Scripture:
James 5:13-16 ESV
[13] Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. [14] Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, 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 one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. [16] Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
Observation:
I was struggling over what to write about this morning. After a little prayer, this came to me ironically enough. James is another one of those short books that may take about 20 minutes to read through. But it’s packed full of information about how to live for Jesus. From watching what you say and how you speak to anger issues, how you treat those who may be considered less fortunate… all the way to your prayer life and how you deal with situations that arise. James starts out this portion of scripture with a question that he already had a solution for…is anyone suffering? Let him pray. The next 2 or 3 statements are of the same stature… James already knew the answer. That is to the throne room of GOD. In verse 14, we see him kind of switch gears a little bit, but not to the extent that it changes the answer to how we are supposed to deal with our situations. Involving the church elders when sickness arises, allowing them to lay hands on those who are sick, anointing them with oil, and bringing them to the throne room. James says something very important to pay attention to in verse 15… “And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the LORD will rise him up. And if he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.” HE quickly moves on to probably one of the most valuable things that I have come across in the bible. Verse 16 is a Dimond. James knows how the enemy works. He has given us a weapon against that… confession, I have to clarify something here the word for healed in this verse, if you chase it back to the original context, refers to a spiritual healing or a reconnecting. There is so much value in praying for each other. The final statement made is another key point. “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”
Application:
I think I need to start at the end and work my way back to where we started. I want more than anything for my prayers to be answered… I’m sure most of us would have the same desire. So the question would be this… how do you become a righteous person? Well, the answer might be a little easier than you might think. A relationship with Christ. When you give your life to Jesus Christ, HIS righteousness is credited to you. So if you are reading this and you have established a relationship with HIM. You are a righteous person. I think it’s important, though, to back up a little bit to the confession part of this verse. Being made righteous by the blood of Christ Jesus, I believe it’s important to keep the air clear at the same time. The enemy loves guilt shame and fear. When we fall for his bait, the very next thing he does is tell us that we will never make it. We can’t kill our flesh, who are we to think that we have that kind of authority? Well, we are the righteousness of Christ Jesus, that’s who. That’s why confession is so important. When we mess up, we fess up, and our relationship with the Father continues. The enemy is crafty. He will do whatever it takes to destroy your testimony or make you look like a fool. Bringing everything to the Father, we give you strength and confidence that you may have never experienced in your life. In the book is all the answers to every prayer you will ever bring to the throne room. James really confirmed what Paul said in the Philippines 4:6-7. Be anxious about nothing but in everything through prayer and petition, make your request known to GOD, and the peace of GOD will guard your heart in Christ Jesus. My point is this if we steadily place everything in our lives at GOD’s feet, then HE has complete control over every situation in our lives. Pray continually do not allow the enemy’s lies to determine your path once your prayers are lifted up, take your hands off the situation, and place them in the book where your answers will be found. If you have something in your life that you know is wrong, find someone you can trust and tell them. Listen, this is something the enemy will fight you against. He will lie to you in so many ways it’s not even funny. But you can not continue to live in guilt shame and fear. Who the son sets free is free indeed. Do you want to know what the power of sin is… well, here is my answer GUILT, SHAME, AND FEAR. It all started in the garden. Adam felt guilt that brought shame to his nakedness, so out of fear, he hid from GOD. Fasten the belt of truth tightly. Keep your side of the street clean. Do what you say and say what you do. I want my prayers to be answered… we all do. I don’t want sin in my life. I want my house to honor GOD in everything we do. Even if that means confession and repentance. My desire is to abide in HIM so that HE will abide in me. My heart is HIS, period. After HE is the one who gave HIS life for me.
Prayer:
Father, we sit here knowing that you see all. You know our every move. We are hiding nothing from you. We do not want to live in guilt shame and fear. We want to be healed from our mental physical and spiritual sickness. So we live our lives up to you. Help us. If there is something that keeps us in the dark, please show us so we can get back on track. We want you. We want your ways we want complete healing. This life does not belong to us. Reveal what is hidden from us. We trust you. It’s in the mighty name of Jesus I pray amen