Steadfast in Prayer
Industrial Faith • Sermon • Submitted
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· 47 viewsTHEME: Believers should deal with sin, sickness, and suffering with prayer to God and intervene in the lives of other believers. AIM: To instill in my hearers a sense of importance, and privilege it is to have access to the throne of grace and to proactively seek to be involved in the lives of other believers.
Notes
Transcript
OUTLINE:
We pray in all circumstances (13)
We pray for one another (14-16)
We pray like Elijah (17-18)
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning church, it is strange for me to be up here without an instrument in front of me, but what a blessing to be at a church where I get to serve as the Worship Leader, leading the saints in responding rightly to God’s word, but also to be ministered to so well from other fellow worship leaders. Thanks Bergsma (and Cal Davis) for leading us this morning so well.
We are approaching the conclusion of this book of James which is written to believer who have very similar struggles as I do, and I would venture off to say, as we do. I struggle with showing partiality, I struggle with the use of my tongue, I have struggle with making decisions based on financial gain, not what is most God honoring. This is such a practical book, because James touches all the things we need to hear, but one thing that stood out to me the times I read the whole letter of James in one sitting was how often he uses the word STEADFAST. This idea of a working faith or an industrial faith, is of perseverance, and reliance on God. That’s the thrust of the book, the call of James is to be steadfast in the faith. And in his concluding thoughts he is led by the Holy Spirit to describe what the believers response should be while he is being steadfast. In these 6 verses, prayer is mentioned in everyone of them. Today we will be talking about being STEADFAST in PRAYER, as we tie in the theme of the book with these closing remarks.
Let us pray once more before we begin.
We Pray Always (13)
We Pray Always (13)
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
In this transition to the end of this letter, where he is challenging believers who are scattered, who are suffering, who are falling into temptation, to be steadfast. At the end of this letter he describes how the believer should respond in every circumstance. The two questions James asks here in verse 13, covers the full gamut of emotions. From suffering, which does not exclude feelings of depression, desperation, anxiety, etc… to cheerfulness, or happiness. So what does James say is to be our response? He presents two ideas, to pray and to praise. Although the circumstances of suffering and happiness are complete opposites, the response in these circumstances, aren’t that different. Prayer simply put is communicating with God, and praise is honoring God for who He is. The Greek word for praise here is psállō which is closely related to our English word for Psalm. Psallo means to play or to sing, and this the context of this passage, we can say that the cheerful believer is to sing/play to God.
These two words aren’t that different, Paul in the first letter to the Corinthians says in regards to personal prayer and praise.
What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.
Paul here is speaking in regards to the order of the church as mentions the importance of praying with the spirit, or with the inner man, which is the soul, emotions, the heart, and with the mind, being the intellect. Paul gives the same criteria to both praying and singing praises in this verse because of their similarity.
Praise is as a form of prayer, that should be informed by truth and promote an appropriate response to God (as Paul mentions).
James here is telling the believer to direct their thoughts, to speak to God always, in every circumstance, we are to pray, praise, offer thanksgiving, honor, lift our voices, to the Living and True God amidst our suffering, and in abundance and cheerfulness.
Paul says to the Philippians that he has learned the secret of facing abundance and need. The secret being that his reliance is on God and in Him, he finds strength to be steadfast, to use the words of James. (Philippians 4:12-13)
In regards to our prayers, Jesus during His Earthly ministry taught His followers how to pray. Many people know the Lord’s Prayer by heart, where Jesus answers the the disciples questions of how to pray, but right before Jesus gives an example of a prayer, He gives some pretty key instructions.
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
God is seeking for sincerity in your prayers. Perhaps you worry about praying in front of other people because you feel like your prayers are too simple, but God who hears our prayers isn’t looking to be impressed, He knows what you need and wants you to come to Him with your needs.
For others, speaking to God sometimes becomes like speaking to our boss at work. We talk about the weekend, and the nice weather we are having, we talk about our kids and grandchildren and then go on about our day. At camp, I know a common start to a prayer is, “Lord thank you for this day and for the nice weather we are having.”
I am not saying we shouldn’t recognize that our God is in control of all things, which includes the weather, but that’s not what Jesus taught. He says we should come to God the Father speaking freely and with sincerity.
There is an elder at the church I grew up going down in Houston and in September of 2008, the night before the devastation of Hurricane Ike would hit, His wife died of a heart attack. Months later, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer and had to get his stomach removed. He went through a very tough season, but He remained faithful to the Lord. Thanking Him for the many blessings he was enjoying despite the sorrow. But I remember so clearly one night, he had invited me for a bible study and for dinner. I don’t remember all the words of his prayer, but I know that I had not heard a more sincere prayer. I was in tears hearing this brother, this mentor, and spiritual father of mine pour out his heart to His God. I could feel his pain, his sorrow, his suffering. His prayer was so sincere, for a few minutes, I felt like I shouldn’t be there. It was such an intimate moment between him and God that I felt out of place.
