Thank you so much for joining us for the last lesson from James. As we now expect, the lessons from James have been very practical in dealing with the things life is made of. So many areas of life were addressed in these five chapters, and many of them deal with how we live and think daily. And this lesson may be the most practical of them all. James ends the book writing about prayer. This incredible tool gives all of us access to where we can connect and communicate with God anytime and anywhere.
You may have prayed many times today or communicated with God regularly and can’t “count” your prayers; this is good. Communicating with God is good for us, and we benefit from it. Today, Pastor J Mark will share three good things that can happen when we pray. Let’s join him for today’s teaching.
Our study from the book of James has been intensely practical. We have much to work on as we live out a “Faith That Works.” James does not suggest that we earn our salvation by works. However, he argues that if salvation is genuine, we will think differently, act differently, and look differently than the unbelievers. He also gives clear instructions on how to do it.
Our text for today, the final verses of James chapter five, deal with prayer. Prayer is a vital part of a working faith. John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim’s Progress, said, “You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.”
In our study today, James discusses “The Prayer of Faith.” I’ve taken that phrase for the title of the message. Our text is James 5:13-20.
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 church’s elders, 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. A righteous man’s effective, fervent prayer 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 He prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back,
20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover many sins.
Prayer allows us to connect with and communicate with God Himself. As we examine this text, we observe several RESULTS that follow “The Prayer of Faith.”
The First RESULT is,
Prayer Brings Comfort
Prayer brings comfort to those suffering hardship or trouble. If you believe the Bible, you accept the doctrine of God’s sovereignty. He controls the physical universe and the circumstances of our lives. Nothing comes to us without His approval or permission. Job is an undeniable example of God’s sovereignty in the affairs of men.
Since God controls the events of our lives and knows all about us, one might ask, “Why bother to pray?” Yet, James instructs us to pray in times of trouble. Prayer acknowledges that we’re not in control of the situation, which helps to eliminate pride.
Fin...
