Believers are to be patient in the midst of injustice. Believers need to endure, trust in God through their trials, and refuse to try to get even for wrongs committed against them. But patience does not mean inaction. There was work to be done—serving God, caring for one another, and proclaiming the Good News. There is an end point, a time when patience will no longer be needed—the Lord’s return. At that time, everything will be made right. The early church lived in constant expectation of Christ’s return, and so should we. Because we don’t know when Christ will return to bring justice and remove oppression, we must wait with patience.Instead of being like rich people who have “fattened” their hearts on the wealth of this world, believers are to allow the assurance of Christ’s return to help them be patient and take courage. Whatever the circumstances, James encourages us to be rock solid in our faith and to have a faith-inspired joy that permeates every part of life. Like the farmer, we invest a long time in our future hope. The farmer is at the mercy of the weather—it is outside his control. But we do know that the coming of the Lord is near.
Believers, facing persecution from the outside and problems on the inside, may naturally find themselves grumbling and criticizing one another. James doesn’t want them to be filled with resentment and bitterness toward each other—that would only destroy the unity they so desperately need. Refusing to grumble about each other is part of what it means to be patient. Grumbling against one another indicates a careless attitude of speech. Because of the dangers created by our speech, we cannot afford to be lax in the way we speak to and about each other.
James closes his letter as he began it, with a call to prayer. There are many responses to suffering. Some of us worry; some of us vow revenge against those who have caused the suffering; some of us let anger burn inside us. Some grumble. But James says the correct response to suffering is to keep on praying about it. This is not necessarily a prayer for deliverance from the trouble, but for the patience and strength to endure it.
The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results because the person who is praying is righteous. The person is not sinless, but he or she has confessed known sins to God and is completely committed to him and trying to do his will. Again, we can say that the righteous people get what they want in prayer because they want what God wants.
The Christian’s most powerful resource is communication with God through prayer. It is the instrument of healing and forgiveness and is a mighty weapon for spiritual warfare. The results are often greater than we thought were possible. Some people see prayer as a last resort, to be tried when all else fails. Our priorities are the reverse of God’s. Prayer should come first. God is pleased to use our prayers to accomplish his purposes and he delights in answering our needs, but he is never bound by our prayers. God’s power is infinitely greater than ours, so it only makes sense to rely on it—especially because God encourages us to do so.
James reminds of the prayers of Elijah. His story is found in 1 Kings 17:1–18:46. Elijah had great power in prayer. A drought came as a sign to evil King Ahab of Israel that the idol Baal did not have power over the rain, God did. And when Elijah prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for the next three and a half years. Then he prayed for rain, and down it poured.
James uses Old Testament people to illustrate each of his major themes:
Perseverance is exemplified by Job (5:11). Effective prayer is exemplified by Elijah (5:17-18).
These lives are important to us. They are examples to be followed. When we choose all our models from contemporary people, we may eventually be disappointed by their failures. Other generations of believers cannot let us down. They made their mistakes, persevered, and are now testimonies that life can be lived for God.
SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)
When should I pray? James says you can pray whenever you've got a need -- a physical need, an emotional need, a material need. No matter what it is you ought to pray. WHO CAN PRAY?
Some people think you have to be a spiritual giant to pray and get those kinds of answers. "I could never pray and see somebody healed" or "I could never pray and see a financial miracle". Many Christians feel inferior. James uses Elijah as an illustration. "Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it wouldn't rain and it didn't rain on the land for three and a half years. He prayed again and the heavens gave rain and the earth produced its crops." I Kings 19.
This is after the big god contest on Mt. Carmel. He runs to the other side of the desert and goes through a fit of depression and prays, "God, kill me. I'm so depressed." He wasn't afraid of 400 prophets of Baal but he runs from a woman named Jezebel. In that passage -- the first 10 verses -- Elijah demonstrated fear, resentment, guilt, anger, loneliness and worry. Now you know why it says, “Elijah was a man just like us.” We have anger, fear, resentment, worry, loneliness.
The lesson of Elijah's life is you don't have to be perfect to pray. You don't have to be perfect to see answers to your prayers. It's for ordinary people. I Kings 18, Elijah got alone with God and humbled himself praying for rain. It says he prayed seven times. He was persistent. He would not give up. One day a little cloud formed in the sky and he said, “It's going to be a gusher!” The rains came and flooded the place.
God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things through prayer.HOW CAN I PRAY EFFECTIVELY?
I want to review four conditions for praying effectively that James mentions in his book.
#1. I must ask. That sounds simple but in a lot of our prayers we never ask for anything. We say "Thank you for..." and "Bless..." and that's it. We never pray specifically. The more specific your prayers are the greater you're going to be blessed in the answer.
James 4:2 says, "You do not have because you do not ask." Be specific. Throw away all your cliches. I love to hear new Christians pray because they don't know all the language, and they're so honest. It's refreshing.
#2. Have the right motive. "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." If you're going to ask in prayer, make sure your motives are right. Not for selfishness but for a genuine reason -- the glory of God.
#3. Have a Clean life. "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." Righteousness is your standing before God when you became a believer. It has nothing to do with your perfection. If God only answered the prayers of perfect people, how many prayers would get answered? None. But God does want us to have a clean life. In Psalm 66:18, David said, "If I hide [regard, conceal] iniquity [sin] in my heart then the Lord will not hear."
If I am willfully and knowingly doing something I know is displeasing to God and say, "God, I'm going to continue doing this but, by the way, help me out." It's like saying "Dad, will you loan me the keys to the car, but I'm never going to do a single thing you ask." We need to have a clean life before Him. Proverbs 28:9 says, "He that turneth his back from the hearing of the law, even his prayers are an abomination." Isaiah 59:2 says, "Your sins have separated you between you. Your God has hid His face so He cannot hear."
#4. Ask in faith. Expect an answer. James 1:6 says, "But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt..." When you come to God, believe that He wants to answer your prayer. Trust Him. Don't doubt. Really believe.
How important is your prayer life to you? I struggle with this more than any other area in my life -- this area of being consistent in prayer. I talk to the Lord all the time, but I don't really have the prayer life I want to have. I'm never satisfied with it. I want to know Him in a deeper way. I want our church to be a miracle. I want it only to be explained by the fact that God did it. I want our church to be an embarrassment to the devil. I want people to look at our church and say, "Only God could have done that." Would you join me in this prayer?
Lord, draw people to COV this morning. Speak to their hearts, change their lives. I love you Lord. Protect Sharon and Katie in Alabama this week.
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