I invite you to turn in your Bibles to the book of James. If you are using the Pew Bible, you can find that on page 1202. We pick up where we've left off in chapter 5, verses 13 through 20 is what we will be looking at tonight. And this will bring us to the close of this book, so we'll finish the book of James this evening. For the sake of context, I'm going to begin my reading up at verse 7 of chapter 5, so please begin with me there. So James chapter 5, beginning our reading at verse 7: "Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it until it receives the early and late rains. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged. Behold, the judge is standing at the door. As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remain steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, and how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. But above all, my brothers, do not swear either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation."
And now our text for this evening: "Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 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. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, 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 heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins."
Well, if I was to ask you tonight, "What are some reasons to pray?" I'm sure you could list a number of them. Now, if I was to ask you, "If there are any good reasons not to pray?" I'm sure that answer or that question might stump you a little bit, right? Because the reality is there is never a good reason not to pray. Christians are to pray at all times, in all seasons, and in all circumstances. And really, that's the main point of what James is impressing upon us in this text tonight.
This section before us flows from what James has spoken of previously in chapter 5 Suffering! suffering If you recall from the last time that we were in the book, that suffering came by the hand of the rich and wealthy. Rich and wealthy people outside of the church were oppressing and persecuting the Christians that James is writing to. And if you again recall in that section, James mentions three ways that Christians are to respond to such suffering. He calls them to be patient in verse 7, patiently wait upon the Lord. And then, secondly, he calls them to be established: "Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand." And third, in verse 11, he says to remain steadfast, consider those who remain steadfast brothers."
But now, in our section tonight, it should be obvious to us in verses 13 through 20, James speaks of one more way that Christians ought to respond to suffering. And this response is not only the response to suffering, but really it's the response of the Christian to all circumstances in life. It's the response of prayer.
Prayer is the Christian's response to all circumstances. Prayer is the Christian's response to every situation whether good or bad whether that situation or circumstance makes you feel thankful or threatened, the Christian in all circumstances is to respond with prayer. Our catechism says, "Prayer is a chief part of the thankfulness which God requires of us," but then it goes on to say that we should pray because "God gives His grace and Holy Spirit only to those who earnestly and without seizing, beg them of Him and render thanks unto Him for them."
So let me ask you: Should we pray? Absolutely. Absolutely. Should we regularly and often pray? Absolutely. Should we start our day off with prayer? Yes, we should. Should we end our day with prayer? Again, yes, we should. Should we pray throughout the day? Yes, we should. Should we never stop praying? Yes, we should never cease to pray.
Prayer ought to be the natural response of the Christian to all of life. Let me say that again: Prayer should be the natural response of the Christian to all of life. Martin Luther said once regarding prayer, "As a shoemaker makes a shoe and a tailor makes a coat, so ought a Christian pray. Prayer," Martin Luther said, "is the daily business of a Christian." Prayer is the daily business of a Christian, and I think that's right in line with what James is impressing upon us here in this text. You notice that he brings up a number of circumstances, and to all of those circumstances, his response is: pray, pray.
So again, let me ask you: Do you pray? Do you have a habit of prayer? Are you regularly and ordinarily speaking and praying to your loving and caring heavenly Father? Are you crying out to Him in the circumstances of life that require you to cry out to Him? Are you praising Him and thanking Him in the circumstances that require you to praise Him and thank Him? Are you making your requests known before your Lord, as Paul calls us to to do? So are we seeking grace and mercy from Him at times of confession? Are we confessing our sins before Him? Are we regularly adoring Him for who He is, and not simply what He has done for us? Again, are we regularly, ordinarily praying?
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not trying tonight to guilt us into praying. I'm not even really trying to convict you if you don't have a regular habit of prayer. What I really want to do tonight is to show you the great opportunity that we have through prayer, because prayer isn't just something that we have to do. prayer is something that we get to do You understand the difference between those two statements? Prayer is not simply something that we have to do; prayer is something that we get to do.
Prayer is a great blessing to the Christian. It's a great opportunity to draw near to the throne of grace. You see, if we merely think of prayer as something that we have to do, then we'll just chalk it up there with the list of things we have to do in our day, and it will become, inevitably, something of a chore. And sadly, when we make prayer into a chore, it loses its joy. We lose the the pleasure that we can have in coming before our heavenly Father and laying ourself bare before Him, making Him known or bringing before him the things that we are wrestling with spiritually physically, emotionally, socially. It's a great opportunity for us as Christians to be able to to approach God, the Maker, the Creator, the one who loves us.
