THE PRAYER OF FAITH – JAMES 5:13-20 Our Heavenly Father, Creator of all things and Master Teacher, we humbly come into Your presence to seek Your Holy Spirit to open our eyes to these Holy Scriptures. We earnestly pray for enlightenment as we study together, and we ask You, Father, to open our eyes to see the truths contained in these words. Open our minds to comprehend that which we are reading, and open our hearts to receive the message that You have for us. Finally, dear Father, we ask for the strength and courage to live our lives in a manner of the called, constantly giving You the glory, honor, and praise that You deserve. We pray these things in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. In my opinion, this passage of Scripture is one of the most important in all of the Word of God. James 5:13 (a) Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. What if we really believed this? What if we said, “I’m not going to speak so much or so quickly. I’m not going to hold a grudge against people even if I feel they’re afflicting me. Instead, I’m going to pray”? What a simple, workable, radical idea James presents to us. This is hard for me because I want to mix it up verbally with those who afflict me and give them a piece of my mind. But I’m wrong every time I do because our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers (Ephesians 6:12). There’s no way we can continue to justify our tendency to fault folks or to war against them with words when James clearly tells us that the only solution to oppression is to look for the Lord’s coming. In the meantime, when we’re afflicted, we’re to watch our words. Let them be yea, nay, and by all means—pray. James 5:13 (b) Is any merry? let him sing psalms. There are psalms for every occasion. That’s what’s so great about the one hundred fifty psalms in the center of our Bibles. For every occasion, for any situation, there is a psalm for us to sing. James 5:14 (a) Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him… The affliction of verse thirteen is a mental, spiritual, or emotional affliction. The responsibility of the afflicted person is to pray. But the responsibility of the person who is sick physically is to call for the elders of the church. “I was sick and none of the elders came to pray for me,” you say. Did you call for them? James says it is the responsibility, the privilege, the opportunity, the command, for the sick person to humble himself and to call for the elders. Notice the word “elders” is plural. When the sick are being prayed for, it is always to be by a group of men corporately rather than one man individually. Why? There are few things more potentially dangerous than for a person to be used in the ministry of healing because what begins as a simple desire to be used by the Lord can so easily end up in book-signings and a speaking tour. To keep this tendency in check, James says when someone is sick, a group of men is to pray so that no one man will get the credit. James 5:14 (b) …anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. What does it mean to anoint with oil? In Scripture, we see oil used symbolically, when, as an illustration of the anointing of the Holy Spirit, prophets, priests, and kings were anointed with oil before they assumed their positions of authority. We also see oil used medicinally, as in the story of the Good Samaritan who put oil on the wounds of the man left for dead (Luke 10:34). I suggest that the anointing of oil spoken of by James refers to both the symbolic and the medicinal realms. It speaks of a person saying, “I’m looking to the Lord for healing. I’m submitted to His will being done in my life; I believe in His power and presence—and I’m going to use His gift of medicine as well.” There are two streams of healing: prayer and medicine. But it’s the same God who works through both streams. Medicine does not heal. Prayer does not heal. God heals. James 5:15 (a) And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up… What is the prayer of faith? It is not prayer offered due to working up feelings emotionally or hyping a congregation into a frenzy, but as a result of responding to the Lord personally. No doubt Peter and John had passed him hundreds of times as he sat by the Gate Beautiful outside of the temple, begging for money. But one day as they walked by him, something unique happened within them that caused them to stop, look at him, and say, “Silver and gold have we none, but such as we have give we you. In the name of Jesus, rise up and walk” (see Acts 3:6). In the moment of the miraculous, Peter and John experienced faith unlike at any other time they had walked by this man previously. So, too, there will come times when you’re praying for your friends, family, or yourself when you’ll suddenly sense God at work in a unique way, and you’ll know a miracle is about to take place. But what if you don’t experience this kind of faith? Pray anyway. I’ve prayed for perhaps many sick people over the years. A few were healed immediately. Others continued in their sickness. Many weren’t healed until they got to heaven. Yet even if it doesn’t bring about the full healing we anticipate, something wonderful always happens whenever a group of people talk to the Father. It’s good for a person going through physical suffering to call for the elders of the church to pray for healing—and to continue seeking healing until he is healed. Or until, like Paul, he is at peace, knowing that God’s will is being worked out in his condition, and that even in weakness, God is made strong (2 Corinthians 12:9). James 5:15 (b) …and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Sometimes, sin brings sickness. How do I know this? Because after He healed the lame man in John five, Jesus said, “Be careful that you don’t sin lest a worse thing happen to you” (see John 5:14), implying that his paralysis was the result of a previous sin. So, too, when the four guys lowered their paralyzed buddy through a roof in the home wherein Jesus was teaching, Jesus linked the man’s paralysis to sin (Mark 2:5–11). Does this mean sin is always the reason for sickness? No. When asked whether it was his own or his parents’ sin that made a man blind, Jesus answered that neither his nor his parents’ sin was the reason (John 9:3). While sickness can indeed be a repercussion of a sin or a lifestyle, this doesn’t mean that every sickness is the result of an individual’s sin. James 5:16 (a) Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. Many of us have an obsession with confession. That is, we think that if there is any unconfessed sin in our lives, God will not hear our prayer. But I have good news for you today, for to us who understand that Jesus died for our sins past, present and future, regarding His work on the Cross, He doesn’t say, “To be continued if you confess.” No, He says, “It is finished.” James 5:16 (b)—18 The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. “Well, that knocks me out,” you say, “because I’m not Elijah; I’m not a righteous man, and I’m not an effectual, fervent pray-er.” You might be surprised.