Our prayers and praise to God should be sincere, and done in ALL CIRCUMSTANCES.
We pray for One Another (14-16)
We pray for One Another (14-16)
Prayer for the Sick
Prayer for the Sick
James in the following verses chooses to give a bit more instruction by providing a specific circumstance, sickness and invites others to the practice of prayer. James 5:14-16
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.
In the first verse, we are commanded to pray in all circumstances, but here the sick Christian is not commanded to pray, he is commanded to reach out for the church leaders, the Elders. Notice the instruction for the sick Christian.
Instructions for the ill Christian:
Call the Elders of the Church
Have them Pray over you
Be anointed with oil in the name of the Lord
Let’s pull some observations together from these verses. First notice that the sick is to call for the Elders. We can assume that maybe the sickness is so severe that they aren’t able to go to the church leaders. In this occasion, where the sick is severely sick, where they can’t perhaps even pray themselves, they are to call for the church Elders to pray for them. And not only pray for them, but over them. It implies that the Elders are present.
The role of the Elder has the role of Shepherding the Church body. Paul writes in Acts 20:28 to the Elders,
Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.
The Elders care for God’s people. This is a serious responsibility, that our Elders here at GBC have, and I can personally attest that our Elders here take this role very seriously. They pray for the flock and are concerned for this church. Their responsibility is to care for the church, but our responsibility, as a church, is to allow them into our lives. We are to reach out to them when we are in need of prayer.
I don’t usually like to share personal or emotional circumstances with people, I like to keep it between me and God, but that’s not what scripture tells us to do. We aren’t to live our Christian life on our own, God didn’t design it that way. It was Christ who established the Church, and it is He who selects (through the leading of the Holy Spirit) church elders to minister, pray and protect the flock. We need to allow them to do so.
This section also describes how the Elders are to pray. James mentions the use of oil in anointing the sick with it in the name of the Lord. Theologians have different views on the use of the oil, whether it had spiritual significance or practical medicinal purpose. But many evangelical theologians are in agreement that it is most likely a symbol meant to “set apart” the person for God’s special attention and care. I know that the Elders here at GBC at times have practiced the anointing of oil in visiting the sick. But just like James, mentions here, when he says, “in the name of the Lord”. James acknowledges that the healing isn’t done by the Elders or the oil, only God is the one able to heal. He has the authority and power to do so.
I had an Old Testament professor who used to say, in light of good hermeneutics, “Major in the Majors, don’t Major in the minors” meaning don’t over emphasize what isn’t emphasized in the text. In this case, prayer is what is the thrust of this passage, not the oil. The oil is a significant symbol. Like when Jesus healed the blind man at Bethsaida, He spit in his eyes and the man’s sight was restored (Mark 8:22-23), or when the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years touched Jesus’s garment and was healed (Mark 5:28-29). In both of these situations, our theology of what we know of the Triune God informs us that the power didn’t come from the saliva or the garment, but rather from the God-Man, Jesus, and therefore, we come to Him with our requests with confidence.
A confident prayer is described by James as we a “prayer of faith.” There is power in prayer. We know from this verse that it is the Lord who raises up the sick, but our prayers have weight and power, because God designed it that way. In the gospels there are many times where the faith of a believer of Christ is blessed by physical healing. Like the faith of Mary and Martha when Mary came to Jesus and says, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died” and then Jesus goes to the tomb and raises Lazarus from the dead. Or like in Matthew 15:21-28 when a Canaanite woman comes crying to Jesus to save her daughter who was oppressed by a demon. Jesus responds to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire”.
The prayer of faith is able to save because God designed it that way, but we need to note that God doesn’t always answer our prayers as we ask of them. Paul himself prayed for a thorn to be removed from his flesh. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 Paul says that he pleaded with God three times for this to go away, but God chooses not to remove and instead responds to Paul says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”
When we pray with faith, we pray with confidence that God is able to save, and to heal. That is what James means by the prayer of faith, is prayer with confidence that God is able. He is able to heal the sick, and more importantly, able to forgive them (and us) of our sins.
I know our church and our church leaders pray for the physically sick. Like most recently praying for Stephanie Jenkins’s dad, Nelson who is getting better everyday. Or like we prayed for Tom O’Toole when we heard of his farm accident. We pray for Penny who is organizing a move and healing from foot surgery. I know and see our church leaders here our Elders and Pastors praying and visiting this flock. As a note of how to make your request known, there is an easy form on our main page of the website where you can submit your prayer request and select if only the church leadership receive the request or a broader group. Or call an elder/pastor directly, or call the church, someone will answer or return your call. I know people just walk into the church looking for prayer, and find it. We are blessed to have Elders and Pastors who serve us so well.
