PRAYER ANYONE?
James 5:13-18 NKJV
13 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.
As James is wrapping up his letter, he gives us some great insight into prayer.
Is anyone suffering? Let him pray. Someone going through difficult times has the option to pray as an answer. I believe there is some real power here that we have often been remiss in taking advantage of. James, in his typical blunt manner, does not pat or coddle the suffering one. I am not sure how James would be received in our current culture. But instead of encouraging the suffering ones to seek out someone to pray for them, James tells the sufferers to pray themselves.
Now, do not misunderstand me. There is nothing wrong with having someone pray for you. But sometimes, finding someone to pray with you is not possible. Learning to go to the Heavenly Father for yourself is a big step toward Christian maturity. Developing a confidence that God will hear your prayers is a valuable advantage in life. James seems to have a confidence in God's willingness to answer prayer that he builds on in the next few verses.
Is anyone sick? Let him call for the elders of the church to pray for them. Evidently, James distinguished suffering from sickness. If you are suffering, pray. If you are sick, call for the elders of the church and let them pray. Obviously, if you are sick, you can also pray for yourself, but James is offering another option.
The elders can anoint the sick one with oil and pray the prayer of faith for them. The prayer of faith would be a believing prayer that the Lord's will is for the sick one to be healed. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up and forgive him of any sins he may be carrying. What a great deal - healing and forgiveness.
And James is still on the prayer theme as he speaks to being transparent and praying for one another. When we confess our mistakes and missteps to one another, we put ourselves in a humble place. As we pray for one another, we put ourselves in an unselfish place, and healing is the result. James does not elaborate on what type of healing is available, but we can safely say the Lord healed broken hearts and broken bodies, and He is still the same.
James sums up the power of prayer when he states that an effective, fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much. The Weymouth translation says that the heartfelt supplication, prayer, of a righteous man exerts a mighty influence. Our right standing with God, our righteousness, is through Jesus. So, our heartfelt prayers can be powerful.
I am sure many have read those words and disqualified themselves as ever being able to pray effectively. But James states that Elijah was a person with a nature like ours, and he prayed effectively. The implied idea is that if Elijah, with all his faults and shortcomings, could pray effectively, then so can we. Elijah was not superhuman and was able to see great things connecting with God in prayer. We may not impact a nation with our prayers, but we can impact our world.
PRAYER
Thank You, Heavenly Father, that I can connect with You in prayer. Teach me to be more effective so that I might impact my world.