JAMES 5:13-20
And with that we come to the end of our series in James; a series that we started back in April. Around 20 or so sermons, covering the 5 chapters.
It is interesting that we began with a focus on trials, prayer, and counting it all joy. Here we wrap up with something of the same theme. This passage talks about suffering, being cheerful, and prayer. It is almost like we’ve come full circle.
It is interesting that this is one of those classic passages of Scripture. It is one that is well loved by almost everyone and is quite familiar. If we took a survey of bibles, we might find that a lot of you have some portions of this section highlighted or underlined. It is a great text.
I always say that I don’t like preaching such texts because I don’t want to mess it up for anyone. I don’t want to have a bad sermon on a beloved passage.
It is interesting too that this passage, though being so loved, has had quite a bit of misinterpretation. This passage is looked to by faith healers. You can understand why. It has a rather firm promise that if you do certain things, a person will be healed. This malady will vanish and they will be raised up.
The Roman Catholic Church looks to this passage too, for defense of their practice that they call “Extreme Unction.” It is the belief that when you’re on your deathbed you can get anointed by the priest and, by means of doing so, your sins can be forgiven. So there ends up being some magical power in the oil and the rite.
Unfortunately, they kind of skip over the whole confession of sin part. The focus is on the oil, and not so much the prayer. And prayer is really the main focus of the passage. The word prayer is used in almost every verse in this section.
One funny one that I find is that a lot of people talk about the need to lay hands on. People will talk about praying and laying hands on someone in prayer. And they look to this passage for proof of that practice. But it doesn’t mention the laying on of hands. Again, the focus is on the prayer and the efficacy (the power) of prayer.
This morning, I want to focus on the Restorative power of prayer. Prayer is God’s tool for fortifying strong and lasting faith.
And to this end I want address what I believe to be another problem in interpreting this passage. I want to say that this passage has nothing to do with being sick or having a physical sickness.
That may be a bit of a surprise. But I think we are going to see that as we look at the passage. This is how we are going to analyze things today; we are going to look at the following three things:
The problem that is addressed, the remedy that is afforded, and the promise that is affirmed.
I. The Problem that is addressed: Weakness of faith
I admit that this flies in the face of how the text is typically read and translated. I do believe that every one of our bibles reads, “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders.” The translations are almost unanimous in verses 14 and 15 in the use of the word “sick.”
But after studying the passage this week, I don’t know that this is the most appropriate translation.
Now, first, let me say, if you want to translate it sick, that’s fine with me. You have the weight of history and popularity on your side. And I respect that.
And I recognize too that the two Greek words in these two verses can be used for a medical illness or disease.
And certainly I don’t want to discourage anyone from praying for medical problems. Certainly, that is a legitimate thing to do. One of the things I actually like about my job is that I have opportunity to pray with people when they are in the hospital or confined to their homes. I’m not a germaphobe either, so those kinds of things don’t bother me. Hospitals are times when the gospel is needed and we should resort to the Lord when we are ill.
While I’m at it, I might also note that sickness certainly can be caused by sin. (The passage talks about sickness and the need to confess your sin. It indicates that there is a connection between this problem and one’s sin.) Paul tells us that the Corinthian church suffered a great deal of sickness (some even dying) because they had not participated in the Lord’s supper correctly. In the Psalms, David talks about his body wasting away because he did not confess his sin.
I’ve said it before, and I wish to reiterate it here, that when you are laid up with a physical affliction, that is a good time to contemplate your standing with the Lord. Consider your life and seek to determine if you are in some kind of sin. Perhaps the Lord is seeking to draw your attention to it. While you are lying there, ask the Lord to show you if there is any area of your life where you need to repent and begin to develop new obedience.
But having said that, I do not think that this is the real thrust of this passage. I don’t think that this is really talking about having the sniffles or perhaps even something serious, like cancer. I want to suggest to you that the best ways to translate these words would be with the words “weak” and “weary.” And I believe it has to do more with one’s spiritual standing, not so much his physical standing. I believe it should be read, something like this: “Is anyone among you weak.” So James would be saying, “Is anyone among you finding your faith being challenged. Do you find your faith dwindling?”
Let me give you some reasons why I think this. First, the Greek word is used over 30 times in the NT and in almost every occurrence you could translate it with the word weakness. Some of these have to do with physical weakness (like a sickness or disease), but a great many of the uses refer to a person being spiritually weak.
