Why Pray?
James 5:13-18
8-23-09
Intro
Have you ever felt like your prayers were not accomplishing anything? There have been times while praying that this thought crossed my mind, “This is a waste of time; nothing is going to change; go do something else.” Is there anybody here that has experienced that kind of struggle? It’s hard to be enthusiastic about something that you’re thinking will make no difference. It’s hard to stay motivated to pray if you think your prayers are in vain. That is the problem we will wrestle with this morning. That is the problem Pastor James addresses in the last chapter of his epistle. Does prayer really make a difference?
Follow with me as we read James 5:13-18
“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 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 of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.”
Notice the theme that runs through that passage.
Vs 13 “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray”
Vs 14 “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them
what? pray....”
Vs 15 “And the prayer of faith will save the sick....”
Vs 16 “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another....”
Then comes the heart of James’ message in this passage:
“ The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
Vs 17 “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed....”
Vs 18 “And he prayed again....”
Every verse has at least one reference to prayer.
The life of a community of believers is to revolve around prayer. In Isaiah 56:7 God said to His people, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” Jesus quoted that verse when he cleansed the temple. He confronted the spiritual leaders for making God’s house “a den of thieves” -- something other than a house of prayer. Today we are in danger of making God’s house into a house of entertainment. If we call it church; but no one prays—something is wrong. A few years ago a pastor of a church that runs about 10,000 asked me this question. “How do you get your congregation to pray?” He shared with me how impossible it has been to get even a hundred or so to come to a prayer meeting. I have known this man for years and know that he is a man of prayer. But that 10,000 people hardly has any prayer. Something is wrong.
The early church was a house of prayer. It was birthed in prayer. It operated in the power of prayer. When the government was opposing them, they didn’t sign petitions—they prayed. Acts 4:31 tells us that when they prayed the place was shaken; they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word with boldness.
James is a pastor. He understands the importance of prayer. And he understands the enemy’s strategy to stop prayer. Hear this and hear it well: The Devil does not want you praying. He does not want God’s house to be a house of prayer. And he will do everything he can to keep it from becoming a house of prayer—even if it means letting it be a successful house of entertainment!
I. James states this fact emphatically. Verse 16, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” Prayer matters; prayer matters a lot.
Why does James make that statement? As a pastor, he understands the enemy’s strategies for eliminating prayer. He is not ignorant of the Devil’s devices. He knows what kind of things the Devil will tell you and me to keep us from praying. I opened this message with a question, “Have you ever felt like your prayers were not accomplishing anything?” Have you ever thought your prayers were a waste of time? Where do those thoughts come from? Think about it; that is exactly the opposite of what the Bible says. In this passage James tells us prayer “avails much.” It makes a whole lot of difference.
But then someone might say, “Yes it avails much for a righteous man; but what about me?” Let’s consider the Bible’s revelation of a righteous person.
(1) Isa 64:6 tells us that “all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags....” So it can’t be referring to self-righteousness. The Pharisees were very righteous in their own eyes. But their works did not qualify them as righteous in God’s eyes.
(2) In Romans 4 Paul taught that we become righteous by trusting in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. He concludes that whole discussion in Rom 5:1 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” To be justified means to be made right with God or made righteous in Christ. So we do understand that James is talking about the prayers of Christians.
(3) Being transformed by the grace of God we bear fruit of righteousness. The righteousness God gave you in Christ is not just a theoretical righteousness. It is real and it causes us to behave right as the general course of our lives. That’s why John writes, “Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous” (1 John 3:7) and verse 9 “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” That verse does not mean a Christian never sins. We’ve all lived long enough to know that sincere Christians do fail at times. That verse is talking about sin as a way of life. The true child of God can not habitually live in sin. David wrote in Ps 66:18 “If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.” NIV says, “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” Then he goes on to say, “But God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. 20 Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!” (Ps 66:18-20).
I want to suggest that a righteous person is someone who has been cleansed by the blood of Jesus—someone who has been born again—and is someone who is sincerely, although imperfectly, trying to follow the Lord. I would further suggest that most (if not all) of us here this morning fit into that category.
So when the Devil tells you that you’re not righteous, don’t point out the good deeds you have done. Point him to the soul-saving blood of Jesus. Don’t allow the Devil to talk you out of the comfort and assurance of our text. “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
Now here’s the other way the Devil will try to talk you out of it. He’ll say to you, “Yea, but your prayers are not ‘effective, fervent.’ Yes, you’re sincere but you’re just not passionate enough; you just don’t put enough into it.” Have you ever had that number put on you? To counter that, we need to know exactly what James was saying. The two English words, “effective, fervent”, are a translation of one Greek word, “energoumene.” Grammatically that word is either in the passive voice or the middle voice. It’s impossible to know which because they both have the same construction in the Greek. If this participle is in the passive voice it means prayer that is “energized by the Spirit.” If it is in the middle voice it means prayer that is “powerful in its working or in its operation.” Either way, it does not mean the harder you pray the more likely your prayer will be answered.
