. When Japan realized they were going to lose, they were killing the POWs. The US got word and sent troops in who secretly made a raid and rescued 512 POWs. Only 1 was killed. When they got into the camp – the prisoners were afraid of them. They were interviewing the prisoners – “we had never seen uniforms or weapons like that in our lives…”

– the first Afghan war after 9/11 – the northern alliance was struggling against the Taliban. The forces were bombing – but not making a lot of progress. The northern alliance had been stuck in one spot for about 3 years. But there was a group with a camera – a laser thing – they could communicate with the airplanes – and they would focus the laser on a target – and boom – this secret group of people was doing something that no one knew – but it changed everything. Prayer is done in secret and it does change things. The people you are praying for can’t see it – there is no hands-on – but it makes a difference in their lives and can even change circumstances. That is what Jeames is saying.

2 Cor. 10: 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 [We are] destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and [we are] taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, 6 and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete

Prayer is divinely powerful – it unleashes God’s power in our lives and in the lives of others. The problem is – it is not something we can see right away – it takes time. He talks about the patience of Job who went through much suffering before God worked on his behalf. That is the way it is with prayer – we tend to not see the results and then give up.

James 5: 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; 15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him

This is a controversial verse. Immediately you think of healing and the debates rage on – what is the deal with the oil? I have talked about this a lot too. James is not trying to give a theology of healing in this passage – it is just one of the things he is mentioning – if anyone is happy, let him sing praises. If anyone is sick – call for the elders and pray. This is just another area in which we can pray.
1) God can and does heal
2) God does not always heal.
Jesus made this clear – there is a sickness unto death. Jesus healed a lot of people – but there were thousands more whom he didn’t heal. When and if God heals, it is a miracle – it is supernatural – that lets us know – the natural or ordinary is what USUALLY happens. At some point, we will all get sick and die. That is the reality of life. But every now and then God steps in and does something supernatural. It is not up to us – it is up to God. We have the freedom and are told when someone is sick – to pray.
There is a debate about the oil – what is it? Olive oil. That is what they had. That is all it is. 99% - it was a ceremonial anointing of oil. They also used oil as a medicine – but more likely, it was a symbol or sign of the presence of the Lord. A sign of God’s spirit being there.
This sickness – if you go on to verse 16
15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
The Lord will raise him up – the person is bedridden –
If you break your foot – you can pray – but go to the hospital and have it set. This is for when people are really sick.
James 5:15b and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

In their culture – sickness was a result of demonic activity. At times, sin causes disease and sickness. Without sin – the fall of mankind – there would be no disease. At the same time – if someone gets cancer – it is not because they of their sin. IF he has committed sin – he will be forgiven. As the elders pray – they are ministering to him and trying to lead that person – if there is a problem – to deal with those issues. Confess and pray.
The prayer of a righteous person has great power. The point – the key – is to pray. If someone is sick – pray for him. If someone is suffering – pray. Prayer releases power from God. Prayer changes lives and prayer changes things. We need to believe this today – no matter the circumstance – prayer changes things – and we need to learn to come to God.

Hebrews 4: 16 Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.

When you come in prayer, be bold! Be confident! – what you are doing is of value. Don’t just ‘throw it out there’ - that is not how God wants us to pray. He wants to work for us to give grace and mercy in our time of need. This is the issue of faith – the prayer offered in faith is the key. Today – do you believe that prayer can change your situation? Do you believe that GOD – not your prayer – but you, crying out to God in your time of need – that GOD can change things and people.

Mark 10: 46 And they ^came to Jericho. And as He was going out from Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, a blind beggar [named] Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" 48 And many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" 49 And Jesus stopped and said, "Call him [here.]"

This is Hebrews 4:16 – going to God in boldness. This blind guy could not see what was going on – he was yelling for Jesus – screaming to the extent that everyone was trying to shut him up. In his boldness, he cries out all the more – he doesn’t stop, he gets louder.

And they ^called the blind man, saying to him, "Take courage, arise! He is calling for you." 50 And casting aside his cloak, he jumped up, and came to Jesus.
This guy’s cloak was all he had – and it showed his desperation and faith that he threw it aside. Are you clinging to anything that keeps you from Jesus?

51 And answering him, Jesus said, "What do you want Me to do for you?" And the blind man said to Him, "Rabboni, [I want] to regain my sight!" 52 And Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he regained his sight and [began] following Him on the road.

This is a man who is desperate and believes that Jesus can change lives. He goes with confidence and boldness without inhibition – unashamed – because having God change things is more important than what anyone else thinks.

James 5: 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the sky poured rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

I think he was saying – Elijah – How many of you have read Christian Biographies? You look at their lives and you think, I could never be that way. Like the people out of food who pray for food and a grocery truck breaks down in front of their house and the driver says, We have to give you all our food… We look at the Bible people – and think – wow! I could never be that way. But James was saying – Elijah was no different – he was a man with a nature like ours – he suffered depression – he was afraid of women – well, one in particular – but he prayed – there were no special qualifications – the way you are – you can come to God. If you a believer and have put your faith in him – God will work through you and will hear your prayers. Whatever your situation – you don’t have to be a Christian for a long time.
Maybe you have noticed – those who just come to Christ get a lot of prayers answered – maybe because they haven’t learned any differently yet!

Gen. 4: 26 And to Seth, to him also a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then [men] began to call upon the name of the Lord.

When we talk about prayer – we think about this. Think about this – prayer changes things; prayer changes people. Think about the things that need to be changed and go to him with boldness. No matter your circumstances.

Prayer is a communal thing – bring it in to the community that the community can pray. We see in the book of Acts – they prayed privately – but yes, they gathered together to pray. We need to learn to pray WITH one another.
When something happens – At men’s group – we learned that Lori Gramlich’s niece’s husband was killed in Afghanistan – we can’t do anything – but we gathered together as men and prayed. When someone comes to you needing prayer – pray. It is not an easy thing. In our small groups – we always close with prayer for one another.

Sunday school teachers – you should pray with the kids.
Also, we need to have the freedom and to learn to bring prayer requests to the church to pray for things.
Sometimes, we ask for easy prayer requests – we talk about distant relatives – but sometimes we need to pray for what is really going on – those things that are really crunching down.