Jim's Sermon for September 28, 2008

James 5:13-20
The Prayer of Faith
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. [1] 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. 19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.


“Pray!”
We live in uncertain times! Hurricanes bring wind and flood damage, trucks hit school buses, cell phones and iPods overheat and burn up in your pocket. Think of the all changes that we have seen in the last 30 years: The internet and cell phones have changed the way we send receive information, news about any event is received almost instantly. We don’t have to wait for the Monday morning paper to see the new top 25 rankings anymore. The political upheaval we have seen, like the fall of communism and the present resurgence of communism. We’ve seen “Bush-to-Clinton-to-Bush” and almost another Clinton. Medical developments right out of science fiction have been made in Stem cell research, and cloning. The economy is on a roller coaster ride. There’s nothing left to eat that’s safe, except liver and okra! Where do we hide or what should we do?

Some just say, “Just hang tough, get what you can, and be yourself. You’ll get by.” Some preachers say, “just send me $500, I’ll send you a prayer cloth, and soon you’ll be rich.” Some would say, “Here, have another drink and don’t worry about all that!” James tells us that the answers to many of life’s questions are found in prayer; specifically in faithful prayer. The book of James has practical instruction for us as individuals, and as a church body.

Have you heard the old story of the famous acrobat, who attracted a huge crowd to watch him walk a tightrope across Niagara Falls. He nimbly and skillfully passed over the waters below, suspended by a thin line and, without a safety net!

“Bravo” yelled the crowd. The performer spoke to the onlookers, “How many believe I could do this carrying someone on my shoulders?” All hands shot up; “We believe, we believe.” “Who would like to be first?” The crowd went silent.

What does it look like when a church family is ready to pray with faith? Suffering, cheerful or sick; takes in just about all of it the bad times and the good. A dear friend once told me, “I never say amen because I always have so much to pray about.” Praying constantly involves being intentional. There must be something of a decision to organize your life around the things of God. There must be a readiness to respond to the leading of God. If not, you’re like that crowd that went silent. Without intentionally linking yourself to God through prayer, you will be lost and unanchored; like a leaf blown by the wind. Intentional prayer links us to God constantly, allowing His will to direct the outcome of things. It means that we relinquish control and put our trust in God. We all need to pray and experience the fullness of our relationship with God. We would be much the poorer to leave the development of our prayer life either to those times when we hit our thumbs with hammers, or when tragedy strikes. Though these times are times for prayer too, an ever deepening relationship with God demands a more sustained approach.

That’s hard, isn’t it? Actually, in the long run, it’s the easiest way, because it’s God’s way, and Jesus tells us that his yoke is easy, and that his burden is light. Constant prayer is not a burden it’s the joy of being close to the Lord.

Part of being in constant prayer is lifting others up to God. James writes, “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him”. I believe that as a church we’ve got that one down. There was a cartoon where an elderly woman is standing at the church door talking to the pastor. Her remark, as she hands a thick manila folder to him, “My doctor copied my chart, complete with medicines and prognosis…just copy it into the prayer list, please.”

We pray for the sick constantly here. But, while we’re praying that our loved ones get better physically, we should not forget the other needs, emotional healing, spiritual healing, and relationships. James writes in verse 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.”

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. We are to confess our faults and be repentant. To repent means, in a literal sense, to turn around. It means a complete change of attitude and a complete change of actions. That’s when we get real help when we repent and ask God to give us a clean slate and then we offer that clean slate back to Him, so He can write our new future.

Intercession and reconciliation are the ministries of the body of Christ. Abraham was the beginning of the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people. They were to intercede, bring God’s message to the world. The church is the “new Israel,” and our calling is the same; we are to present the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world. Intercession is standing in the gap for the lost, the sick, and the needy.

A farmer in Charlotte, NC in 1934 had spent a good deal of time battling a stubborn farm during the Great Depression. Raising a family was tough work then as it is now. The Depression had spread spiritual apathy in the city. But, when asked, the farmer lent out one of his pasture fields to some business leaders for a day of prayer.

A man named Vernon Patterson lead the prayer: “O Lord, raise up from Charlotte someone to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth.”

Those businessmen erected a “tabernacle” of pine beams in the city. For the next eleven weeks an evangelist by the name of Mordecai Ham shattered the complacency of churchgoing Charlotte.

The farmer who lent his pasture for the original prayer meeting was named Franklin Graham. During the revival, Franklin’s young son, Billy, responded to Christ, and committed his life. These days we call him Dr. Graham. Only eternity will reveal how many souls were touched beginning with one farmer willing to let go of a field for a while, and one businessman willing to pray with faith.

Today as we are gathered as the body of Christ, we are charged to pray for one another and for our world. We are not just Presbyterians; we are part of something larger. Karl Barth said “To clasp hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.” We are called to be world changers and to have the faith that through Christ things can be different. A life of prayer is not only our calling and duty, but it is the way to nurture our relationship with God, drawing us ever closer to Him. With God ruling our lives, all things will be possible for us and for our world.