For instance, in Romans 14 Paul talks about the “weaker brother.” The idea there is that there is a brother who is spiritually immature and is susceptible to falling into a life of sin. And Paul says you need to watch out for this guy and not be a stumbling block to him.
Sometimes there is the contrast between human weakness and the power of God. The idea is not so much that our bodies are physically ill, but morally and spiritually anemic.
And I believe that the context here best fits that understanding. You know, the epistle started out by saying, “consider it all joy when you face trials of various kinds.” Its main emphasis was enduring trials with the right attitude, not so much escaping them. To pray for sickness and promise that you’d be healed and to get out of it quickly, seems like a contradictory message.
Add to that the fact that God no where else in Scripture promises physical healing like this. If you are sick and you pray, the promise here is that you WILL be healed. I don’t know that we can make that kind of affirmation.
Even if we think of the context of chapter 5. We looked at the opening verses of this chapter a few weeks ago. We talk about the fact that the Christians in James’ congregation were likely being persecuted. They were being oppressed and there are various exhortations to gird up spiritually. For instance, in verse 8 he says, “Establish your hearts.” He goes on to tell them to “be patient” and demonstrate steadfastness.
Then you come to this particular portion of Scripture and you see that this idea of suffering is picked up again. When you suffer for the faith, your faith is going to be challenged. Do you want to continue to believe? Will you live faithfully? Will you fall into sinful patterns? These are all the kinds of temptations that come during persecution.
Then it talks about confessing your sins. As we mentioned, sins can lead to sickness. But sin is, in all reality, the ultimate weakness. And, as I just mentioned, that coincides with the troubles of persecution.
You can move on down to verses 17-18 where it talks about Elijah and the power of his prayers. Elijah, you remember, was dealing not with hospital visits, but rather the apostasy of the nation of Israel at the time. They were spiritually sick to the point of being spiritually dead.
And finally, the last two verses talk about someone who is walking away from the faith. He’s wandering from the truth (just as Israel was doing in Elijah’s day). And he is brought back.
And I will also say that this makes more sense with the anointing with oil. I don’t want to go into all the views on this. If you are really interested, you can ask the Bible Bee group. Because, I believe they studied this to some degree.
My personal view is that the oil was medicinal. You might think of it as a kind of essential oil as we have today. It was a topical treatment for wounds and acted like a Neosporin of sorts. It also helped to kept the skin moist in the dry climate of the Eastern world.
So if someone was persecuted, he ended up being angry, he lashed out, and he likely would be beaten. His faith was weak, and he maybe ended up being wacked around.
Or maybe he’d been worked out in the field long hours and he was exhausted physically and spiritually at wits end. The guy may need some encouragement. He’s got some knots in his neck. His skin is dry. So the elders could anoint him, massage him, and pray with him. The whole routine is to offer some bit of relief and restoration.
That’s my take on it. (Maybe you like this interpretation better. We are now opening the Hopewell Day Spa, where you can get a massage to help strengthen your faith!)
It has to do with weakness—maybe of the physical kind, but more specifically the spiritual kind. It is about persevering through the trials. It is about one who is spiritually depressed. Perhaps he’s angry and he’s fallen into the temptation and his passions have gotten the best of him. His mouth has said some things, and perhaps he’s gotten into some patterns of sin that are not good. Or perhaps he’s become so weak in faith that he’s on the brink of giving up on Christ.
Again, I want us to consider that the real focus is perseverance, it is about enduring faith: it is about how one has that steadfastness and patience to the very end.
And having sort of spelled out the problem that is addressed, I think we can really be in a place to address the remedy that is afforded.
II. The remedy that is afforded
How is it that we persevere through trials? Our faith needs to go all the way through the finish line. But how is that possible? Well, God has given us certain means by which we accomplish the ends. This is an important thing to understand.
We who are reformed in our theology believe in the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. God has elected us unto salvation and his grace will never be revoked. So we believe that the Lord will uphold our faith to the very end. But just as he has ordained our eternal security, he uses means in doing so. He has ordained that the word, the sacraments, and (as we see here) prayer as a means of sustaining and supporting our faith.
But you see that his passage notes that prayer is so very vital in this process. As a matter of fact, james specifies three different kinds of prayer, each of which is necessary for our spiritual endurance.
