Introduction:
A. The story is told of a five year old boy who told his daddy that he’d like to have a baby brother and that he was willing to do whatever he could to help bring that about.
1. The boy’s father paused for a moment and then replied, “I’ll tell you what, if you pray every day for two months for a baby brother, I guarantee that God will give you one!”
2. The boy responded eagerly to his dad’s challenge and began praying that night for a baby brother.
3. The boy prayed every night for a whole month, but then began to get skeptical.
4. He checked around the neighborhood asking his friends if they had ever prayed for a baby brother and had their prayers answered.
5. His friends told him that you just don't pray for two months and then, whammo – you get a new baby brother, so, the boy quit praying.
6. One month later, the boy’s mother went to the hospital and when she came back home, his parents called him into their bedroom.
7. The little boy cautiously walked into the room, not expecting to find anything since he had stopped praying, but there was a little bundle lying right next to his mother.
8. When his dad pulled back the blanket, the little boy saw that there was not one baby brother, but two!! His mother had twins!
9. His father said to him, “Now aren’t you glad you prayed?”
10. The little boy hesitated, but then answered, “Yes, but aren’t you glad I quit praying when I did? Otherwise who knows how many baby brothers I would have ended up with!”
B. Prayer is indeed powerful, because God is powerful beyond our ability to even ask or imagine.
1. But let me ask you this question: is there anything wrong with praying for what you want?
a. Of course not.
2. In James 4:2, James wrote, “You do not have, because you do not ask God.”
3. In James 1:5, James wrote, “Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.”
4. In the passage we will be studying today, James says that if we are in trouble or sick, then we should pray to God about it.
5. In other words, if there is something we want from God, then we should pray about it, and we should ask others to pray on our behalf as well.
C. But we all know that there is more to effective prayer than just asking God.
1. The Bible teaches that not all praying is effective.
2. According to Psalm 66:18, those who pray while they cherish sin in their hearts will find that God doesn’t listen to that prayer.
3. According to Matthew 6:5, those who pray only to be seen by people will not receive the reward of answered prayer, because their only reward is be seen by people.
4. According to James 1:7, those who waver in faith should not expect to receive an answer to prayer.
5. And according to James 4:3, those who pray for things simply because of selfish desires will not receive what they ask for.
6. But all that being said, James wants us to know that “The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.” (James 5:16)
D. I think you would agree with me that the great people of God in any generation are those Christians who pray.
1. These people do not necessarily talk more about prayer.
2. They don’t advertise their belief in prayer.
3. They don’t try to explain everything about prayer.
4. Rather, they are the humble, dedicated ones who faithfully and obediently pray.
5. They don’t necessarily have more time than the rest of us to pray, they just consider prayer more important than the things with which most of us fill our lives.
6. You don’t have to have a lot of money or education or talent to be a person of prayer, rather you just have to be committed to prayer and follow through with a time, a place, and a system for prayer.
7. Those who are disciplined in this way and believe in their God who hears and answers prayer, will claimed and experience the power of prayer.
8. Brothers and sisters, I don’t know about you, but I’m not there yet, but I’m continuing to head in that direction, becoming more and more a person of prayer.
E. James, the writer of this letter we have been studying, was a person of prayer.
1. His contemporaries knew him by the nickname “camel-knees.”
2. He had spent so much time on his knees in prayer that they were literally baggy and rough, like camel’s knees.
3. So, it shouldn’t surprise us that James has a lot to say about prayer in this letter of his.
4. He speaks about prayer with authority and from experience.
F. There are many ways that we might approach this passage, but the way I will approach it is to begin by pointing out a couple of initial important lessons, and then we will spend a few minutes addressing the question of healing prayer.
I. Important Lessons
A. The first lesson we learn is that prayer is appropriate on all occasions.
1. What should a person do when they are suffering or are in trouble? Pray. And we usually do.
2. What should a person do when they are sick? Pray. And we usually do.
3. What should a person do when they are happy and successful? They should sing songs of praise, which is just another form of prayer, right? But unfortunately, this is often when we forget to pray.
4. When we are in need, our natural tendency is to turn to God.
5. But when we are doing great, our tendency is to forget about God.
6. Prayer, however, is always the right activity, regardless of our situation or circumstances.
7. And if we will make prayer the most basic and consistent part of our relationship with God, then we will experience prayer power, whether at times of need or times of plenty, whether we are experiencing pain or pleasure.
