The Prayer of Faith

James 5:13-20

Thank you so much for joining us for the last lesson from James. As we now expect, the lessons from James have been very practical in dealing with the things life is made of. So many areas of life were addressed in these five chapters, and many of them deal with how we live and think daily. And this lesson may be the most practical of them all. James ends the book writing about prayer. This incredible tool gives all of us access to where we can connect and communicate with God anytime and anywhere.  

You may have prayed many times today or communicated with God regularly and can’t “count” your prayers; this is good. Communicating with God is good for us, and we benefit from it. Today, Pastor J Mark will share three good things that can happen when we pray. Let’s join him for today’s teaching.  

Our study from the book of James has been intensely practical. We have much to work on as we live out a “Faith That Works.” James does not suggest that we earn our salvation by works. However, he argues that if salvation is genuine, we will think differently, act differently, and look differently than the unbelievers. He also gives clear instructions on how to do it. 

Our text for today, the final verses of James chapter five, deal with prayer. Prayer is a vital part of a working faith. John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim’s Progress, said, “You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.”  

In our study today, James discusses “The Prayer of Faith.” I’ve taken that phrase for the title of the message. Our text is James 5:13-20.  

¹³Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 

¹⁴Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the church’s elders, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 

¹⁵And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 

¹⁶ Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. A righteous man’s effective, fervent prayer avails much. 

¹⁷Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 

 ¹⁸He prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. 

¹⁹Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, 

²⁰let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover many sins. 

Prayer allows us to connect with and communicate with God Himself. As we examine this text, we observe several RESULTS that follow “The Prayer of Faith.” 

The First RESULT is, 

Prayer Brings Comfort 

Prayer brings comfort to those suffering hardship or trouble. If you believe the Bible, you accept the doctrine of God’s sovereignty. He controls the physical universe and the circumstances of our lives. Nothing comes to us without His approval or permission. Job is an undeniable example of God’s sovereignty in the affairs of men. 

Since God controls the events of our lives and knows all about us, one might ask, “Why bother to pray?” Yet, James instructs us to pray in times of trouble. Prayer acknowledges that we’re not in control of the situation, which helps to eliminate pride.  

Finding ourselves in a position where we can do nothing is often a motivation to evaluate our lives. Many people have thanked God for an experience that put them flat on their backs and gave them time to pray and seek God’s face.  During that time, significant life changes occurred.  

Prayer also gives us access to God’s resources. Hebrews 4:15 and 16 tell us that we have a representative, Jesus Christ, who has suffered everything we have suffered. Yet in all His sufferings, He did not sin. Because of that, we are invited to come confidently to His throne.  

In addition, prayer comforts those who are physically ill. James instructs those who are sick to call for the elders of the church. Do the prayers of the elders carry special weight with God? They are not better than the church members or even more spiritual. However, the Scriptures clearly show how God works through divinely established authority structures.  

Involving the elders highlights the often-ignored spiritual dimensions of physical sickness. I am not saying that all illness is a result of personal sin. Jesus’ disciples made that mistake in John chapter nine. And Jesus promptly told them that this man’s blindness was not a result of anyone’s sin. However, James notes this possibility by saying, “…and IF he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” There are physical consequences to both the sins of the body and the spirit.  

In our praying, we must acknowledge the possibility that God will not heal the sick one. While that fact is not explicitly stated in this text, we must keep the larger context of Scripture in view. Even in the event of death, there is comfort in prayer as we are reminded of the blessedness of those who die in the Lord.  

The prayer of faith also assures us that we are pure before God. The Holy Spirit is faithful and will confirm our good relationship with God. But, if there’s sin in our lives, a prayer of repentance brings rejoicing as we experience cleansing by the blood of Christ and the restoration of peace in our spirits. Experiencing the unconditional love of the Father is a tremendous comfort.  

The prayer of faith comforts us in our spiritual, emotional, and physical afflictions.  

The Second RESULT is, 

Prayer Brings Strength 

In verse 16, James exhorts us to confess our faults and pray for each other. “Confess… and pray… that you may be healed.” Can we infer from this statement that healing depends on our confession and prayers? Confessing our faults [our sins] to each other and praying for each other brings the brotherhood’s strength and comfort along with the Lord’s blessing. The healing can be both physical and spiritual.  