First, he notes that prayer must be
A. Personal and comprehensive
Look at verse 13. He says, “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.” What James does is start with a wide angle picture on your own personal life. He first focuses on your personal prayer life. James is saying, you need to be praying regularly; everyday. You need to have a comprehensive life of prayer; one that encompasses the whole of your human experience (good times and bad times).
The idea is that you must be praying daily. You must develop the discipline of prayer in your own life. If you want to grow and have a steadfast faith, you need to start by developing a life of prayer.
I like what John Calvin says on this section in his commentary. He basically says we are prone not to pray. When life is good, we forget God and neglect to praise him for his blessings. When life is not so good, we end up becoming disheartened and we despairing. So we spend more time complaining and griping than we do asking for the Lord’s help. And he says that James wants us to stop that.
I want to simply say that enduring trials starts with you, and it starts right now. You prepare for the hard times by making good use of the present time.
I think James is saying here that we need to be building our faith on a daily basis. We need to be finding that God is our source of strength, He is the fountain of every blessing, All our life is dependent upon him. And as we avail ourselves to this life of prayer we are helping ourselves to grow. We are entrenching ourselves in the Lord and becoming more thoroughly attached to him. We strengthen ourselves in God through prayer.
And so, this is a good time to give this exhortation to be disciplined and create this habit. If you do not have a set time of prayer, make one. Use daily doses of this great tool to fortify your faith.
But there is another kind of prayer mentioned. Not only should it be personal and comprehensive, our prayers need to be
B. Pastoral and concentrated [14]
In verse 14 James says that when we are sick (i.e. we are spiritually weak), we need to call on the elders of the church. The church pastoral leadership team has the specific duty of praying for the congregation and tending to their spiritual needs. And James says we need to avail ourselves to these people and to their prayers.
Now, I do not think that the leadership of the church has any greater connection to the Lord or has a greater prayer power than anyone else in the church. But Scripture tells us that the elders of the church are specifically called to the ministry of the word and prayer. And so there is a particular usefulness in having the elders of the church minister to you and pray with you. And so it would be unwise not to avail yourself to this great opportunity that the Lord has afforded you.
Albert Barnes has a very lengthy portion devoted in his commentary on the need to “call the elders.” He says that if you don’t call and notify the leadership, you shouldn’t expect to get better and you certainly shouldn’t expect them to know.
And I appreciate how this congregation uses our email list for prayer requests. I am glad that you all recognize how important it is to share your hardships and seek to rally prayer support for your different needs. Thank you for that.
But I think it is good here to remember that Scripture gives us this mandate: God has put the leadership of this church in place, specifically for your spiritual well being. They are here to be your personal prayer intercessors. Our job is to be that which buttresses your faith. And I hope you continue to make good use of this wonderful grace that is offered to you.
In God’s divine economy, the prayers of the church leadership are special tools that He makes use of to preserve and encourage your faith. God has ordained these concentrated, pastoral prayers as means of helping you to bear your trials and maintain a holy demeanor through them.
Persevering in the faith requires prayer. This prayer should be personal and comprehensive, pastoral and concentrated. And they should be corporate and forgiving.
C. Corporate and forgiving
In verse 16 James commands us to “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another.”
Corporate prayer is just as vital as personal prayer and the prayers of the leadership.
I don’t know that I need to go into depth here to explain this. If you are anywise connected to this church you have likely been prayed for and you’ve experienced something of the radical impact that it has.
But you’ll note that James also points to the need for us to maintain the integrity of the church. If we are going to be praying for one another, we must be at peace with one another.
So that means making the effort to make amends for our offenses. We are to not let anything come between us or become alienated from one another. And this bond of love should further express itself in the support we offer to one another through prayer.
Throughout this epistle, James has referred to us as brothers. He has continually emphasized that union we have. And here we see that union expressed in our prayers for one another. We enable each other to gain strength. We are each other’s life support system, so to speak.
This is a church where we work out our problems. We do not run from them or from each other. We must make it our aim to confess your sins, and the fortitude to address them when the need arises.
You know that when you are at odds with one another you will not be praying for one another. So this is why it is so important that we let nothing destroy the sacred bond that the Lord has established here. We are of vital importance to one another’s welfare. And we need the unity of each other’s prayers.
As we develop these habits: as we pray each individually, corporately, and with the leadership, we will see the church preserved and built up in the faith. We will be able to be fortified.
