James on Prayer

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 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 one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
James 5:13-18


This passage is chock full of spiritual truth - and application.  Here are some things I see in here:



1.  Prayer is called for in all situations. In tough times - pray.  In good times - praise.  In sickness - pray and get prayed over!  (vs. 13,14)


2.  Praying in community.  Prayer is not a "magic potion" nor is it an attempt to persuade God to do something He doesn't want to do.  But unmistakably there is power in praying together with God's people.  Somehow God chooses to work through the prayers of the saints to release His power and work out His plan.  Perhaps part of the design of praying together is that it builds bonds among people.  Our hearts are knit together when our knees share the floor over a common concern.  And, it takes humility to share our needs with others.  And, where there is humility, God promises His grace.


3.  This passage does not preclude the use of medicine for healing.  Very likely, the use of the oil here was for medicinal purposes and is portrayed as being administered in the name of the Lord -- seeing Him as the ultimate healer.  (vs. 14)


4.  What about "the prayer of faith"?  I do not believe this means that we can "claim" a verse and declare that God owes us the answer we want.  "The prayer of faith" is one in accordance with God's will.  And faith "comes from hearing and hearing the Word of God".  Vs 15-18 show the link between prayer, God's Word, and obedience.  Not emotionally working ourselves into a certain belief.  God's answers do not depend on how much we believe - rather our belief rests on His Word.  I love that passage in the book of Mark where the father asked Jesus to heal his son.  23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out[a] and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”   (Mark 9:23,24)  This Dad desperately wants his son to be healed and declares his belief....and then in a heartfelt burst of honesty, he admits his inability to believe.  That must have been scary - he feared he was the block to the health of his son!  But when he realizes that he can't even believe on his own and turns to Jesus.  And Jesus heals the boy.  Not because of the strength of the dad's faith.....but Who his faith was in.
And Elijah didn't get his prayers answered because he was a super saint - James makes sure to remind us that he was just like you and me.  But he knew God's Word.  And he knew what God said in Deuteronomy 28 - the consequences of disobedience would be no rain.  So when he prayed for God to withhold the rain, he was doing so in accordance with what God had already declared.  And when the people repented and returned to the Lord, Elijah could proclaim God's promise of blessings for obedience...so he asked God to send the rain. 


Prayer.  It's God's means of accomplishing His will on earth.  Not our avenue to get our will done in Heaven.


Prayer.  God wants communion with us so he designed prayer as the way to connect us with Him. 

Prayer.  It's an exciting adventure to discover God's Truth in His Word and then to return it to Him in prayer.


Prayer.  It's for all times, in all situations, for all of God's people.  Not just a select few.


Prayer.  Pray now.  Without ceasing...one delightful unending conversation with the King!

Your prayers...........

and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.  Revelation 5:8


All day yesterday, Heaven was graced with an aromatic blend of your sweet prayers.  The prayers of the saints.  Your intercession for my Daddy and for my Mom and for all of us.


We thank you - each one of you - so very much!


We were committed that "all would be well with our soul" regardless of how God answered but we are so very grateful and pleased that God saw Daddy through the surgery successfully and we know He will equip him to endure the recovery.


Your calls, your texts, your FB messages were Earthly exhibitions of your Heavenly actions.  Sweet smelling incense that encouraged us, blessed us, and strengthened us.  We cannot possibly say "thank you" enough.  We are blessed.




For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.
Hebrews 6:10


May the God of grace and mercy and generosity bless you and reward you as only He can do.


Amen!
                                                           
                           

Please pray

For this week's Wednesday's Word, we are going to pause from our journey through James.  Instead of giving you God's Word, I am asking you to pray.


For my Daddy.


Today, as you are reading this, two days' past his 86th birthday, he is undergoing a nephrectomy.  The cancer that he has fought off in his bladder for 12 years has spread to one of his kidneys.  In order to continue his successful combat against this foe, the kidney has to be removed.


Please pray for him.  For my Mom.  For us all.


God is able. God is faithful.  God is good. 


All the time.


The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.   Proverbs 18:10


Thank you, friends.  I'll keep you posted.



Surviving Suffering

Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
James 5:7-12


These verses follow the admonition to the rich who are misusing their wealth, oppressing the poor.  James is addressing the persecuted and distressed...the context is suffering.


Perhaps you and I are not being exploited and oppressed as many were that read this original letter and as many are persecuted for their faith even today.  We might even feel uncomfortable putting ourselves in the same ballpark as those heroes.  But all who are committed to the cause of Christ have experienced suffering to at least some degree.  (This, by the way, is a litmus test of righteousness - if nothing in our lives causes enough of a stir to provoke at least some suffering, then we have reason to examine ourselves to see if truly we are in the faith.  But that's another post....)



Suffering is not something we are eager for.  In fact, we naturally want to alleviate it as soon as possible!  It's not "popular" theology to teach that suffering is part of God's plan for His children.  Not popular, but it's true.  As we dig into the depths of the New Testament, we see that The Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) will not be completed without suffering.  The suffering of those walking in obedience. For those times we find ourselves afflicted because our light is shining in someone's darkness, James has words of encouragement.  Here's what he says.....


1.  Be assured - God will avenge any wrong done to us.  "The coming of the Lord is at hand" and when He comes, Revelation 22:12 comforts us that Jesus says Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. 


