Power of Righteous Prayer

 

“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 r 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.” James 5:13-18 (esv)

Suffering. We all have suffered in some manner, some far greater than others. Most, far less than perceived. When James speaks of suffering, what manner of suffering is he referring to? James 5:13-18 brings some interpretational debates among religious affiliations, i.e. Roman Catholicism, prosperity gospel, Faith Healers, etc. Does prayer always heal? Do elders have a special antidote? Does anointed oil have special healing powers? Does suffering equate sin? James’ passage here must remain in its contextual meaning to be properly understood.

 

In this passage James is writing to an assembly of believing Jews who were dispersed (Acts 7, 8). Do to their faith in Christ, they experience tremendous suffering and trials. So, James is addressing their sufferings inflicted upon them from the world, and their own temptations. James is encouraging them to endure through God’s grace. Endurance through prayer.

A strong commitment to prayer is what James is calling for. Prayer often becomes forgotten among our pain. James expresses four associations with prayer:

Prayer and Comfort

Prayer and Restoration

Prayer and Fellowship

Prayer and Power

Prayer and Comfort

James is referring to suffering as evil treatment. Persecution. How often do you see faith healers pray for healing of persecution? Prominence is given to our physical discomfort, while the core of our troubles are never dealt with, our spiritual state. James says to pray for our spiritual sufferings. Yes, God hears our prayers for our physical ailments and we need to continually lift those up to him. We must not forsake our Spiritual ailments.

Prayer and Restoration

Not only does God heal, He restores. Exhaustion is brought on through our weakness. Spiritual exhaustion bears spiritual weakness and vice versa. We all have weaknesses. God restores through prayer. It is the duty of the elders of the church to come along you and seek God’s face for restoration. “The wounded, exhausted, weary sheep are to go to the shepherds.” Notice, elders, shepherds, come along with us. Only God heals. Spiritual leaders help lead us toward God. “Any true biblical encouragement must be consistent with who God is…to serve in the name of Christ is to serve others on His behalf!” First, God must restore from sin through His sovereign grace. Without God’s sovereign grace there is no saving faith, no true restoration.

 

Prayer and Fellowship

 

James calls for mutual honesty, mutual confession among believers. Sin wants to isolate us. Sin prohibits fellowship and encourages acquaintances. True fellowship discourages mere acquaintance. God ordained fellowship for unity in the Body. He ordained fellowship so that we can share burdens, not pews. Accountability supports fellowship. Fellowship can be measured by the level of accountability in the Body. Without accountability there is no Body.

Prayer and Power

Righteousness empowers prayer. God’s righteousness. God imparts His righteousness to us through fervent prayer. Find a righteous man and you will find a fervent pray’er. James illustrates this through the life of Elijah (I Kings 17-19). God sends down refreshing rain on dry land. He outpours His power to us.

 

Continual prayer is essential for the Christian Life. How is your prayer life? What is troubling you spiritually? How is your strength? I struggle with prayer! I struggle with selfish prayer. I need to remain biblical in my prayers. Only God provides comfort. Only God provides Restoration. Only God offers genuine fellowship. Only God provides Power. May we continually pray to our Father for His glory and grace in our lives.

*The following sermon commentary is based on a sermon of the same title from Pastor Bob Allen of Faith Christian Fellowship, Henderson, NV.

Straight Talk

“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.”
James 5:12 (esv)

Our culture would collapse if our society as a whole would all of a sudden start telling the truth. Why? “Because, our society is built upon lie after lie”. Our culture would need a fresh start. John 8:44 speaks of the father of this world, Satan himself, as the “father of lies”. James, in chapter 5, tells Christians essentially that we are to be truth tellers. “Oath taking is unnecessary among Christians”. A yes or a no should suffice.

Pastor Bob points out four features in the matter of speaking the truth from this passage. The Distinction, The Restriction, The Instruction, and The Motivation:

THE DISTINCTION

James uses the phrase, “above all”. “Herein is the distinction of this command”, states pastor Bob. “It is a command with priority and preeminence”, he continues. Unbridled tongues equate to unchanged hearts. Our speech was of grave concern to James, and should be to us as well. Our speech should reflect and will reflect our hearts.” James wants us to remember that the most revealing bodily member as to our spiritual state is our tongue. So above all things we need to keep our tongues, our speech, in check. Our speech needs to reflect Christ.

THE RESTRICTION

James pays particular attention to swearing. Swearing or oath taking misuses the holy name of God. Swearing or oath taking should not be taken lightly. We break the third commandment every time we violate our oaths. Thus, causing God’s judgment to fall upon us.

THE INSTRUCTION

It is enough to say “yes” or “no”. “Simple, Straight forward, honest speech!” Pastor Bob states that, “people of integrity have no need to swear elaborate oaths to convince people of truthfulness.” Only under solemn occasions oaths were permitted. “Under normal circumstances the believer is to be marked by honesty”, says Pastor Bob. In Ephesians 4:25, Paul says to, “lay aside all falsehood, speak truth each one of you to his neighbor”. This will set us apart from the world. “Speaking the truth in every situation will cause believers to shine forth in darkness … the church must be different”, exclaims Pastor Bob.

THE MOTIVATION

James tells us all of this so that we will not have judgment fall down on us. James warns to discontinue the use of lying oaths, for Hell will be eminent. It’s a warning of Hell! Again this is a test of our living faith.

As I ponder this scripture, I realize the seriousness of my sin through the use of my tongue. So many times I commit to doing something out of a desire to please people, rather than God. I commit to things that I have no desire or intention of completing. My selfish pride causes me many times not to be completely honest, rather, completely dishonest.

This has caused me to examine the motivation of my speech. More frequently I am motivated to please man rather than God. This feeble attempt of pleasing man is an attempt to gain acceptance. When really the only approval I need is that of the Lord’s. It is my prayer that God will create in me a new desire to let my “yes” be yes and my “no” be no. To hold my speech with integrity, and to change my motivation from selfishness to selflessness.

Brothers, we need to be in constant prayer for God to keep our motivations pure. We need to be in constant prayer for our speech to be filled with grace and integrity. We need to remember that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Yes, we will error. However, ‘error needs to be the exception rather than the rule.’ What is your speech like?