But now that we understand the problem and its remedy, let’s talk about the promise that is declared in this passage.
III. The promise that is declared
There is no lack of affirmations in this passage.
Verse 15 alone has three solid declarations of the efficacy of the prayer. He says “the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick (i.e. weak in faith).” And then it goes on to say, “The Lord will raise him up.” On top of this, he ads “If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.”
Then verse 16 says, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power in its working.” That’s another declaration of how effective prayer is.
Some of the original language is interesting here. The word power has the idea of forcefulness and dominance. The same word is used in Acts 19 which talks about the seven sons of Sceva and how they were trying to cast out the demon in the name of Jesus whom Paul proclaimed. You remember that the demon responds by beating the tar out of all 7 guys. It says that the demon possessed man prevailed over them. He gave them such a whooping that they were completely overpowered.
That’s the word that is used here regarding prevailing power of prayer. Through prayer our weaknesses will be completely overcome.
You’ll notice that James doesn’t stop there. In Verses 17-18 he gives the illustration of Elijah and his prayers. Now, most people put the emphasis on the fact that Elijah’s prayers had sway over the rain. He was able to shut up the heavens and cause a drought that lasted over three years.
But I’d like to suggest that James isn’t so much concerned with the clouds as he is with the power Elijah had to turn a whole nation away from their sins. The rain was just a means to an end.
There are various places in the book of Deuteronomy where God says that, if they people obeyed, they would be blessed with rain. And as a result, they would have a great harvest and their economy would boom. But if they did not obey, the Lord would withhold this rain. Elijah understood that they did not deserve the rain. So he prayed the Scripture asking that the rain would be withheld. And it was only after they turned to the Lord that he prayed that it would rain again.
So what you have here in verses 17-18 is not a green light to pray for rain when it’s hot out. It is a reminder that God will hear you when you pray for the weak and spiritually faint.
That’s what gives real punch to verses 19-20. I don’t think this is talking about doing evangelism or some extra kind of ministry. I think it is merely expressing something of the great power of prayer and the ministry of the church. If we commit ourselves to prayer and using the means that God has given us, we will see apostasy averted. The membership of a church will be preserved from falling away and falling into many other sins.
It is interesting that we began with a focus on trials, prayer, and counting it all joy. Here we wrap up with something of the same theme. This passage talks about suffering, being cheerful, and prayer. It is almost like we’ve come full circle.
It is interesting that this is one of those classic passages of Scripture. It is one that is well loved by almost everyone and is quite familiar. If we took a survey of bibles, we might find that a lot of you have some portions of this section highlighted or underlined. It is a great text.
I always say that I don’t like preaching such texts because I don’t want to mess it up for anyone. I don’t want to have a bad sermon on a beloved passage.
It is interesting too that this passage, though being so loved, has had quite a bit of misinterpretation. This passage is looked to by faith healers. You can understand why. It has a rather firm promise that if you do certain things, a person will be healed. This malady will vanish and they will be raised up.
The Roman Catholic Church looks to this passage too, for defense of their practice that they call “Extreme Unction.” It is the belief that when you’re on your deathbed you can get anointed by the priest and, by means of doing so, your sins can be forgiven. So there ends up being some magical power in the oil and the rite.
Unfortunately, they kind of skip over the whole confession of sin part. The focus is on the oil, and not so much the prayer. And prayer is really the main focus of the passage. The word prayer is used in almost every verse in this section.
One funny one that I find is that a lot of people talk about the need to lay hands on. People will talk about praying and laying hands on someone in prayer. And they look to this passage for proof of that practice. But it doesn’t mention the laying on of hands. Again, the focus is on the prayer and the efficacy (the power) of prayer.
This morning, I want to focus on the Restorative power of prayer. Prayer is God’s tool for fortifying strong and lasting faith.
And to this end I want address what I believe to be another problem in interpreting this passage. I want to say that this passage has nothing to do with being sick or having a physical sickness.
That may be a bit of a surprise. But I think we are going to see that as we look at the passage. This is how we are going to analyze things today; we are going to look at the following three things:
The problem that is addressed, the remedy that is afforded, and the promise that is affirmed.
I. The Problem that is addressed: Weakness of faith
I admit that this flies in the face of how the text is typically read and translated. I do believe that every one of our bibles reads, “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders.” The translations are almost unanimous in verses 14 and 15 in the use of the word “sick.”