The Westminster Larger Catechism asks, "What is prayer?" and it answers that question by saying, "Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God with confession and thanksgiving, or thankful acknowledgement." But I would like to add to that really not that I'm uh correcting the Westminster Confession or the Westminster Larger catechism but I would like to say that prayer is the offering of all of ourselves, our hearts being laid bare before the Lord in prayer.
See, I think the problem is for us today we have such a small view of prayer. We have small views today, don't we? have a small view of God. We have a small view of the Christian life. We have a small view of the Christian church. We also, along with that, have a small view of prayer. We think of prayer as only and simply a way of bringing our requests before God, asking Him for that which we want. And so when uh it's time to ask God for something, then it's time to pray. But if it's not time to ask Him for something, then we don't really feel the need to pray. Sadly, that mentality misses the great opportunity that prayer is. It's a Christian's natural response to all of life. It's a great opportunity.
So, with prayer being the Christian's response to every situation and circumstance, James here lists a number of those circumstances for us.
First, James speaks of praying in response to suffering? verse 13 is anyone among you suffering Let him pray." James says, there are various ways that people can respond to suffering. Am I right? Think about it. People respond today in various ways. They can, in their mind, fight fire with fire. They can retaliate. This idea goes like this: if you find yourself being oppressed and suffering at the hands of someone else, well, you should do the same to them, oppress them oppress those who have oppressed you.
Now, this response is being perceived in the eyes of many today, more and more, as a viable and justified way of responding to suffering. We might call this the strict justice response. And let's be honest, this makes sense to us, does it not? We have a sense of justice. When we when we feel wronged we have a sense of justice that tells us we're being wronged, and that leads to us desiring justice to be served justice to be to be served out, right?
Children, let me ask you: when your siblings or maybe a kid in school does something to hurt you, how do you feel? We could all imagine you feel like that person who hurt you should be hurt themselves, right? It's easy to feel that way. It's easy to want to retaliate. It's easy to feel like justice should be should be served.
Now, as Christians, we believe in justice. We believe someone ought to be punished for the wrongs that they have committed, and we believe that that punishment should fit the crime. The question is: should we be the ones who execute that justice, or has God not instituted authorities to carry out such justice? Isn't that what Romans 13 is all about?
Listen to Romans 13 briefly. Where Paul says: "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except for God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resists will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain, for he's the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrong doer
Brothers and sisters in Christ, civil government has been instituted by God to execute justice, to punish wrongdoers, and secure order within society. Justice is not something that we take into our own hands. And that's why James says in the previous section here in the face of suffering that we should be patient. Christians should be patient. They should be established in the Lord. They should be steadfast, trusting the Lord and entrusting themselves and their situation to the means which He has instituted for justice.
This is also why Peter can say in First Peter 3 9 "Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing." And then Peter goes on to quote Psalm 34. And listen to what Psalm 34 says: "Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their... what their prayers."
Their prayers! Ultimately, the Christian responds to injustice and oppression and suffering by trusting the Lord. And our prayers is an expression of that trust in Him.
Well, with that in mind, another way that people can respond to oppression is they can respond with their tongues, with their words. James has much to say in this book about the tongue, does he not? James says in verse 5 of chapter 3: "How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! That is the tongue. And the tongue is a fire a world of unrighteousness." But notice, along with patience and being established in the Lord and steadfast and trusting and entrusting ourselves to the Lord, and another appropriate way for Christians to respond to suffering is by using their tongues to pray. To pray!
Now, prayer as a response to suffering has a great history within the covenant community of God. We just referenced Psalm 34 as quoted in First Peter 3, but just think of the many psalms many psalms capture the suffering of God's people throughout the ages as they pray to the Lord, as they cry out to Him. We just sang a song about crying out to the Lord and how He has heard my voice. God's people have recorded their suffering and their response to that suffering in the pages of Scripture, in the Psalms.
Listen to Psalm 3, maybe. This is a Psalm that is familiar to you: "O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me. Many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God.
