James on Prayer

February 13
James on Prayer
James 5: 13-18

Intro
As we continue our study in James, we’re going to hit a tough topic this morning…
Prayer-essentially exploring the question-why doesn’t God always answer prayer?
From last week-selfish prayer-this we know…what about the other times-healing, protection and safe journeys? Let’s take a look at the passage.

James 5
The Prayer of Faith
13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

From Relevant:

You know how it works. Maybe your own health is in peril, or someone you love is suffering. You know God can heal, so you pray. You pray for weeks, you pray alone and in Bible studies, you put your request on prayer chains and prayer lists.

And…Nothing happens.

You’re not alone. All of us, I suspect, have prayed for healing and not heard a response. We’re left with that eternal “why.” The usual answers—God is testing our faith, we don’t have enough faith, we have been healed, but we need to claim it—don’t ring true. Even worse, they put the responsibility (and blame) on us or the person we prayed for.

The prayer offered in faith does not refer to the faith of the sick person, but to the faith of the people praying. God heals, faith doesn’t, and all prayers are subject to God’s will. But our prayers are part of God’s healing process.

What if the issue isn’t our faith, but something else?

Abraham Lincoln quote from the Civil War
Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces; but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes.

The issue isn’t our faith, but as Lincoln points out it’s about God’s will. Specifically, what if God is doing a different thing—and it has to do with something our suffering can give to the world?

Is our suffering a sickness or strength?
Examples of people using their sickness as a strength
People we know who survive an accident, or a disability, or have a sickness
The Last Lecture guy, guy with AIDS from a blood transfusion, Nick Vujicic-Life Without Limbs

Something about our suffering says-I feel your pain
Suffering awakens empathy within us.
The Lord of life Himself gained empathy from suffering. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses,” writes the author of Hebrews (4:15), “but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are.” And what has that suffering brought us? “Mercy and … grace to help us in our time of need” (4:16).

You could argue that the best role models for people who suffer are people who have gained victory over suffering. There’s some truth in that.

We understand that God can work through our pain and suffering, but what about healing? Some get healed while others do not.

Praying for healing: yes, no, or maybe?
The yearning for wholeness is in our nature. God has asked us to cast our cares upon Him (1 Peter 5:7), and illness certainly qualifies. There’s no question about it: praying for healing is a good thing.

The fact remains, though, that at times God chooses not to heal, for reasons we rarely understand in full. If that happens to us, and we can find a way to live into it, we might be gentler with ourselves when healing doesn’t come. We might bear more patiently with our own weaknesses and pay deeper attention to the will of God for our unique situation. Who knows? God may use our condition to make the world a better place.

One thing is certain, however. Whether we are healed or not, we always, everywhere, have the sustaining presence of God to carry us when we can go no further. As Moses said (Deuteronomy 31:6), “Do not be afraid or terrified … for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

(((From Relevant:
How do we know where God's voice stops and our own voices begin?

As Christians, communication with God is a part of our daily lives. But there is a big difference between feeling like God is moving you in a particular direction and claiming he is telling you something audibly.

Wouldn't life be easy if God just opened the clouds and told us the answers to these questions every time we were stressed? But most times we don't get an audible answer. Other times we receive the answer we don't want to hear, not through a "word" but through circumstances.

When I think of someone who desperately needed an answer from God, I think of Paul. He had a mysterious thorn in his side, and he pleaded with heaven to take it away. What was the thorn? No one knows for sure. But what if it was loneliness? What if it was fear? What if it was anxiety over a big decision? And what was God's response? My Grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness.))))

So ultimately I have to answer the question Why doesn’t God answer some prayers with “I don’t know.” I’m sure that some of us want a more definitive answer, unfortunately I can’t give you one. Just know that I am in the struggle with you. I’ll end with this quote from Andrew Schwab.

Many times God doesn't give us the clear responses we seek. Why? Because in the process of wrestling with the answers to our questions we can become more like Jesus.