But after studying the passage this week, I don’t know that this is the most appropriate translation.
Now, first, let me say, if you want to translate it sick, that’s fine with me. You have the weight of history and popularity on your side. And I respect that.
And I recognize too that the two Greek words in these two verses can be used for a medical illness or disease.
And certainly I don’t want to discourage anyone from praying for medical problems. Certainly, that is a legitimate thing to do. One of the things I actually like about my job is that I have opportunity to pray with people when they are in the hospital or confined to their homes. I’m not a germaphobe either, so those kinds of things don’t bother me. Hospitals are times when the gospel is needed and we should resort to the Lord when we are ill.
While I’m at it, I might also note that sickness certainly can be caused by sin. (The passage talks about sickness and the need to confess your sin. It indicates that there is a connection between this problem and one’s sin.) Paul tells us that the Corinthian church suffered a great deal of sickness (some even dying) because they had not participated in the Lord’s supper correctly. In the Psalms, David talks about his body wasting away because he did not confess his sin.
I’ve said it before, and I wish to reiterate it here, that when you are laid up with a physical affliction, that is a good time to contemplate your standing with the Lord. Consider your life and seek to determine if you are in some kind of sin. Perhaps the Lord is seeking to draw your attention to it. While you are lying there, ask the Lord to show you if there is any area of your life where you need to repent and begin to develop new obedience.
But having said that, I do not think that this is the real thrust of this passage. I don’t think that this is really talking about having the sniffles or perhaps even something serious, like cancer. I want to suggest to you that the best ways to translate these words would be with the words “weak” and “weary.” And I believe it has to do more with one’s spiritual standing, not so much his physical standing. I believe it should be read, something like this: “Is anyone among you weak.” So James would be saying, “Is anyone among you finding your faith being challenged. Do you find your faith dwindling?”
Let me give you some reasons why I think this. First, the Greek word is used over 30 times in the NT and in almost every occurrence you could translate it with the word weakness. Some of these have to do with physical weakness (like a sickness or disease), but a great many of the uses refer to a person being spiritually weak.
For instance, in Romans 14 Paul talks about the “weaker brother.” The idea there is that there is a brother who is spiritually immature and is susceptible to falling into a life of sin. And Paul says you need to watch out for this guy and not be a stumbling block to him.
Sometimes there is the contrast between human weakness and the power of God. The idea is not so much that our bodies are physically ill, but morally and spiritually anemic.
And I believe that the context here best fits that understanding. You know, the epistle started out by saying, “consider it all joy when you face trials of various kinds.” Its main emphasis was enduring trials with the right attitude, not so much escaping them. To pray for sickness and promise that you’d be healed and to get out of it quickly, seems like a contradictory message.
Add to that the fact that God no where else in Scripture promises physical healing like this. If you are sick and you pray, the promise here is that you WILL be healed. I don’t know that we can make that kind of affirmation.
Even if we think of the context of chapter 5. We looked at the opening verses of this chapter a few weeks ago. We talk about the fact that the Christians in James’ congregation were likely being persecuted. They were being oppressed and there are various exhortations to gird up spiritually. For instance, in verse 8 he says, “Establish your hearts.” He goes on to tell them to “be patient” and demonstrate steadfastness.
Then you come to this particular portion of Scripture and you see that this idea of suffering is picked up again. When you suffer for the faith, your faith is going to be challenged. Do you want to continue to believe? Will you live faithfully? Will you fall into sinful patterns? These are all the kinds of temptations that come during persecution.
Then it talks about confessing your sins. As we mentioned, sins can lead to sickness. But sin is, in all reality, the ultimate weakness. And, as I just mentioned, that coincides with the troubles of persecution.
You can move on down to verses 17-18 where it talks about Elijah and the power of his prayers. Elijah, you remember, was dealing not with hospital visits, but rather the apostasy of the nation of Israel at the time. They were spiritually sick to the point of being spiritually dead.
And finally, the last two verses talk about someone who is walking away from the faith. He’s wandering from the truth (just as Israel was doing in Elijah’s day). And he is brought back.
And I will also say that this makes more sense with the anointing with oil. I don’t want to go into all the views on this. If you are really interested, you can ask the Bible Bee group. Because, I believe they studied this to some degree.