B. The second lesson we learn is that Elijah a great example of effective prayer.
1. James wrote, “Elijah was a man just like us.” (James 5:17) “A human being as we are” (CSB).
2. When you think of Elijah, do you think of him as a man just like us? I don’t.
a. I have a hard time seeing him as a man like me.
3. Elijah held such a unique and esteemed place in Jewish history, that some regarded him as almost divine.
4. But James didn’t issue him super-human status.
5. James says he was a man just like us; a human being as we are.
a. Elijah felt stress. Elijah knew failure.
b. Elijah was influenced by his feelings - he was exhilarated when he defeated the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, and he was deeply depressed just a short time after that success.
6 He truly was a man just like us, but he also is a great example of how we can be a person of effective prayer.
C. Let me give you a little background on this story about Elijah that James used as an illustration.
1. At the time of this story (found in 1 Kings 17), the king of Israel was a man named Ahab, and he was married to a Philistine woman who has since become infamous because of her wickedness, her name was Jezebel.
2. Because of the influence of Ahab and Jezebel, the nation of Israel had fallen into a kind of hybrid paganism.
3. They still prayed to the Lord, but they also worshipped the pagan gods – Baal and Asherah.
4. So, because of this kind of disobedience, God sent Elijah to tell king Ahab that they would be punished with a drought - there would be no rain for 3 ½ years.
5. Just as suddenly as Elijah had appeared with that message, he disappeared into the desert.
6. The drought brought great suffering on the people of Israel, and Ahab hated Elijah for his part in all this.
7. Ahab blamed Elijah for his troubles, but the blame only belonged to Ahab himself.
8. In the third year of the drought, the word of the Lord came to Elijah, “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.” (1 Kings. 18:1)
9. James summarized the story, “Elijah prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.” (James 5:17-18)
10. The drought began when Elijah prayed, and the drought ended when he prayed.
D. Notice with me, quickly, several things that made Elijah’s prayer so effective.
1. First, Elijah prayed fervently and continually.
a. The Bible says that he climbed Mt. Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees and prayed seven times that it would rain. (1 Kings 18:42-45)
b. Each time he prayed he sent his servant to look for clouds, and on the seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”
c. Very soon thereafter, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, and a heavy rain fell.
d. So, Elijah kept praying until he was sure of the Lord’s answer.
e. Likewise, we must show faithfulness and earnestness in our prayers.
2. Second, Elijah prayed specifically.
a. He didn’t simply ask God to bless Israel, he prayed for rain.
b. I’m thankful that our elders and members pray for people by name and by specific needs.
c. The more specifically we pray, the more effective will be our prayers.
3. Third, Elijah prayed for according to God’s will.
a. 1 John 5:14-15 tells us that when we ask anything according to God’s will, then we know we have what we asked of him.
b. As we pray we should look for Scripture and pray the promises of Scripture.
c. We should pray for things that would result in the praise of God.
d. We should pray declaring how God’s answer would positively affect our witness.
4. Finally, Elijah prayed expectantly with faith.
a. He expected an answer, and that’s why he kept sending his servant to look for clouds.
b. I like the old story of the church in a western town that held a special prayer meeting to pray for rain to end a drought they were experiencing. The preacher sent everyone back home, because no one had come to the prayer meeting with an umbrella.
c. If you are praying for rain, you better bring your raincoat or umbrella!
d. When we pray, we must pray expectantly, believing God will answer our request.
E. So, those are the initial lessons that I want us to learn and apply from this text.
1. First, anytime is a good time to pray.
2. And second, Elijah is an excellent prayer example to follow.
3. Now let’s briefly address the question of healing prayer.
II. HEALING PRAYER
A. Look again at verses 14-16: Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.
B. Do you believe that God still heals people today? I certainly believe that God still heals people.
1. I believe that God has never stopped and will never stop healing people in answer to our prayers.
2. But, while I believe that God heals, I am concerned with much of the teaching and practice of healing that goes on in some churches today.
3. It is very easy to distort and misrepresent the truth of God on this subject.
4. Allow me to point out several common errors and misconceptions about healing prayer.
C. First, Some falsely link a person’s own faith to the desired result.
1. They say that the failure to be healed is caused by insufficient faith on the part of the person needing physical healing.
2. It is true that Jesus talked about those who had too little faith, and that we do need to pray with faith, but it is wrong to point a finger at a sick person and imply that the lack of healing is their personal faith problem.
