The Book of James Chapter 5:13-20
James 5: [13] Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him
sing psalms. [14] Is any sick
among you? 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 of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord
shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. [16] Confess your faults one to
another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent
prayer of a righteous man availeth much. [17] Elias was a man subject to like
passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it
rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. [18] And he prayed again, and the
heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. [19] Brethren, if any of you do err
from the truth, and one convert him; [20]
Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner
from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a
multitude of sins.
A
Sunday School class of young girls that wrote
missionaries to tell them they had been praying for them. The teacher told them
that the missionaries were busy and not to expect them to answer their letter.
One little girl wrote: "We have been praying for you. We are not expecting
an answer."
Jer
33:3 call unto me and I will answer thee and shew
thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not
Do you & I have an effective
Prayer Life?
Jonathon
Edwards preached the sermon “Hypocrites Deficient In The
Duty of Prayer”
His
Theme: “you can determine a true believer by their willingness to engage in
secret prayer”
James
was a Pastor who understood the value of prayer. He Practiced Prayer Daily
1) The Exhortation
to Pray
“The
church is the army that marches on its knees”
The
most effective tool we have is prayer BUT it is the most seldom used tool and
is the weakest area of the church
7
times James mentions prayer in Verses 13-20
There are 4 Scenarios In Which James Said We Ought to Pray
A. In Seasons of Suffering Vs 13a
“Is
any among you afflicted?”- Afflicted is to suffer hardships,
troubles, distress, sorrow
The
imperative “let him pray” is not a suggestion but a command
1. Thru
Prayer, God might remove the source of suffering
2. BUT
if God choses NOT to remove the suffering, HE will
give you grace to endure it
GOD gave PAUL grace
2 Cor 12:8 I besought the
Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9 And he said unto me,
My grace is sufficient for thee
3. Prayer
brings us into submission to the Will of God for our life
B. In Seasons of Singing Vs 13b
“Is
any merry?” -Merry is to be cheerful.
Rejoicing over the goodness & blessing of God
We
should give thanks and praise HIM
When
you praise GOD, you are actually praying
Prayer
is not just asking, BUT it is praising HIM & worshipping HIM
Singing
is not for entertainment, performance or for show.
The
imperative “let him sing psalms” is not a suggestion
Ps
105:2 Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works.
C. In Seasons of Sickness Vs 14,15
“Is
any sick among you?” -Sickness speaks of a serious physical
illness (not spiritual weakness)
The
imperative “let him call for the elders of the
church; and let them pray”
“Anointing
with Oil” Oil
is not a medicinal healing
The
disciples- Mk 6:13 anointed with oil many that were sick
Oil
is Symbolic of the Holy Spirit and His power.
OT-
anoint w/ oil rep. the enablement and power of the Holy Spirit
“In
the name of the LORD”-
Jn14:14 ask any thing in my name, I will do it
Pray to the LORD, anoint with oil and let GOD be the
Healer
“The
Prayer of Faith” 1- God does reward faith and give healing
Woman w/issue Mt 9:22 thy faith
hath made thee whole
2- NOT ALL who pray in faith will be healed (God’s
Will be Done)
Paul prayed 3 times and it was not taken away
“If he hath committed sins, they shall be
forgiven him”
NOT all sickness is related to sin
Jn 9:2 Master, who
did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man
sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in
him.
BUT
it is a possibility that sickness can be due to sin
Schlerosis
of the Liver (Alcohol), Sexually Transmitted Diseases (Fornication)
a.
To the cripple man Jn 5:14 sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
b.
Lords supper 1Cor 11:30 for
this cause many are weak and sickly among you
c. David Ps 32:3-5 When I kept silence, my bones
waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
4 For
day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the
drought of summer. Selah. 5 I acknowledged my
sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my
transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the
iniquity of my sin.
D. In Seasons of Sin Vs 16
“Confess
your faults” -Confess sin that we might be healed
1. Confess sin to those you have wronged
a.
ONLY if it is a known open sin against a person
b.
Not because you had a bad thought about them
c.
Private sin, private confession Public sin, public confession
2.