My personal view is that the oil was medicinal. You might think of it as a kind of essential oil as we have today. It was a topical treatment for wounds and acted like a Neosporin of sorts. It also helped to kept the skin moist in the dry climate of the Eastern world.
So if someone was persecuted, he ended up being angry, he lashed out, and he likely would be beaten. His faith was weak, and he maybe ended up being wacked around.
Or maybe he’d been worked out in the field long hours and he was exhausted physically and spiritually at wits end. The guy may need some encouragement. He’s got some knots in his neck. His skin is dry. So the elders could anoint him, massage him, and pray with him. The whole routine is to offer some bit of relief and restoration.
That’s my take on it. (Maybe you like this interpretation better. We are now opening the Hopewell Day Spa, where you can get a massage to help strengthen your faith!)
It has to do with weakness—maybe of the physical kind, but more specifically the spiritual kind. It is about persevering through the trials. It is about one who is spiritually depressed. Perhaps he’s angry and he’s fallen into the temptation and his passions have gotten the best of him. His mouth has said some things, and perhaps he’s gotten into some patterns of sin that are not good. Or perhaps he’s become so weak in faith that he’s on the brink of giving up on Christ.
Again, I want us to consider that the real focus is perseverance, it is about enduring faith: it is about how one has that steadfastness and patience to the very end.
And having sort of spelled out the problem that is addressed, I think we can really be in a place to address the remedy that is afforded.
II. The remedy that is afforded
How is it that we persevere through trials? Our faith needs to go all the way through the finish line. But how is that possible? Well, God has given us certain means by which we accomplish the ends. This is an important thing to understand.
We who are reformed in our theology believe in the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. God has elected us unto salvation and his grace will never be revoked. So we believe that the Lord will uphold our faith to the very end. But just as he has ordained our eternal security, he uses means in doing so. He has ordained that the word, the sacraments, and (as we see here) prayer as a means of sustaining and supporting our faith.
But you see that his passage notes that prayer is so very vital in this process. As a matter of fact, james specifies three different kinds of prayer, each of which is necessary for our spiritual endurance.
First, he notes that prayer must be
A. Personal and comprehensive
Look at verse 13. He says, “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.” What James does is start with a wide angle picture on your own personal life. He first focuses on your personal prayer life. James is saying, you need to be praying regularly; everyday. You need to have a comprehensive life of prayer; one that encompasses the whole of your human experience (good times and bad times).
The idea is that you must be praying daily. You must develop the discipline of prayer in your own life. If you want to grow and have a steadfast faith, you need to start by developing a life of prayer.
I like what John Calvin says on this section in his commentary. He basically says we are prone not to pray. When life is good, we forget God and neglect to praise him for his blessings. When life is not so good, we end up becoming disheartened and we despairing. So we spend more time complaining and griping than we do asking for the Lord’s help. And he says that James wants us to stop that.
I want to simply say that enduring trials starts with you, and it starts right now. You prepare for the hard times by making good use of the present time.
I think James is saying here that we need to be building our faith on a daily basis. We need to be finding that God is our source of strength, He is the fountain of every blessing, All our life is dependent upon him. And as we avail ourselves to this life of prayer we are helping ourselves to grow. We are entrenching ourselves in the Lord and becoming more thoroughly attached to him. We strengthen ourselves in God through prayer.
And so, this is a good time to give this exhortation to be disciplined and create this habit. If you do not have a set time of prayer, make one. Use daily doses of this great tool to fortify your faith.
But there is another kind of prayer mentioned. Not only should it be personal and comprehensive, our prayers need to be
B. Pastoral and concentrated [14]
In verse 14 James says that when we are sick (i.e. we are spiritually weak), we need to call on the elders of the church. The church pastoral leadership team has the specific duty of praying for the congregation and tending to their spiritual needs. And James says we need to avail ourselves to these people and to their prayers.
Now, I do not think that the leadership of the church has any greater connection to the Lord or has a greater prayer power than anyone else in the church. But Scripture tells us that the elders of the church are specifically called to the ministry of the word and prayer. And so there is a particular usefulness in having the elders of the church minister to you and pray with you. And so it would be unwise not to avail yourself to this great opportunity that the Lord has afforded you.
Albert Barnes has a very lengthy portion devoted in his commentary on the need to “call the elders.” He says that if you don’t call and notify the leadership, you shouldn’t expect to get better and you certainly shouldn’t expect them to know.