I need to bring a little more clarity to what I’ve just said. Once you sort this all out, it comes down to this simple statement of truth: Your prayers are effective because the Holy Spirit’s working makes them powerful! Do you believe that? You will be encouraged to pray if you understand that. It’s not how hard we pray, how loud we pray, how perfect we pray, or how emotional we are when we pray that makes our prayers work. It is the operation of the Holy Spirit in those prayers that make them avail much. Let me say it one more time: Your prayers are effective because the Holy Spirit’s working makes them powerful!
So, the great qualifiers for effective prayer are the blood of Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit. That means you qualify! If you look at all this in context, you can clearly see that James is not trying to discourage his congregation from praying. He is not trying to tell them, “It’s no use; you’re not righteous enough; and you don’t pray hard enough.” Do you see, that is the Devil’s message? God’s message is: “Pray for it can make a big difference!”
Put your name in this verse and speak it to the Devil when he tries to discourage your prayer life. The Holy Spirit-empowered prayers of Richard Tow avails much. My prayers matter because the Holy Spirit makes them matter! The only way that verse is going to help you is if you personalize it. It’s not just a word for super-saints; it’s a word for you and me.
Now to make sure we understand the effectiveness of prayer,
II. James gives an illustration of his statement of fact from I Kings 17-19. It’s taken from the life of Elijah. Do you remember the story?
Ahab and his wife Jezebel ruled Judah. God’s people were in a terribly backslidden state. Jezebel had led them into the worship of Baal with all its debauchery and idolatry. Elijah felt all alone in his stand for God. The tide was toward ungodliness rather than toward God. God had promised that when His people go into sin like that, He will chasten them to bring them back to Him. So Elijah prayed about the situation and God gave him direction. In 1 Kings 17:1 He went to King Ahab and pronounced the judgment, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.” We know by James’ passage that the drought lasted for 3½ years.
Now I want you to turn with me to I Kings 18:1 so that you can see how all this happened. 1 Kings 18:1 “And it came to pass after many days that the word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, ‘Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth.’” In that verse, who initiated the turn around? God spoke to Elijah. It was God’s will and God’s time to call Israel to repentance. You know the story of what happened on Mt. Carmel. Elijah challenged the 450 prophets of Baal to a contest. Each would prepare a sacrifice—the false prophets would prepare a sacrifice for Baal and Elijah would prepare a sacrifice for Jehovah. Whichever God answered by fire would be acknowledged as the Lord of Israel. It must have been a gory scene as the prophets of Baal tried to get their god to answer by fire. In their fervor they cut themselves with knives and lances until the blood gushed out on them. Remember there were 450 prophets of Baal. It was a bloody scene as they tried to get their god to respond. They did this all afternoon. They got no response. Then Elijah stood there alone. He said to the people, “Let’s make this hard. Pour water all over my sacrifice; do it again and again until the sacrifice was drenched with water.” Then he prayed a simple prayer asking God to work. The fire of the Lord fell on the sacrifice and consumed not only the sacrifice but all the wood and stones of the altar and licked up all the water in the trench. God made it abundantly clear that he was answering Elijah’s prayer. The Bible says that when Israel saw this they fell on their faces saying, “Jehovah is God! Jehovah is God!” Elijah killed all the prophets of Baal.
Three and a half years earlier Elijah had prayed that the rain would stop. Now in cooperation with God’s plan, he prays that the rain would come. 1 Kings 18:41-46
“Then Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain." 42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, 43 and said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea. “So he went up and looked, and said, "There is nothing." And seven times he said, "Go again." 44 Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, "There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!" So he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, ’Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’" 45 Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel. 46 Then the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.”
Can you see God’s faith working in Elijah as he believes for the rain? The answer to prayer did not come like magic. Elijah interceded for the rain to come. He prayed and there seemed to be no result. He prayed some more but still the servant saw nothing to indicate the prayer was being answered. He continued to pray. The number seven has special symbolic significance in Scripture. It is the number for completion. Elijah prayed until he “prayed through” as the old timers called it. What does it mean to pray through? It means you keep praying until God gives a strong inner assurance that you have your request. You may or may not see the external evidence of an answer; but you know that you know in your heart that God has heard your prayer and the answer is coming. On the seventh trip all the servant saw was a cloud as small as a man’s hand out in the distance. I’m sure he was reporting what it looked like to him—not enough to flood the land with rain. But Elijah said, “That’s good enough for me. The thunderstorm is coming; Ahab, you had better get where you’re going because it’s going to be a gully-washer.” It wasn’t long until the sky was black with clouds full of water. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Elijah and he outran Ahab’s horses for about 10 miles.