  Because we know God is our avenger, we can accept what James exhorts us to do -


2.  Be patient.  The Greek word that James penned was not "regular old patience" like I strive to be when I am kept waiting longer than I like.  This is a stronger word with a much different application.  The word that we translate as "patient" here is "makrothumeo" which might better be rendered as "longsuffering".  It means to bear up well under suffering, especially exercising kind patience and understanding towards people...even those causing the suffering.
As though he knew we might have hard time grasping this concept, James provides 3 examples of longsuffering to help us understand --


Farmers - when you have to relay on God's grace and provision to see your crop grow, you realize that you cannot control the elements you need in order to reach your goal.  Patience and faith in waiting on the Lord to provide.
Prophets - regardless of the consequences, these men of old spoke and lived God's truth.  At great personal cost, they kept the faith.  They ran the race.  They finished the course.
Job - in the face of intense heartbreak and pain, he refused to cease from worshipping God.  He served God for Who He Is rather than what he could get from Him.


In order to be patient in the midst of oppression - to indeed suffer well, something is needful -


3.  Be strengthened.  James says we are to


Establish our hearts - The idea here is to set our hearts on Christ.  "Establish" means our hearts...our minds...our actions....are firmly fixed on following Him.
Refuse to complain - What practical counsel!  Surely in the midst of suffering, we are tempted to complain!  This would even be understandable, wouldn't it?  Yet James says no.  Don't grumble about what we are called to endure.  Instead, Acts 5:41 provides the example we are to follow - Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.
Maintain a life of integrity - More practical counsel.  When James says that our yes is to be yes and our no is to be no, he does so because For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.(Matthew 12:34)  We are to live a life of such integrity that our words contain no deceit, no duplicity and need no "propping up" by oaths but are true enough to stand on their own merit.


May our prayer be that we will indeed be counted worthy to suffer for the Name of Christ and when we do, may we remember James.  And Peter:
and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong. For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit I Peter 3:16-18




All those rich people.....

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
James 5:1-6


We're in the home stretch of our trek through James.  The last chapter.  I hope you've fallen in love with this letter as I have.  More importantly, I hope it's taken up residence in your heart and that you've embraced its Truth.


Today's passage requires some grappling with in order to embrace it....let's have a go at it....


We established many weeks ago when we started our study on this book that it is a letter written to believers.  To encourage them, to direct them, to counsel them particularly in the face of trials.  It is unclear in these six verses exactly whom James is addressing.  Perhaps he is making rhetorical statements to an absent audience, for the sake of his intended readers.  Rhetorical statements, perhaps, but warnings to be sure.


Here's what he says:


Without equivocation, James proclaims that judgment will be severe to those who misuse the wealth God has entrusted to them.  What a departure from the worldview that what we have is because we deserve it and therefore we deserve to employ it to please ourselves.
James says NO.


He issues strong caution against
1)placing trust in material wealth
No matter how secure that gold and silver and luxurious trapping seems, it cannot sustain your trust.  It will fail you.  You can't buy enough security or save enough security or display enough security to protect you because, ultimately, God controls it all.  He's just entrusting it all around to see how it's handled.  And however you handle whatever He allots you will be the evidence of your relationship to Him on the Day of Judgment.  The consequences of trusting in wealth will be devastating.  Horrific.  Damning.  And unavoidable at that point.  The time to choose where to place trust is now.....He alone can save. 


2)mistreating people for the sake of your gain
This passage takes a severe view of oppression.  As well it should!  In James's time, many Christians relied solely on their wages as day laborers .  (The same situation is also true in many places today)They were so poor that their survival depended on this daily pay.  Were it withheld from them, either from fraud or lack of opportunity, their very existence was threatened.  James proclaims that God hears the cries of those oppressed and He will avenge them.


3)excess/personal indulgence
Here, James lashes out in righteous indignation at the excessive lifestyles of the rich.  He points out the personal accountability of one living luxuriously while one nearby dies from lack.


The warning of these verses is abundantly clear.  Judgment will come based on our use of the resources God has entrusted.  He will not overlook greed and injustice and oppression.  He will avenge the poor and weak and needy.


What might not be so clear is how the message applies to us.


I mean, after all, we're not oppressing the poor or hoarding our riches or living excessively.  Gracious me, we're not even rich!!


Or are we...............


I checked numerous sources (Compassion International, UNICEF, WHO, Childinfo.org, Global Issues) just to be sure I wasn't misrepresenting or slanting the data.
Here's the conservative numbers of who's rich and who's not:


Including food and shelter -
20% of the world's population live at or below $1.25 a day
50% of the world's population live at or below $2.50 a day
80% of the world's population live at or below $10.00 a day


That's not including clothing, healthcare, or education.


I think it's safe to say my pets live better than over half the world's people.


I think it's also safe to say I am rich.  How about you?


I think I have a long way to go before my life exhibits the truth of 1 Timothy 6:8 - But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content


Soooooooo, is James talking to believers or unbelievers in the first 6 verses of chapter 5?  I don't know. 
But I do know that I am rich.
And that God has entrusted these riches to me NOT
so that
1)I can feel secure by hoarding
2)I can miss opportunities to pay people and help them
3)I can enjoy excess


Instead, I can use my wealth to store up the TRUE riches in Heaven, where I can enjoy them forever.




Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust[a] destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.Matthew 6:19-21