Think about those words for a moment. Think about how applicable those words must have been in the life of God's people throughout the generations. Think about how applicable those words are in the life of Christians who are suffering at the hands of those who are persecuting and oppressing them today: "O Lord, how many are my foes? The psalmist says, "Many are rising up against me. Many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God.
But then the psalmist in Psalm 3, after bringing his suffering before the Lord, he finds hope in the Lord through his prayer. Through praying to the Lord, he makes this breakthrough. In verse three, he says: "But you, oh Lord, are my shield about me, my glory, the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and He answered me from His holy hill."
Through prayer, the psalmist finds comfort. He finds strength. He finds confidence in the Lord. You ever experienced something like that? Have you ever been oppressed, and at the suffering that you are facing, you cry out to the Lord, and through that prayer, you make a breakthrough? The Lord grants to you His grace, and He reminds you that He is indeed with you, and He strengthens you, and He blesses you with confidence and assurance and strength in that very moment, regardless of that suffering that you must still endure?
If you've experienced that, if you've gone through that, you know what wonder that is. How wonderful! What a blessing prayer can be coming before the Lord, laying your heart before Him, bringing before Him things that you're really struggling with, things you don't understand: "Why, How? This can happen? Lord, why is this injustice happening?" And then He works in your heart by His Spirit to remind you that He does wonderful things through suffering. He's even saved you from your very sins through the suffering of His Son, Jesus Christ. And that gives to us a new perspective, does it not? It comforts us, provides us with strength and assurance and confidence, just like the psalmist in Psalm 3.
Our prayers can do that. Now, maybe you're here tonight, and you've never experienced that. You've never wrestled through prayer. You've never had this breakthrough through prayer. And maybe you're saying to yourself right now: "You know, my prayers just aren't that good. You know, my prayers are short. They're not that robust. They don't lead me to a place of comfort and strength and confidence."
Well, I want to encourage you tonight to consider praying through the Psalms. The Psalms provide for us a great template, a great map, and a plan of praying and bringing the very things that we wrestle with, just like the psalmist, before the Lord. In fact, it was Martin Luther who told his barber in this little book that he wrote called "The Simple Way to pray that that's exactly what he does. He prays through the Psalms. He uses the Psalms as a as a template and as examples of how to pray And through that. he's encouraged He's strengthened. And so I encourage you tonight to do that. Be encouraged through praying.
Well, maybe it's not even just the Psalms. Pray all of Scripture. Pray back to the Lord His very words that He has written to you. Use those words to encourage you in your prayers.
Now, if you do that, if you pray the Psalms and Scripture, well, if you pray through something like Psalm 3, you might find, or be a little shocked in, what some of the things the psalmist prays in those prayers. For example, Psalm 3 continues after the portion that I quoted in verse 7, to say: "Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God! For You strike all my enemies on the cheek. You break the teeth of the wicked."
Should we pray that? Should we pray a prayer like that regarding those who are oppressing us, persecuting us? A prayer like that may seem difficult for us today given our modern sensibilities. Now, maybe, given your circumstance, that prayer doesn't seem all that difficult to pray. But I think, generally speaking, many Christians today would find a prayer like that that an imprecatory prayer is what it's called as a challenging thing to pray. But I don't think such things should necessarily be challenging for us.
You see, because as we pray for the justice of God to be served upon those who wrongfully oppress God's people, we shouldn't pray for His justice while thou also praying for His grace upon them. We should also pray that the Lord would be gracious enough to open their eyes and to turn them to Jesus Christ. And our prayer for God's grace for these oppressors shouldn't cause us to not pray that God's justice be served. The two go together.
See, the issue here is really the heart. Loving our enemies, as Christ called us to do, doesn't mean that we can't entrust ourselves to God's justice and pray for that justice. In fact, Jesus exercised this perfectly. Today, this morning, in the morning service, we heard Reverend Gordon preach from Matthew 22. But what's coming in Matthew 23, are you aware? Seven woes, seven curses that Jesus calls out upon the religious leaders of the day. And I don't think those woes would ever call us to question Christ's love for His enemies. And that's why Peter says in First Peter 2: "When he was reviled, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to Him who judges justly."
And that's exactly what the response of prayer is: the humble entrusting of ourselves to God and His just judgment.