I want you to notice a few things about Elijah’s prayer.
(1) He persevered in prayer. Even after six disappointing reports, he kept praying. Let’s tie this into the book of James. James 1:6-8 “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” So early in the book of James there is this instruction to persevere.
(2) He put some personal effort behind his prayers. It took courage to face King Ahab; it could have cost him his life. It was hard work to build the altar and prepare the sacrifice on Mt. Carmel. It was exhausting to kill the 450 prophets of Baal. Elijah didn’t just lay back in luxury and wait for his prayer to get answered. He got involved in the answer. Remember the second chapter of James? James 2:26 “...faith without works is dead....”
(3) He prayed according to the will of God. In chapter 4 James had made this comment about prayer. James 4:3 “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” Motive is an important factor in prayer. The old KJV put it this way, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” In contrast to that, the Apostle John talks about what it’s like to pray according to the will of God. 1 John 5:14-15 “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
III. Let’s make application of James’ statement of fact by addressing a question. What is prayer all about?
(1) Its about partnering with God in the execution of His will on the earth. God could execute His will without us. He has simply chosen not to do that. He has chosen to let us participate in what He’s doing.
Therefore, how did He accomplish His will in Israel in this story about Elijah (that James tells)? First, when He was ready to bring chastening on the nation through a draught, He involved Elijah in the process. He inspired and answered Elijah’s prayer that it would not rain. He not only had Elijah pray that; but He also had Elijah tell King Ahab that it was coming. Then go back with me to I Kings 18:1. When God was ready to end the draught, He didn’t just do that. Instead, He spoke to Elijah and worked His will through His servant. He sent Elijah to King Ahab to pronounce God’s intention. He used Elijah to lead Israel into repentance as a preparation for the lifting of judgment and the outpouring of blessing. Then He had Elijah pray in the rain. Please do not miss that point. A lot of things happened between the first verse in I Kings 18 and the last verse in that chapter. Was God capable of bringing the rain without Elijah’s prayers? Yes, God can do anything. But God chose not to do it that way. And could I suggest that is usually the case? Why pray? It is a partnership with God in bringing His will to pass on the earth.
That’s why Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.” In prayer we position ourselves to cooperate with the will of God on earth as it is in heaven. Prayer is not about changing God’s will; it’s about executing God’s will on earth. In this life we will probably never understand the full importance of all this. But we see it all through the Bible. When God’s about to destroy Sodom, what does He do? He involves Abraham in intercession. When God was working with Israel in the wilderness, He brought His will to pass through Moses’ intercession. When God was ready to bring back His people from Babylonian captivity, He showed Daniel His will in Jeremiah’s writings that He would do this after 70 years of captivity. How many know what Daniel did? In Daniel 9, He prayed in the will of God. He didn’t pray that it would be 69 weeks or 71 weeks. He got a hold of God’s plan and partnered with it. So could God have brought His people back from captivity without Daniel’s prayers? He can do anything; but He chose to let Daniel partner with Him in the process. What if Daniel had refused? I suspect Mordecai’s words to Esther would apply. Est. 4:14 “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” (NIV).
(2) Prayer is about living in relationship with God. Elijah knew the will of God because He lived in communion with God. The conversation was two-way. God spoke to him; and he spoke to God. In your prayers, don’t just tell God what you want and then walk away. It is perfectly alright to make your requests known unto God. But hang around long enough for Him to give you some instruction on the matter. He may tell you some things to do that are a part of the answer. In its simplest form, prayer is a conversation with God. I suspect that the main reason God involves us in executing His will on earth is because He wants a relationship with us. He wants to share His joy, His kingdom with us.
Conclusion
Come back with me to our text in James 5:16 “...pray for one another that you may be healed.” God wants us to be a community of praying people. We don’t just pray as a religious exercise. We pray that we may enjoy wholeness spirit, soul, and body. We pray in cooperation with God and with one another. There is nothing more unifying that praying together. I learned that in meeting with pastors. As long as we met and talked about our ministries, very little unity resulted. Our discussions of doctrine produced even less unity. But when we prayed together, God knit our hearts with each other and unity happened. It wasn’t based on doctrinal agreement or even a good cause. It was based on fellowship with the Father and each other in prayer. Pray for one another that you may be healed. I wonder if we understand the full significance of that.
What James wants his congregation to understand is this: “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” To encourage their participation he reminds them of something important in the next verse. Verse 17 “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours....” He was just as human as you are. He had his good days and bad days just like you. He was sincere and wholehearted toward God; but he was not perfect—just like you. God answered his prayers; and He will answer your prayers!
Let us pray.
For NOTES/SOURCES & AUDIO go to www.GatewayNixa.org
Richard Tow
Gateway Foursquare Church
Nixa, Missouri
