Read: James 5: 13-20
James concludes the book
with a passage on prayer. No matter
where you are at in your prayer life there are truths that you can apply
through these verses. James begins with
two short commands, first to pray when experiencing suffering and second to
sing praises when cheerful (v. 13). When
you encounter difficulties is your first response to pray? The automatic response for most believers when
tough times come is to complain, throw a pity party or question God. But James
says “pray”! God often sends allows problems
in our lives so that we will learn to depend on Him in prayer. Those who do pray when they encounter tough
times often just ask the Lord to bail them out instead of engaging and growing
in prayer through asking Him about His purposes for the trial. We all have a lot to learn about going deeper
in prayer.
Verse 14-15 talks about
praying for sick people. When discussing
this topic we must be careful to look at the entire Bible and not just take one
or two verses out of context. We know
that Jesus heals as He healed many people while He was on the earth. The early church also experienced many
healings. But God does not always choose
to heal. Suffering is sometimes God’s
will for believers and often in our best interest (Heb. 12:5-11; James 1:2-4; 1
Pet. 1:6-7). In fact suffering can be
for our eternal good. We must not assume
that all suffering is evil (not from God) and we should never condemn believers
who suffer. So, how can you pray for
someone how is struggling with health and not receiving healing? Pray for the ability to endure with joy, for
a godly attitude through the pain, for godly character to grow, for spiritual
fruit, etc.
Verse 16b says, “the prayer of a righteous man is powerful
and effective”. The qualification
for an effective prayer life is righteousness.
This does not mean that we have to be perfect in all things or else no
one could qualify. Elijah was not a
perfect man. Rather, to be righteous
means to walk uprightly before God, confessing all known sin and striving to
obey God. Elijah is given as an
illustration of a righteous man whose prayers accomplished much (v.
17-18). James says that Elijah was just
a plain, ordinary, man just like us. He
struggled with fear, depression and did not have privileged status before
God. Elijah lived in the time of the
ungodly King Ahab. He took on the Baal
worshipers in a direct challenge and his prayers affected the entire
nation. Just like Elijah we live in
ungodly times and we face circumstances that our far beyond our ability. We are inadequate. That’s why we are to pray! Prayer acknowledges our need of God.
The book of James
concludes with verses 19-20 telling us that believers are responsible to help
restore straying believers to the truth.
Believers can stray from the truth both doctrinally and morally although
the two are often intertwined. Every
Christian has a part to play in encouraging believers to make godly
choices. We must not ignore sin! Notice how this passage is also about
restoration. These verses don’t tell us
to attack a person who has stumbled but rather to gently and lovingly help the
person see the error of their way and bring him/her to repentance.
Prayer and Journaling
1. Thank God for hearing every one of our prayers. He is a God who listens and He loves when we
bring our requests to Him. Ask the Lord
to remind you of a time when He answered your prayer, thank Him for this.
2. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring to mind a prayer request that
weighs heavy on you. Ask Him to give you
three key strategies that you can focus on in prayer and pray through for this
request. Pray through what you
receive. Commit to praying about these
things over the next week.
3. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a word/picture/impression of
a promise(s) related to your request.
Thank Him for what He has brought to mind.
