Who here loves to study the bible? Who here likes to dig into the word and figure out what God is trying to communicate to us? Who here wants to know God’s Truth?
Well today we are going to be doing a bible study. We are going to dig a little deeper than what seems to be on the surface of our text today. I hope this is an exciting morning for us that we may get to learn some truths that you have never thought about before.
This is why we do what we do, first we want to learn about God’s truth and second our desire here at the Rock is for you to fall in love with God’s word and make it a priority in your life above everything else in your life. It is how we build our relationship with Christ our Lord. Sometimes it is going to take some work but the reward of our studies is so amazing. So we learn and then we apply what we learn to our lives and as James has taught us we become Doers of the word not just hearers. God blows my mind with His Word.
Here are a few questions for you.
What is the proper response when my boss at work treats me unfairly and causes suffering in my life? What is the proper response when I am struggling with spiritual weakness in my life? What is the proper response when it seems I just can’t stop that one sin I continue to struggle with in my life? It is prayer gentlemen it is getting on our knees and seeking after the Lord. We are to pray as individuals when we are suffering and going through hardships. We seek after the elders to pray for us when we are weary and worn out. We are to pray for one another when we are in sin.
You may believe your prayers are not effective but as we will learn today they are very effective and there is great power in our prayers.
Please open your Bibles to James 5 and let’s read from verse 13-18 and see what God has to say about prayer.
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.
14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;
15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.
18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.
[Pray]
As we are winding up the book of James it is good to remember the theme of James is about living out ones faith. And this theme continues as we are coming to a close in James. We see the word pray, prayer and prayed used 7 times in these 6 verses. Part of living out our faith is trusting in the power of prayer. By faith we believe God listens to our petitions. It is why we pray because with trust that God will answer our prayers.
We come and pray every Wednesday morning because we believe God answers our prayers. James is encouraging us to pray, to pray in faith and God will answer our prayers. Maybe the answer is not what you expect but God will answer with your very best interest.
Well todays passage has a challenge in it. There are many biblical scholars who believe James is encouraging us to pray for sick believers to be healed. That is people who are physically sick. Other biblical scholars believe it can only mean a spiritual healing. They believe James is encouraging believers to pray for spiritual restoration. It could mean one or it could mean the other or maybe it could be both? It is definitely a possibility.
We even see Jesus in His ministry here on earth physically healing individuals all across Jerusalem. Everywhere He went we see people being physically healed of their infirmities. Can Jesus heal us physically even today? Of course we believe that, and it doesn’t even have to be a miraculous healing but He has provided knowledge to Dr. to heal us or medicines to heal us. We believe Jesus can heal the physically sick 2000 years ago and all through the centuries up to this very day.
But here is my question to you. Do you think the focus of Jesus’ ministry is more concerned about the physical healing of individuals or is His primary focus on spiritual healing. Did He come down to earth to physically heal us or did He come down to spiritually heal me of my biggest problem here on earth. Can anyone tell me what is the biggest problem I have? Bob Thompson would say it is my hair, Anthony Terrones would say it is my singing abilities, My wife would say my loud mouth. But what does God say my biggest problem is? It is my sin. This is the sickness I have, this is my disease. The Psalmist even tells me I was even born with it. This is the disease that can kill my body and soul. Jesus came to save me and you from the sickness called sin.
So why did Jesus physically heal people? His primary purpose was to prove that He could also heal them spiritually. We see the perfect example of this in Matthew chapter 9 where the paralytic is healed. Do you remember the story? The paralytic is brought by his friends, and Jesus sees them and Jesus seeing their FAITH tells the paralytic your sins are forgiven and Jesus turns and walks away? No He doesn’t He is going to prove to all the people who were watching that He does have the power to forgive people of their sins or as I said earlier to heal us of our greatest sickness which is sin. Jesus is surrounded by the Jewish scribes and Jesus knows the heart of the men who are watching this whole thing and says why are you thinking evil in your hearts. Which is easier to forgive this mans sins or to say get up and walk. He turns to the paralytic and says get up, pick up your bed and go home. Jesus first healed this man spiritually by what means? Through his faith. He didn’t need to heal him physically except for a single reason. To prove that He can also heal him spiritually. And this is what I believe James is telling us today.