And I appreciate how this congregation uses our email list for prayer requests. I am glad that you all recognize how important it is to share your hardships and seek to rally prayer support for your different needs. Thank you for that.
But I think it is good here to remember that Scripture gives us this mandate: God has put the leadership of this church in place, specifically for your spiritual well being. They are here to be your personal prayer intercessors. Our job is to be that which buttresses your faith. And I hope you continue to make good use of this wonderful grace that is offered to you.
In God’s divine economy, the prayers of the church leadership are special tools that He makes use of to preserve and encourage your faith. God has ordained these concentrated, pastoral prayers as means of helping you to bear your trials and maintain a holy demeanor through them.
Persevering in the faith requires prayer. This prayer should be personal and comprehensive, pastoral and concentrated. And they should be corporate and forgiving.
C. Corporate and forgiving
In verse 16 James commands us to “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another.”
Corporate prayer is just as vital as personal prayer and the prayers of the leadership.
I don’t know that I need to go into depth here to explain this. If you are anywise connected to this church you have likely been prayed for and you’ve experienced something of the radical impact that it has.
But you’ll note that James also points to the need for us to maintain the integrity of the church. If we are going to be praying for one another, we must be at peace with one another.
So that means making the effort to make amends for our offenses. We are to not let anything come between us or become alienated from one another. And this bond of love should further express itself in the support we offer to one another through prayer.
Throughout this epistle, James has referred to us as brothers. He has continually emphasized that union we have. And here we see that union expressed in our prayers for one another. We enable each other to gain strength. We are each other’s life support system, so to speak.
This is a church where we work out our problems. We do not run from them or from each other. We must make it our aim to confess your sins, and the fortitude to address them when the need arises.
You know that when you are at odds with one another you will not be praying for one another. So this is why it is so important that we let nothing destroy the sacred bond that the Lord has established here. We are of vital importance to one another’s welfare. And we need the unity of each other’s prayers.
As we develop these habits: as we pray each individually, corporately, and with the leadership, we will see the church preserved and built up in the faith. We will be able to be fortified.
But now that we understand the problem and its remedy, let’s talk about the promise that is declared in this passage.
III. The promise that is declared
There is no lack of affirmations in this passage.
Verse 15 alone has three solid declarations of the efficacy of the prayer. He says “the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick (i.e. weak in faith).” And then it goes on to say, “The Lord will raise him up.” On top of this, he ads “If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.”
Then verse 16 says, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power in its working.” That’s another declaration of how effective prayer is.
Some of the original language is interesting here. The word power has the idea of forcefulness and dominance. The same word is used in Acts 19 which talks about the seven sons of Sceva and how they were trying to cast out the demon in the name of Jesus whom Paul proclaimed. You remember that the demon responds by beating the tar out of all 7 guys. It says that the demon possessed man prevailed over them. He gave them such a whooping that they were completely overpowered.
That’s the word that is used here regarding prevailing power of prayer. Through prayer our weaknesses will be completely overcome.
You’ll notice that James doesn’t stop there. In Verses 17-18 he gives the illustration of Elijah and his prayers. Now, most people put the emphasis on the fact that Elijah’s prayers had sway over the rain. He was able to shut up the heavens and cause a drought that lasted over three years.
But I’d like to suggest that James isn’t so much concerned with the clouds as he is with the power Elijah had to turn a whole nation away from their sins. The rain was just a means to an end.
There are various places in the book of Deuteronomy where God says that, if they people obeyed, they would be blessed with rain. And as a result, they would have a great harvest and their economy would boom. But if they did not obey, the Lord would withhold this rain. Elijah understood that they did not deserve the rain. So he prayed the Scripture asking that the rain would be withheld. And it was only after they turned to the Lord that he prayed that it would rain again.
So what you have here in verses 17-18 is not a green light to pray for rain when it’s hot out. It is a reminder that God will hear you when you pray for the weak and spiritually faint.
That’s what gives real punch to verses 19-20. I don’t think this is talking about doing evangelism or some extra kind of ministry. I think it is merely expressing something of the great power of prayer and the ministry of the church. If we commit ourselves to prayer and using the means that God has given us, we will see apostasy averted. The membership of a church will be preserved from falling away and falling into many other sins.