God promises to respond and listen to our prayers, he promises to forgive us of our sins, and therefore should be committed to prayer and confession of sins.
Prayer of confession
Prayer of confession
James calls us to involve our spiritual leaders in our walk with Him, but He also includes the rest of the body. James challenges us to confess our sins to one another.
Look at 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 a righteous person has great power as it is working.
Notice the transitional word, therefore. James builds upon the idea that we are needy people, we need to come to our Heavenly Father in prayer in all circumstances, we should involve our spiritual leaders in our prayer life because we are needy people who need forgiveness. Therefore confess your sins to one another.
Kurt Richardson, a theologian and commentator makes an interesting point on corporate confession from this verse. He says,
James 3. Effective Prayer (5:13–18)
The confession of sin entails humble honesty about the fact of having committed sin, not a public retelling of the details of the act
An example of this kind of confession can be found in Psalm 51 where David asks God for mercy, and to be cleansed from his sin, although in this prayer, he does not mention the specifics of the sin, just the need for forgiveness and that he has in fact sinned.
A memorable time we had as a church for me was a worship night we had late last year after a good number of our regular attenders left the church when Adam resigned. There was a lot of hurt feelings, confusion, but that worship night was a manifestation of God’s work in the life of the believer. Hearing the prayers of the saints here, coming together to sing praises amidst the hardship, and confess to one another out loud. In doing so, I believe, healing began to occur. It was such a memorable night, a demonstration of what it means to be a church and walk the Christian walk together.
Public confession of sins is appropriate at times, but private confession of sins is also part of church life and seeking help from the elders or a pastor. James connects our confession with healing, and based on the context of this passage, he isn’t talking about spiritual healing but of physical healing. As mentioned, God doesn’t always answer our prayers, but there are times where our sin can influence our health. Like the keeping your sin a secret can cause anxiety, high blood pressure, and other health issue because of the fear of getting discovered. There is healing in coming clean and seeking reconciliation with those who you need to reconcile with.
The prayer of a righteous person, is not a from a person who is perfect, but rather from a person who admits that he can’t in his own strength. He needs God’s mercy. If we can say that a righteous person is one who is seeking to live for the Lord, who seeks His will, and wants to live in the light. Not a sinless/perfect person, but a dependent on God person, then this power of prayer is accessible to all the saints. Thefore we should seek to be steadfast in prayer. Like Elijah.
We Pray like Elijah (17-18)
We Pray like Elijah (17-18)
To land the plane, James gives us an example of a righteous person and uses Elijah. Elijah was a prophet who is mentioned in 1 Kings and is known for the miracles he performed in the Old Testament. Like the one mentioned here, of praying for a drought of over 3 years and then praying for rain and the Lord answered both. Notice how James describes him, “with a nature like ours.” What James mean with a nature like ours? The Bible says that by nature carry out the desire of the flesh, that we by nature are children of wrath. The Bible says that there is none who seeks after God, by nature we are rebellious people. But God has made a way, and our access to Him is because of Christ.
James is highlighting the power and effectiveness prayer can have, and that it can come from anyone. Because our righteousness is not something we bring about ourselves, rather it is living in light of the truth of scripture, as mentioned, we also have the ability to pray with this level of confidence like Elijah And to pray fervantly, to be steadfast in prayer.
As I was writing this sermon, I was sitting in my spare bedroom feeling a weight of conviction. There are things I’ve prayed for in the past that I have stopped praying for, as I don’t see God answering my prayer, this has affected my prayer life as a whole, I realize that I pray without faith at times. Then the words that characterize Elijah jumped off the page/screen. “he prayed fervently”. Does this describe your prayer life?
Our standing before the Holy God is not we earned, or deserve, it is because God, through His son Jesus, granted me access by transferring to me His righteousness. (repeat)
This earth-shattering truth is what compells the believer, to pray fervently, to pray with confidence that the prayers for healing are being asked of the one who is able to answer. The prayers for God to save your son, daughter, sister, aunt/uncle, father/mother, are being heard by the ONLY ONE who can deliver, and because of Christ, we have access to him. Hebrews tells us that we can come boldly before him. We have open access to the creator of the universe, and our Lord has the power to deliver. What a privilege that we need to practice.
Brother’s let us be Steadfast in our prayers.
Conclusion
Conclusion
James closing this letter with a call for believers to be in prayer speaks of the importance of prayer in the life of the believer. We are to be people who communion with God in all circumstances, who reach out to others for prayer, and we are to involve the saints in our confession of sins appropriately. Brother’s and sisters may we be people who are Steadfast in Prayer.
Let us stand as pastor Gary comes up to lead us in our closing prayer and benediction.