Here is the big idea. Why does James tell us to pray? Because we all need prayer for our spiritual healing. This is James primary focus in verse 13-20. This is what he is encouraging us to do. If we are in spiritual suffering, then pray, if you are spiritually weak, then pray, if you are in sin then pray.
First and foremost God wants us spiritually well that is why James is exhorting us to pray. Maybe God in his graciousness will physically heal us to demonstrate who He is but then again maybe that is not His will to physically heal us but to only spiritually heal us.
Lets take a really quick refresh in what we have learned from Bill Morris in the last two weeks. In James 5:1-6 we see James warning the rich how they are condemned because they have misused their riches and have taken advantage of the laborers. Then in verse 7-11 God is asking for the bretheren who have been taken advantage of to be patient. Be patient, God is going to set everything right when He comes back and He is returning soon to set all things right. James goes on to exhort them to not to complain against one another so you are not judged like the rich with the wrong heart. But instead be willing to suffer be willing to endure like the prophets of old. He tells them you know what happened to Job. He endured and we saw the outcome of the Lord’s dealings with him, the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful. The Lord will work all things out in the end.
And now we finally come to our passage today in verse 13. James asks a question. Are any of you suffering. Are any of you suffering because there is hardship in your life? Are you enduring afflictions against you? James tells us the solution to the suffering caused by evil treatment is seeking God’s comfort through prayer. It is prayer that comforts us in our time of need. It is when we need God the most. Does James tells us we Should pray? NO he tells us we MUST pray!
But what if everything is going great? If you have a cheerful heart you are not suffering with anything then do what as well. Sing praise to God. Which is just another form of prayer to God. Whether you are suffering or everything is going great we need to be praying or praising God. We are to communicate with our creator in the times of struggle and in the times of great joy. We MUST pray.
Now we come to verse 14 and we need to dig a little deeper to understand this scripture in its proper context of what James is trying to communicate to us. Remember where we are in this passage, he has just told us about the rich who are persecuting us, he warns us not to complain against our brothers, he exhorts us to be truthful, he is warning us not to be in sin, not to be in judgement, he tells us we may have to endure like Job did.
He then asks us a question - Is anyone among you sick?
This is kind of strange question why does seem he is shifting gears here. Lets dig.
If we look up sick here in the Greek it is the word astheneo which means to be weak in this context. James is asking are you weak in what you are dealing with, are you struggling with the persecutions that are coming against you? Are you spiritual defeated? Then what MUST we do? Another commandment.
Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him,
Have the spiritual leaders pray for your weakness in what you are dealing with whether it is persecution against you or your own struggling spiritual condition. It says to have them come and pray and anoint you with oil. This is not some sort of ceremonial anointing but it is actually meaning to rub with oil. Why did people rub oil on someone, it was how they would heal wounds in James day. Do your remember the parable of the good samaritan? He rubbed oil on the mans wounds and it is the same language being used here. James is telling us, if we are struggling then call upon the Elders of the church to come and support you, to encourage you, comfort you. Metaphorically the elders are anointing the weak and defeated with oil to encourage them, and to strengthen them.
The blessed result of the comfort and ministry of intercessory prayer of the elders is revealed in Verse 15.
and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick
Again we need to look at two words in their original language to understand what James is saying. First, the word sick here is the Greek word kamno which is only used in one other location in the New Testament and that is in Hebrews 12:3 and refers to those those who are weary spiritually. No where in the New Testament does this mean someone who is physically sick. But a person who is enduring the hardships and hostility of those who come against a believer. The second word we need to look at is restore which is sozo and communicates the idea restoration and commonly is translated as save. Here is the idea of this passage, the elders’ prayers will deliver weak, defeated believers from their spiritual weakness and restore them to spiritual wholeness. We know this power does not come from the elders but it is the power of God who restores an individual.