Besides, Christian, what do you think we're praying when we pray according to the Lord's Prayer, "Thy kingdom come"? What do you think we're praying when we say, "Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven"? Are we not praying for God's justice to come down? We most certainly are. And yet we leave that justice and judgment to Him.
And I think that this should ultimately remind all of us of God's grace to us. You see, because the truth is, we really are no different we're no different than those who would, could, or are oppressing us for the name of christ because but for the grace of God, we too would do the same things. We've received grace upon grace because of the love that God has lavished upon us when we were enemies of God, when we were dead in our sins and transgressions, when we were unrighteous and separated and alienated from Him.
You see, there really is no real distinction, is there? For "all have indeed sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and are justified freely by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is found in Jesus Christ."
So yes, we pray: "Come soon, Lord Jesus." Yes, we pray: "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth." Yes, we pray: "Lord, serve justice against the evils that this world has done against Your people." But we don't pray that without realizing: but for the grace and mercy of God, we too would be accounted with the unrighteous.
And so that really should turn our prayers for suffering into prayers of joy, prayers of praise, prayers of thanksgiving just as James speaks of in the second half of verse 13: "Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises!"
Which is what the psalmist speaks of in Psalms such as Psalm 30: "You have turned my mourning into dancing. You've loosened my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing Your praise and not be silent. oh Lord, God, I will give thanks to You forever."
Prayer is the response to suffering, and it's the response to cheerfulness. Prayer is the natural response of the Christian to all of life.
Well, at this point, James speaks of prayer being the response of the Christian who is sick as well. Who hasn't been faced with sickness? Sickness is a universal human experience, right? We've all had some kind of illness sickness maybe some worse than others.
James says in verse 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. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up."
Now, we read something like this, and because of the practice that is spoken in this text being so foreign to us, it's easy for us to focus on the details of anointing oil and a prayer of faith saving the sick. But for the people in james day, this wouldn't have been all that unfamiliar. See, in the Bible, oil or anointing oil signified a special consecration to the Lord. Thus, the elders would come in place oil on the sick, ill Christian in order to set them apart to God's favor. And this was a kind of act of faith a symbolic act of entrusting that sick person to the Lord.
Now, what this practice didn't do was somehow obligate God to answer their prayers in the affirmative. James is not giving us here some formula for miracles and faith healing. See, God is God, and He cannot be forced to do anything. God is not obligated to answer our prayers in any particular way that we desire. So again, James is not giving us here some Harry Potter hocus pocus formula to control God, to exercise miracles. In fact, a good example of this in Scripture is Paul.
If you recall, Paul prayed three times in regards to the thorn in his flesh. He prayed that the Lord would remove that thorn. And what did the Lord say? "No." Lord said, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." Wow, wow! The Lord chose not to answer Paul's prayer in the affirmative.
And to be honest, that's not James point here again james is not giving his Christian audience a formula that unconditionally obligates God. james point here is that we should pray. We should pray individually, and here, now, in this occasion of an ill person, we should pray collectively. We should pray together. jane's point here is that we should be praying for each other. And this presents another aspect of prayer: our prayers are not simply meant for ourselves. It would be so selfish to do, and maybe that's the extent of what our prayers have been. We simply pray for ourselves. We don't pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ. We don't lift them up before the throne of grace. We're not in that practice, in that habit.
But Christians should be praying. Elders should be praying for themselves and the congregation. Pastors should be praying for themselves in the congregation. Deacons should be praying for themselves in the congregation. And the congregation should be praying for itself and for each other. And so what we get here, really, is this picture of the body of Christ working together through prayer, along the lines of Ephesians 4, where many gifts have been given, and the church builds itself up through the exercising of those gifts. But here, it's through prayer! through prayer And what a beautiful practice this is!
Just imagine what this practice of praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ would do for the relationships that exist within the church. For those of you who already practice something like this, you know exactly what it does. It creates and forms real and lasting bonds and relationships where you begin to lift up your brother and sister and their needs before the Lord. You're praying for them regularly. They're on your mind. And then you go to them, and you see them, and you want to know: "How is it going? How are you doing? I've been praying for you." And what does that do for them? It expresses to them a a genuine a true care.
That's how the church should be. So the body of Christ should operate. And this even includes prayers for our sins sins that we struggle with. sins that we wrestle with
Notice what James says in verse 16: "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous person has great power as it is working."