3. Let’s take the Apostle Paul as a case in point - would you accuse Paul of having too little faith?
4. We know that he had some kind of “thorn in the flesh” as he called it.
a. Some scholars think it was epilepsy, others say that he had an eye disease.
5. But, whatever the nature of the problem was, it led to his suffering, and he, with faith, asked for God’s healing.
6. Three times he prayed for God to take it away, but God’s answer was “NO”, not because of a lack of faith, but because of God’s will and because of Paul’s own spiritual need.
7. When healing does not come, a lack of faith may not be the problem.
D. Second, some falsely link a lack of healing to the person’s sin.
1. Certainly, there is some biblical president for this idea.
a. Here in James, he prescribes confession and prayer to assist in a person’s healing.
2. There are times when sin and suffering have a connection, but not all the time.
3. All of us have sinned and continue to battle sin, but that does not mean that our physical ailments are in direct proportion to our sin – aren’t we thankful about that!
4. That being said, certainly a life of sin can have its physical consequences, both naturally and intentionally by God.
5. When we are suffering from sickness, we should examine ourselves and willingly confess our sins, but we should not conclude that sin is the direct cause of all illness.
6. You will remember that this was the mistake that Job’s friends made.
a. They wrongly assumed that his suffering was a direct result of some grievous sin.
b. God straightened them out about that.
E. Finally, some falsely define healing as only physical and miraculous.
1. The text here in James does not define the kind of healing that takes place, nor does it define how the healing takes place.
2. All healing is not physical, any more than you or I are just physical.
3. God’s healing is not restricted to any one specific area of our lives.
4. God’s healing is sometimes spiritual, sometimes emotional, sometimes relational, and sometimes physical.
5. And whether God’s healing comes quickly or slowly, by miracle or by medicine, or by any combination of ways, God is able to heal His children. Amen!
F. James offers a plan for people who are sick.
1. Step #1: James says that the sick person should call for the elders.
a. Whether that sickness is physical, emotional, or spiritual, calling the elders for prayer is the proper approach.
2. Step #2: The elders should pray and anoint with oil.
a. The type of oil is not specified, but it was certainly not Pennzoil – most likely olive oil.
b. In the Bible we see that oil is often used as a symbol of health and vitality.
c. Kings were anointed with oil as a visible symbol of God’s choice and blessing.
d. There is nothing magical or supernatural about the oil itself, rather the oil is a sign of obedience and a humble reminder that all healing must come from God.
e. Oil may also have had a medicinal purpose and therefore we should encourage the application of medication in addition to prayer.
3. We notice also that the prayer and anointing with oil must be done “in the name of the Lord.”
a. The power to heal is not in the elders, not in the oil, not even in the prayer; the power to heal is in the Lord.
b. We would think that this goes without saying, yet some call themselves “faith healers” and use this “gift” to bring attention, glory and even wealth for themselves, rather than for God.
G. One way to avoid the abuses of healing prayer is to recognize the sovereignty of God.
1. Healing is a gift, and what is a gift? Is it something given on demand? NO!
a. A gift is the voluntary generosity of someone else toward you.
2. When it comes to the gift of healing, we must look to God who knows what we need, even better than we do.
a. And as we make our requests to God for healing grace, we wait and trust for God’s decision.
3. Are we willing and prepared to trust the Lord?
4. Are we willing to receive the gift which He chooses to give, even if it is not the one we hoped for?
5. Can we pray like Jesus, “Not my will, but your will be done”?
6. Some might call that kind of prayer a “copout” and even an obstacle to God’s healing touch, but I call it the ultimate statement of trust in our sovereign, loving God.
Conclusion:
A. Allow me to conclude the way James does: My brothers and sisters, if any among you strays from the truth, and someone turns him back, let that person know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. (James 5:19-20)
1. While God is deeply concerned about our physical needs, He is even more concerned about our spiritual needs.
2. Our bodies are temporary, but our spirits are eternal.
B. Let’s be sure that we give enough attention in prayer to people’s spiritual needs in addition to their physical needs.
1. And let’s be sure we are ready to help our brother or sister who has wandered from the truth in order to bring them back.
2. All this is a matter of spiritual life and death! And the consequences are eternal!
C. Prayer is always the right thing to be engaged in and prayer is powerful, because our God is powerful and He answers prayer.
1. Do you need prayer today?
2. Do you need spiritual healing, or emotional healing, or relational healing, or physical healing, or some other kind of healing?
3. Lift up your need in prayer and then trust God for His answer.
Resources:
• “Prayer Power” Sermon by David Owens, 2006.
