The Power Of Prayer Series

“THE POWER OF PRAYER” James 5:13-18

FBCF – 10/13/22

Jon Daniels

INTRO – A fellow pastor friend of mine & I were walking out of restaurant recently. Group of about 8 businessmen seated at table. As we walked by, all of their heads were bowed down. Looked like they were praying. But we quickly realized that they were all just looking down at their phones at the same time.

Good illustration of our prayer lives. Sometimes, we look like we are praying – head bowed, eyes closed, going through the motions, but no real connection to God is being made. Instead, we are distracted by the things of the world, engrossed in the noise & busyness around us, & missing out on the huge opportunity to tap into the power of God that is available to us in prayer. Gregory Frizzell – “I want to shout from the housetops that powerful prayer is God’s will for every believer!” (How to Develop a Powerful Prayer Life, p. 7)

Today, we are going to talk about the power of prayer.

EXPLANATION – James 5:13-18 (p. 1013)

There is such amazing power available to us Christ-followers through prayer! I just wonder sometimes if we truly believe that? When you hear verses like these (slides):

- Jeremiah 33:3

- John 14:13-14 – “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”

- Matthew 7:7-8 – “Ask, & it will be given to you; seek, & you will find; knock, & it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, & the one who seeks finds, & to the one who knocks it will be opened.”

- 1 John 5:14-15 – “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”

Listen to the words in those verses: “Call to me & I WILL answer you…” – “If you ask me anything in my name, I WILL do it…” – “Ask, & it WILL be given to you…” – “…we KNOW that we have what we asked of Him.” Do we pray that kind of boldness? Do we pray w/ that kind of confidence? Do we pray w/ that kind of faith? Every Christ-follower should & every Christ-follower can!

James is bringing his letter in for a landing here in Ch 5. He’s been challenging, encouraging, & imploring his readers into living out their faith – being a doer & not just a hearer. In these verses, he touches on some of the other subjects he’s covered earlier in his letter:

- He mentions suffering & sickness in v. 13-14. Reminds us of what he said back in ch. 1:2-4 – “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect & complete, lacking in nothing.”

- Remember that he talked about taming your tongue back in ch. 3:8. Ultimate way to tame you tongue is to use it to “pray for one another” (5:16).

The main focus of these verses is on the importance of prayer in the life of the believer. He started the letter by telling his readers that, if they needed wisdom, they should pray in faith & ask God to give it to them. Now he ends his letter by showing his readers how important & powerful that prayer of faith is in their lives.

APPLICATION – Every Christ-follower can & should have a powerful prayer life.

As we walk through this passage, there are 4 “firsts” that I want to share w/ you today so we can know the power of prayer that is available to us as Christ-followers:

FIRST THOUGHT: PRAYER – v. 13 – Our first thought in a time of suffering or in a time of happiness should be prayer. Our first response should be to God, turning to Him in prayer & in praise.

Throughout this whole book, James has been pushing us deeper & deeper in our relationship w/ God & in our love for Him. It’s all about the relationship!

- When you’re madly in love w/ someone, you want to tell them everything & you want to tell them first. Whether it’s good news or bad news, you want to tell them first b/c of the relationship you have w/ them.

- Same is true w/ God. He should be our first response, our first love, our first thought, no matter what we’ve encountered, bad or good, suffering or cheerfulness.