I sincerely appreciate the brothers and sisters God has given to me in our local congregation. I greatly enjoy and benefit from our times of worship and fellowship together. And yet I have told them, “If in a week, I must miss a service, I would rather miss a Sunday service than our mid-week prayer meeting.” Do you know why I feel that way? I know my brothers are praying for me, and they aren’t going to take my confessions and use them against me. There is great strength in united prayer.  

During World War II, Hitler ordered all religious groups to unite so that he could control them. Half of the Brethren assemblies complied, and half refused. When the war was over, feelings of bitterness ran deep between the groups.  

Finally, they decided that the situation had to be resolved. Leaders from each group met at a quiet retreat. Each person examined their heart for several days in the light of Christ’s commands. Then they came together.  

As they confessed their hostility and bitterness to God and yielded to His control, the Holy Spirit created a spirit of unity among them. Love filled their hearts and dissolved their hatred. They confessed their faults, prayed for each other, and were healed.  

James caps off verse sixteen with this declaration; “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” To illustrate his statement, he points us to Elijah’s life. We often see the patriarchs, the prophets, and even the apostles as super-saints. But James reminds us that Elijah was a man who had feelings and desires just like we do.  

If you read through the account of Elijah’s life, he had ups and downs. Because of the wickedness of King Ahab, God instructed Elijah to pray earnestly that it would not rain; it didn’t rain for three and a half years! Then, after his showdown with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, he prayed again, and God sent rain. What a marvelous answer to prayer, what a tremendous victory for the God of heaven. But the next scene finds Elijah huddled in a cave in fear for his life because of the threats of wicked queen Jezebel.  

The active, earnest supplication of a person in right standing with God has incredible power. There is nothing that can stand against it. Mary, Queen of Scotland, said of the Scottish Protestant Reformer, John Knox, “I fear [his] prayers more than an army of ten thousand men.” Prayer brings strength. 

The Final RESULT is, 

Prayer Brings Repentance 

Several times in this epistle, we’re reminded of our tendency to revert to our sinful lifestyle. This issue surfaces again in the last verses of our text. James reminds us that within our hearts are desires that can easily lead us astray. He also shows how we can guard against that. 

I see a connection back to verse sixteen. As we walk in unity with our brothers and sisters in the Lord, we will see when one of them is getting off-track. Or they will be able to see when we are drifting. There is a need for mutual accountability. Faithful prayers and loving confrontations are a necessary part of our local congregations. 

As a leader in the early church, James saw the need for Christians to pray for each other. He said that if anyone goes astray from the path of truth, and someone comes after you, turns you around, and brings you back, be assured they have done you an excellent service. That one rescues a soul from death and hides a multitude of sins.  

Often, when someone walks away from God, they’ve been deceived. They do not see clearly where the road they are on is taking them. And if Satan has his way, they will never see it until it’s too late. But if you faithfully pray for them, you lovingly come alongside them and say, “Brother, do you realize where the road you’re on is taking you?” Through your prayers and concern, God can use you to bring them to repentance.  

You may rescue them not only from spiritual death but from physical and emotional death, too. This is particularly true of sexual sins, which have devastating spiritual, emotional, and physical consequences. And they have a far-reaching impact on relationships.  

Not only is this person rescued from destruction, but many sins they would have committed are now covered. They’re not going to take place. They have repented. Now, they’re walking again in obedience to God’s Word and finding joy and blessing in that obedience.  

The prayer of faith is a powerful tool in securing a faith that works. Let’s exercise that prayer of faith right now as we recommit ourselves to faithfully living for the Lord.  

Thank you, J Mark, for this encouraging teaching on the results of prayer. All are good things that I want more of in my life. Comfort, strength, and repentance may each be found in growing measures in your life. You know the only thing limiting our prayers is me. For myself, I get busy or become distracted, and my prayer life suffers. So many things are vying for my time and attention; I must protect my prayer life and keep it healthy. Your struggles are similar wherever you are, and our encouragement is to fight for them, pray more, and pray fervently.  

Thanks a lot for being with us today. Please let us know if you want to contact us for any reason or to hear our other teaching from James. You can email us at [email protected], visit our website at heraldsofhope.org, or write to us at Hope for Today, Box 3, Breezewood, PA 15533. Hopefully, we will hear from you soon.

*This episode is an exposition by J. Otis Yoder, re-recorded by J. Mark Horst, with an opening and closing by Arlin Horst.