Sermon Series
How to Face Our Future! – Part 15
"How to Pray about Your Problems"
Pastor Jerry
James 5:13-20
------------------------------------- Message Synopsis -------------------------------------
“Do you pray?” If so, “
How much?” James says prayer is so important! There is tremendous power in prayer. Yet, it's probably our greatest failure in the Christian life.
Today we're going to look at three aspects of prayer:
(I.) When should I pray? … (II.) What kind of person prays? …and (III.) How can I pray effectively?
- WHEN SHOULD I PRAY?
- When I am hurting emotionally.
(v13a)
"Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray." What about you today,
Do any of you have trouble? It may be financial, or relational, or stress…or anything where life gets hard. James continues the verse saying, (v13b)
"Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise." Have you noticed that life is a series of alternations between highs and lows, problems and joys? The Bible says,
"I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord." So when you're happy, you should rejoice…
But …when you're down you should pray.
- When I'm hurting physically.
(v14-15)
"Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well...If he has sinned he will be forgiven."
The word
"sick" in Greek, literally means
"without strength." It’s when you are totally wasted, fatigued, bedridden.
When you're sick, you pray.
The Scripture teaches that there are three different kinds of sickness.
(1) Sickness for death. It's covered in
1 John 5:16. That kind of sickness God allows to take us on home to be with Him.
(2) Sickness for discipline. It’s covered in
1 Corinthians 11:28- 32. Paul said, because they were abusing the Lord's Supper that was the reason some of them were sick.
(3) Sickness for the glory of God. It’s a testimony to the world.
John 11:4. Of the three kinds of sickness:
The last (3) is the kind God wants to heal.
God does heal people today, but He doesn't heal everybody.
So what does James say to do when you are sick? James says you call the spiritual leaders of your church to pray for you. (v14)
"Call for the elders of the church to pray over him …and anoint him with oil." Oil is a symbol of the Holy spirit.The results: (v15)
“... And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven." We do this in the Church of the Brethren. We pray for persons and anointed them with oil.
The third specific time to pray is…
- When I'm hurting spiritually.
(v16)
"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." Jesus taught that a lot of the sickness we experience, we bring upon ourselves. If I don't follow God's principles, my body is going to find out about it. If I don't listen to God's word where it says
"Don't be anxious about anything, but pray about everything" and I worry, fret, get anxious and I get an ulcer, then I'm to blame for it. If I allow resentment to build up in my life... doctors say it's not only what you eat but what's eating you that makes the difference ... resentment can take its toll in your life and it makes a big difference. If I don't trust God and I allow these things to come into my life there will be sin.
What's the condition for healing?
Confess. Revealing your feeling is the beginning of healing. James says
confess your sins, not broadcast them.
When should I pray? James says when I'm
hurting emotionally when I’m down
; and, when I'm
hurting physically, I call for the spiritual leaders of the church; finally, when
I'm hurting Siritually, confess and pray.
- WHO SHOULD PRAY?
Some people think you have to be a spiritual giant to pray. Many Christians feel inferior. James uses Elijah as an illustration. (v17)
"Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it wouldn't rain and it didn't rain on the land for three and a half years. He prayed again and the heavens gave rain and the earth produced its crops." I Kings 19. After this he runs to the other side of the desert and goes through a fit of depression and prays,
"God, kill me. I'm so depressed." “Elijah was a man just like us.” We have anger, fear, resentment, worry, depression, and loneliness.
The lesson of Elijah's life is you don't have to be a strong person to pray.
Prayer is for ordinary people. I Kings 18, Elijah got alone with God and humbled himself praying for rain. It says he prayed seven times. He was persistent. He would not give up. He believed God would answer his prayer.
God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things through prayer.
III. HOW CAN I PRAY EFFECTIVELY?
I want to review four conditions for praying effectively that James mentions in his book.
- I must ask. That sounds simple but in a lot of our prayers we never ask for anything. We never pray specifically. The more specific your prayers are the greater you're going to be blessed in the answer. Jam 4:2 "You do not have because you do not ask." Ask! The second conditions for praying effectively…
- I must have the right motive. (4:3) “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." If you're going to ask in prayer, make sure your motives are right. Not for selfishness but genuine reason—motives for the glory of God. The third conditions for praying effectively…
- I must have a clean life. (James 5:16) "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." If you're a Christian you are righteous. Righteousness is your standing before God when you became a believer. Psalm 66:18, David said, "If I hide … [sin] in my heart then the Lord will not hear." If I am willfully and knowingly doing something I know is displeasing to God, He will not hear. We need to have a clean life before Him. The fourth conditions for praying effectively…
- I must ask in faith. Expect an answer. (James 1:6) "But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt..." When you come to God, believe that He wants to answer your prayer. Trust Him. I talk to the Lord all the time, but I don't really have the prayer life I want to have. I want to know Him in a deeper way.
Perhaps the way James ends his book is the most important thing I can do for you today.
(v19) My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth… Is there anyone who is not following the truth of God for your life this morning? I want to pray for God to open the eyes of your heart…to see Jesus calling you to Him. James says,
“bring that person back,…” Jesus wants you back …Jesus wants to open the eyes of your heart. He wants you to surrender your life to Him.
I am going to ask you to pray this morning.
And, this may be the most important prayer you will ever pray. I want you to pray that God will open eyes of your heart; and to come before Jesus today
! I want you to come before Him and
pray to be forgiven, pray to get on the right path for your life, and
pray to receive God’s Gift of Truth that will make you new again!