James continues to tell us if the spiritually weak believer has committed sins, they will be forgiven him, this tells us as well that James is probably not speaking about physical healing here because we know all sickness is not due to someones sin. Now God could allow someone to become sick due to their sins however do you remember the blind man who was healed by Jesus. Before Jesus healed him his disciples asked Jesus was it his sin or his parents sin that caused him to be blind? Jesus responded and said neither but this man was born blind to glorify God. We know that our sins can only be forgiven when we as individuals pray to God for forgiveness. An elder cannot pray for me, and my sins are forgiven. So the idea here is that the elders can encourage us to confess, to help us discern our sins and join their prayers for forgiveness of our sins. I think about the individuals even in this room who have been prayed over by us and the elders of this church. (Daniel asked permission) 1 John 1:9 Tells us that If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When we pray He is faithful to forgiveness of our sins and restores us to our creator. (He restored Daniel)
Now we come to verse 16 and we see a transition take place with word therefore.
Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.
James turns his thoughts from those who are spiritually defeated and need of assistance from the elders to the rest of us. He exhorts us to confess our sins to one another and to pray for one another for healing. Obviously we are to first confess them to God first then to our friends. Again we want to look at the greek word for healed. We pray for each other for what kind of healing? The word healed in the Greek is iaomai. This is more than just a physical healing but is related to a supernatural event, a spiritual healing. Peter uses this term in 1 Peter 2:24 describing the healing from sin Christ purchased for believers on the cross. It is all about restoration to God, to turn from our sins and turn to God. Again this is not a suggestion but a command for us to do.
James is encouraging us to confess our sins so our secret sins don’t remain private because they can drag us down spiritually. We know the consequences of unrepented sin. They can be devastating in our lives. God knows your sin, He wants us to turn from them and one of the best way is to confess them with your brothers and have them pray for you. If one of my brothers is struggling with a sin I can help hold him accountable to it. I am able to pray for him and encourage him with his walk with Christ. It is about spiritual restoration.
And then in the last part of verse 15 through 18 James drives the point home with his example of Elijah.
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.
18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.
It is so important for us to understand why James choose Elijah. here as an example of righteous man who prayed and it did not rain for 3.5 years. What is James wanting us to know about this prayer by Elijah. These are the things in scripture that amaze me. God is so, so consistent. If James was focused on physical healing through prayer in all these previous passages it would be a very strange illustration that James used as proof for physical healing. So why does he use Elijah.
Well the back drop is that Ahab was the king of Israel and he was one of the most evil kings that Israel ever had. God warned the people of Israel if they turned from God to serve other gods he would cause a drought. We see from our passage in James that Elijah had prayed for this drought and God answered it. What god had the israelites and Ahab turn to back then? It was the god of baal, he was the god of the rains and fertility. Guess what? He was an impotent god. And our God proved that by not sending rain to the israelites for 3.5 years.
Elijah prayed this prayer for what reason? So they israelites would turn from Baal to the True and Living God. That they would turn from their sins and turn back to God. God wanted spiritual healing for the nation of Israel. He wanted restoration for His people to turn back to Him from the god of baal.
Elijah was a righteous man and his prayers were very effective. But guess what he just a normal one of us. James tells us that he had a nature like ours. If Elijah can pray and have the rains stopped for 3 years do you think our prayers of turning from sin can be accomplished. Do you think our prayers of spiritual restoration will be heard by God? Well he does listen because after 3.5 years Elijah prayed for rain to return and the dry parched land was restored.
If you are struggling and suffering spiritually, pray, if you are so weak that you need the help of the elders then call them, to pray, if you are in sin pray that God would help you overcome it. He wants to restore you and you have the key that will unlock the door for you. PRAYER.
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