… James 5:19, 20 (a) Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death… The Greek word translated “err” is planao, from which we get our word “planet.” It literally means “heavenly wanderer” and in this context refers to one who is headed for heaven ultimately, but is wandering presently. Those who “err from the truth” may, indeed, be born again. They may, indeed, have a relationship with the Lord. But it’s distant because it lacks the connection that was there previously. What causes a person to become planao, to become spiritually spaced-out? Because at the heart of every problem lies a problem of the heart, I believe a person stops traveling with the body of Christ when a problem in his heart causes him to be uncomfortable in the presence of God’s people. Such was the case with Demas. “Demas has forsaken us,” said Paul. Why? Because “he has loved this world” (see 2 Timothy 4:10). If you asked Demas about his absence, he might have been able to justify it doctrinally, saying, “I’m having a problem with Paul’s doctrine of justification. I find it to be too grace-oriented. So now I’m just seeking God and getting instruction on my own.” Just as he did with Demas, Satan wants to see us disconnected, out in space, cut off. But James says that if we convert such a one, if we get him to turn back and get involved once again, we have actually saved him from death. What kind of death? First, we have saved him from physical death (1 John 5:16). There is a sin, in which, if a man or woman continues to persist, God will take him or her home prematurely. If a person is rebelling against the Lord and walking farther and farther away from Him, such a one is in danger of being blown out into outer darkness. So God in His mercy may say, “It’s time to take this person to heaven.” While this obviously doesn’t mean that anyone who dies before the age of ninety is out of fellowship, the Word does, indeed, declare that there is sin that will cause a person’s life to end sooner than it would have had he continued walking in fellowship. “Why should we try to convert such a one if he’s headed to heaven anyway?” you ask. The answer is that, although he will make it to heaven, he will enter in as though by fire, bankrupt spiritually, lacking the rewards that will affect his ability to enjoy heaven eternally (1 Corinthians 3:15). Second, if we convert a brother who errs, who has wandered away, we save his soul from spiritual death. Because the wages of sin is always death, as you watch people who aren’t plugged in, who aren’t walking with the Lord as closely as they once did, you see death in their lives—the death of joy, the death of purpose, the death of peace. Their eyes become dull. Their faces become drawn. They start looking sad as they trade vitality for mortality. Third, saving an erring brother from death could mean saving him from eternal death. The reason the debate has gone on for centuries concerning whether a Christian can go so far that he ends up forfeiting his salvation is because Scripture can be used to argue both sides. If this issue were cut and dried, a lot of people would drift farther and farther out in space. But because it is not, we have to realize that one’s eternal destiny is at stake. James 5:20 (b) …and shall hide a multitude of sins. The interesting thing about this phrase is that, linguistically, one can’t be sure if it’s the sins of the sinners that are covered, or those of the person who converts him. Commentators are divided on this question, yet all I know is this: Every time I talk to someone who has wandered away, every time I see the unhappiness and emptiness of his life, I find myself turning, repenting, and hating sin all over again. Conversely, like the shepherd who found the one sheep that was lost, when I am able to return to the fold someone who was lost and wandering, I experience an explosion of joy within my own heart. How are we to convert those who err, those who wander away? First, we’re to be men and women of prayer—we’re to talk to God about people. Second, we’re to be men and women who share—we’re to talk to people about God. After engaging in a real estate deal that resulted in the death of an innocent man, Ahab, king of Israel, was confronted by Elijah the prophet. “Because of what you’ve done, because the dogs have licked the blood of the man you killed, the dogs will lick your blood and the blood of all of your children,” Elijah declared. “If they die in the city, the dogs will lick their blood. If they die in the fields, the birds will peck their flesh. You crossed the line, Ahab. You went too far. And your family’s going down as a result” (see 1 Kings 21:19). The account in 1 Kings goes on to say that after Ahab heard Elijah, he rent his clothes, wore sackcloth, and walked softly, stooped over, broken. Because Ahab humbled himself, God instructed Elijah to tell him that his family wouldn’t be annihilated. So here’s the wickedest man in the history of the nation Israel, and what does God do? Because Elijah talked to him, he repented and God was able to show him mercy. Talk to the Lord about people. Then talk to people—even if they’re Ahab-like—about the Lord. Your own sin will be covered in the process—and you will save from death the soul of the one with whom you share. It’s a tall order to be involved in the restoration of a sinner who was once part of the kingdom. It’s also a great privilege. The Epistle of James ends in a most unusual, but not very surprising manner. Most New Testament Epistles end with a closing benediction. Not James. There is no closing benediction. There is no doctrinal conclusion. There is not even a prayer of intercession. In fact, in closing his book simply with a practical and pointed exhortation, it’s as though James is saying, “I’ve given to you the Word of the Lord. Now go do it.” Have a blessed day!
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 00:02:03 +0000
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