Sermon Text: James 5: 13-16
The Prayer of Faith
13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.
15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.
16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Morning Message
Last week we talked about true faith. We said that you must believe in God and in his Son Jesus Christ, not just believe that they exist. This morning as we focus on prayer and healing it is important for us to see how these two messages connect. We must first believe in and have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior in order for prayer to make a difference. I talk to unsaved people all the time who claim to be people who pray. If you do not know Jesus your prayers have no entry point. We must first have our sins forgiven and accept the way, the truth, and the life, before God will hear our prayers. Jesus is the only way to God. If you say that to the world they will look at you and say, that’s not fair, why would God only make one way? My reply to that is: Why would He make a way at all? In this world where everything has got to be equal and, heaven forbid, anyone be slighted by the truth, the attitude is that God isn’t fair enough, God should make it easier, why should we be put out in order to come to God? When I say it out loud, doesn’t it sound silly and selfish? Jesus died for the forgiveness of our sins and all the world can say is: Give me more.
Once we come to Jesus, we have a direct line to God. It can be as easy as hitting a button on your cell phone and talking to each other. Maybe you would rather text, just write it down or type it up, and God will see it, if that’s your intention. How many of you have, at one time or another, found yourself in a dead zone? You know, a place where your calls or texts don’t go through, or at least not as quickly as you are accustomed to. That can also be a problem in our prayer life. Un-confessed sin in our lives puts us in a dead zone when we try to communicate with God. Have you ever gotten angry at your cell phone? Stupid phone keeps telling me, message failed, try again. So I try again, and wait and wait and once again, message failed. We do the same thing in prayer. We know, at times, that we are not completely right with God, but we try to just throw our prayers up to Him anyhow and hope for the best. Then when our prayers aren’t answered we get frustrated with God. Now let’s just take a moment and look at this from God’s point of view. I can hear God saying, silly human, why are you upset with me. Living with un-confessed sin in your life puts you in a dead zone with God. God will never dwell with sin.
We have all of these wonderful promises from God in scripture. We are promised help if we are in trouble; we are given opportunity to celebrate with praises before God when we are happy; we are given exact directions on what to do if anyone is sick. It says to call the Elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. Now don’t miss the process to a good connection and a positive result to our prayers. A prayer offered in what? In faith, only by someone who has faith, will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. Now listen carefully, if they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore, do what? Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. We really need to get this. Too many of us Christians walk around defeated and feeling like we have no hope and no power in this world. The truth is, we have as much power over our circumstances in life as we will take in the name of Jesus. We relinquish our power, our God given power to un-confessed sin and a lack of faith. Listen to what God says to us, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” Its right here, in God’s Word, step by step directions for powerful prayer that God will hear and answer.
In Christ’s Love and Peace
Pastor Bob
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