Effective Prayer “Real Life” [James] Series [25] James 5:15-18

PRAYER: THE KEY THAT UNLOCKS ALL THE STOREHOUSES OF GOD Prayer is the key that unlocks all the storehouses of God’s infinite grace and power. All that God is, and all that God has, is at the disposal of prayer. R. A. Torrey If that’s really true, what hinders us from praying?  Difficulty: “It is too difficult to pray.”  Obscurity: “We just don’t know how to pray.”  Doubt: “Does God really hear my prayers?”  Discouragement: “My prayers don’t get any results.”

WHAT DOES EFFECTIVE PRAYER REQUIRE FROM US? 1)Effective prayer requires us to pray with FAITH—with confidence in God’s promise and conviction of God’s will. 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. (v.15)  Whose faith is this? Not of the sick but of those who pray for the sick (the sick may not even pray for himself).

3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven" "I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home." 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all. Mark 2:3-5, 11-12a

WHAT DOES EFFECTIVE PRAYER REQUIRE FROM US? 1)Effective prayer requires us to pray with FAITH—with confidence in God’s promise and conviction of God’s will. 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. (v.15)  Whose faith is this? Not of the sick but of those who pray for the sick (the sick may not even pray for himself).  Is healing always God’s will? No, sometimes God chooses not to heal in his sovereign grace and purpose (2 Cor 12).  Faith in what? It is a faith of twofold conviction: (1) that it is God’s will to heal this person and (2) that God will certainly answer the prayer by healing the sick.

14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. 1 John 5:14-15

WHAT DOES EFFECTIVE PRAYER REQUIRE FROM US? 1)Effective prayer requires us to pray with FAITH—with confidence in God’s promise and conviction of God’s will. 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. (v.15)  Whose faith is this? Not of the sick but of those who pray for the sick (the sick may not even pray for himself).  Is healing always God’s will? No, sometimes God chooses not to heal in his sovereign grace and purpose (2 Cor 12).  Faith in what? It is a faith of twofold conviction: (1) that it is God’s will to heal this person and (2) that God will certainly answer the prayer by healing the sick.  The answer of prayer may include the spiritual healing as well as the physical healing.

WHAT DOES EFFECTIVE PRAYER REQUIRE FROM US? 2)Effective prayer requires us to pray with COMMUNAL UNITY—with mutual confession and intercession. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. (v.16a)  The truths about sickness: (1) all sicknesses are a result of SIN [the fall]; (2) but a person’s sickness is not necessarily a result of his or her personal sin.  Why confess sins to one another? So that we may experience relational reconciliation and harmony.  Why pray for one another? So that we may practice communal care.  Hence, prayer becomes effective when we experience communal unity as the body of Christ through mutual confession and intercession.

23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23-24 Sin demands to have a man by himself. It withdraws him from the community. The more isolated a person is, the more destructive will be the power of sin over him. Dietrich Bonhoeffer

WHAT DOES EFFECTIVE PRAYER REQUIRE FROM US? 3)Effective prayer requires us to pray in RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD—with utter dependence in God’s grace for our righteousness in Christ. 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. (vs.16b-18 )  Who is a righteous person? One who abides in God’s grace and mercy—having received Christ’s righteousness as his.  A righteous person lives in intimate relationship with God, being utterly dependent on God’s grace and mercy.  We are to pray like Elijah by praying humbly, fervently, and persistently.

Coupling the Powers of Heaven to Our Helplessness The work of prayer is prerequisite to all other work in the Kingdom of God for the simple reason that it is by prayer that we couple the powers of Heaven to our helplessness, the powers which can turn water into wine and remove mountains in our own life and the lives of others, the powers which can awaken those who sleep in sin and raise up the dead, the powers which can capture strongholds and make the impossible possible. - O. Hallesby

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR OUR EVERYDAY LIFE 1.Don’t GIVE UP—keep praying!  Remember that “The more helpless you are, the better you are fitted to pray” (O. Hallesby).  Let the Spirit teach you how to pray. 2. Pray IN RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with God and in your spiritual community.  Receive God’s forgiveness and cleansing for your righteousness through faith each day.  Live by utter dependence in God’s grace and righteousness. 3.Pray WITH FAITH IN GOD—fervently and persistently.  Pray fervently believing that God hears your prayers.  Pray persistently believing that God’s answer is on the way.