Confess sin to find help, counsel, advisement
a.
Bear ye one anothers burdens
and so fulfil the law of Christ
b. A Spiritual, wise, confidenced,
trustworthy person
The imperative is “pray one for another”
Vs 19,20
To err is to go astray. We must pray for those who
have gone astray
To err is a one time or an occasional slip
Real believers do not live in a habitual, continual
state of sin
“One convert him”- To turn them to God
We should never quit praying for the one who is astray
Gal
6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore
such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be
tempted
“shall save
a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins”
The
word "death" speaks of punishment
The
word "hide" speaks of atonement and they find forgiveness
We
should never stop going after them until they are brought back.
Ps
32:1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered
2)
The Example of Prayer Vs
17
Elijah
came on the scene when Israel plunged into idolatry and worshipped Baal
Baal
was a false god who held lightning bolts in his hands & supposedly
controlled the weather
BUT
Elijah prayed earnestly and God stopped the rain for 3 ½ years
THUS
Elijah showed the nation that GOD was in control NOT Baal
16b
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
A. Man of Integrity -Elijah
was a righteous man- in that he confessed his sins to God
Ps66:18
If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not
hear me
B. Man of Identity -
Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are
He
was a man of flesh with a sin nature just like us
BUT
he prayed and cried out to God
C. Man of Intensity -Elijah
prayed earnestly- from the heart, effectually and fervently
Effectually- With energy Fervently- With
passion
* Dr Percy Ray & Dr JH Smith
D. Man of Intimacy Vs
18 And he prayed again
Elijah
prayed again and God cause it to rain after 3 ½ yrs
1
Thes 5:17 “pray without ceasing”
Elijah
was a man just like you and I. If he could pray then we can pray! We must
prevail in prayer
Jonathan
Edwards said, "There is no way that Christians, in a private capacity, can
do so much to
promote
the work of God and advance the kingdom of Christ as by prayer."
RA Torrey “There is only
one limit to what prayer can do; that is what God can do."”
All these
men are saying that there is power in prayer!
Elijah
prayed and God answered in a great and mighty way.
Elijah
was a man subject to like passions as we are, yet he reminds us that we can
prevail in prayer. LET'S PRAY!
* 3
preachers on a boat fishing and spoke of this verse
1
started confessing His sins and the others were shocked 1 starting confessing
His sins and it was even worse. The others looked at the last and said what
about you? He said “my sin is gossip and I cant wait
to get off this boat”
*
In 1857 Jeremiah Lanphier started a prayer meeting in
New York, when the nation was in turmoil.
Unemployment
rampant, economy in crisis, morality declining and the threat of war over
slavery loomed. He handed out hundreds of invitations and at the appointed time
went upstairs and 30 min later 5 others came as he prayed!
He
handed out invitations again and the next week 14 more showed up for prayer
He
did it again and the next week 23 showed up for prayer
He
did it again and the next week 40 showed up for prayer
They
decided to meet daily and shortly it exploded into thousands in attendance
In
18 months over 1 million were saved. It became known as the Fulton Street
Revival
3) The Effectivity of Petition
Matt
6:6 But thou, when thou prayest,
enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father
which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in
secret shall reward thee openly.
What Happens When We Pray?
A. We Get The Attention of GOD
DL Moody said “every move of GOD can be traced to a
kneeling figure”
B. We Get The Answer We Need
I
was praying in my closet, in the midst of financial crisis and when I came out,
the phone rang with an acceptable purchase offer for my house. Praise GOD !
C. We See The
Attitude of GOD
In
result to our prayers, GOD reaches down in love and sends compassion and grace.
D. We See The
Attacks of The Devil Turned Back
I
heard my mothers voice twice and I fell to pray for
her.
I
called my parents later that night and my dad said a hay-bailer was on their
side of the road and how
they
missed he could not figure it out. It had to be the hand of GOD. AMEN! Prayer Changes Things!
E. We See The
Affects on Others
We
pray for sinners to be saved, and many do get saved. AMEN!
We
pray for the saints to be healed and helped and GOD blesses!