Now, that second half of this verse is well known, often quoted. But the first is a little more mysterious to us. Might make us you know squirm in our seats a little bit: "Confess our sins to one another? No, not interested in doing that, right? I love my brothers and sisters in Christ, not gonna confess my sins to one another."
Well, first, again, this text isn't giving us some formula for forgiveness. It's not a "if we confess, then we will be healed that's not the construction that's being worked here. James is simply saying: share your struggles with sin with each other so that you might be able to lift each other up in prayer.
I also don't think that this text is saying that we're obligated to share all of our sins and wrestlings and struggles with everybody within the church. But I do think that this text is obligating us to have relationships within the church maybe with one, two, or a few of our brothers and sisters where we indeed can go to them and say: "I'm struggling in this area. I'm vulnerable and weak spiritually in this area. Will you please lift me up in prayer? Will you pray for me?" That's a beautiful thing. And that assumes a type of relationship that exists and should exist between persons within the church.
Again, I don't think this obligates us to share our sins with everybody. If you recall, a few months ago I shared a story that I got from R.C. sprawl of three men who went golfing. And in order to to cultivate a richer and deeper relationship with each other, the two began to confess their sins to one another and asked for prayer. While the third stood there quietly. And when the two asked the third, "Why are you so quiet?" the third said, "Well, brothers, I struggle with gossip, and I'm afraid that I might share these things with others. You certainly don't want to share confess you're wrestling with sins with someone who struggles with gossip, right?"
So be wise in this regard. This isn't a blanket statement that we are to confess our sins to everybody. But that we should have the kinds of relationships within the church where we can ask for prayer.
Now, as challenging as this may seem, there's a great purpose to this: our spiritual well-being, our growth. The Lord is gracious enough to use the prayers of our brothers and sisters to build us up, to grow us in the grace and knowledge, to spur us on to faith and good works. And prayers the Lord uses even to hold us accountable. And that's a bad word today, is it not? Holding each other accountable. "Who wants to be held accountable today?" I don't see any hands. Of course, nobody wants to be held accountable today. We don't want people coming to us and saying, "Brother, I saw what you did. I heard what you said. Sister, that's not the way that we're supposed to speak or act."
But notice what James says here in verse 19 and 20: "My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wanderings will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins."
Again, this is supposed to serve to encourage the church to pray. And as we pray for the struggles of each other within the church, when we hear of a brother or sister wandering away from the faith, what would be our natural response? Yeah, to continue to pray for them, but to also go and pursue them. To go to them, since we have this relationship with them, and say: "What's going on? I've noticed you haven't been around. How are you doing? Is there anything I can do for you? How can I help you? Can I get you some counseling? There's someone within the church who can help with that."
See, again, we get this beautiful picture of the church working together, praying for each other, lifting each other up before the Lord. whether that be in regards to our suffering, whether that be praising God for something that, you know, has made us cheerful, whether that's sickness, whether it regards our physical needs, our struggles with sin, the temptation to wander away from the Lord.
The truth and reality is, brothers and sisters, prayer is the natural response of the Christian to all of life. These occasions serve to capture the idea that we should be praying at all times, in all circumstances, and we should be praying for each other.
Remember the Lord's Prayer, where Christ says, "Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation." There's a kind of social aspect to the Lord's Prayer. We're going to be praying this for each other. Our prayers are not to simply focus on ourselves. Our prayers are for the family, the family of God.
So yes, prayer is the natural response of the Christian to all of life. It's the response that we should have for each other. So I encourage you tonight, brothers and sisters, as we close this book: continue to pray. Be encouraged to take every opportunity to pray, and pray for each other.
Let's pray now. Father, we thank You for a wonderful text like this. Such wisdom, Lord! And indeed, we know that we need to pray, and yet, Lord, we need to hear so often a great reminder to pray. We thank You, Lord, that we indeed can pray. What a blessing it is, Lord, that You promise to condescend to us, to hear our very words, to hear our thoughts, to hear the cries of our hearts. And You're so gracious, Lord, as we see throughout the pages of Scripture, and particularly in the Psalms, to encourage us through prayer.
Continue to bless us. We thank You for Christ Jesus, our Lord, and in whose name we bring all of our prayers. We pray this and ask this in His name. Amen.