This is probably the most fascinating part of James’ letter and it talks a lot about prayer and care. Christians are required to turn to prayer whatever their circumstances. It should be a habit, an obvious requirement and this will differentiate the Christian from others.

So let us remind ourselves what prayer is. It’s a personal communication with God and it can be a prayer of request for ourselves or others; it can be a prayer of confession or adoration or of praise and thanksgiving.

Do you believe that prayer changes things? Do we forget to eat or drink? Do we forget to rest and sleep? No, but we forget to pray and we forget to say thank you. We are to pray with faith and remember that God delights in our prayers as we emphasize our loving relationship with Him.

James tells us that if we do not ask we do not get. James knows, and so should we, that there is an invitation to us to draw near to God in times of trial and testing, for there is no time when God does not invite us to be near himself. We have a God of all seasons and to pray to Him is to know that He is sufficient.

To pray to God is to know His sovereign power to meet our needs, our whole life should be angled towards God so that whatever strikes us, whether sorrow or joy, it can be deflected upwards into His presence.

Whether suffering or cheerful pray and sing songs of praise. James urges anyone who is in good spirits to sing songs of praise. This too is prayer. Think of this – if we really believe that prayer and praise change the way God acts and that God brings about remarkable changes in the world in response to prayer as scripture repeatedly tells us, then surely we would pray more than we do.

If we pray and praise little it must be because we doubt that it accomplishes much at all.

Go ahead this week, try it. Pray constantly, sing Gods praises at every opportunity. Tell the Father you love Him, ask Him to help you. God will be listening to your heart. God’s own promise is, “Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you. Whatever you ask in prayer so shall you receive.”

God will listen to your prayers. You need to be patient and prayer will enable you to be just that; and if you are happy sing praises so not only God will hear but everyone else.

So let’s give it a try.


Prayer:

Father we thank you for the gift of prayer. We thank you for the comfort and reassurance that your word gives us. For every word on every page, for the promises that bind us to you and for the revelation of your son and our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ.

We commit to you our brothers and sisters who are in pain, for those poor in spirit, for the lost and the needy, for those who are sad and those who are bereaved. Help them all we pray, comfort them, guide them, be alongside them. Heal those wounds visible and invisible, restore them.

May the words contained in Your book be imprinted on our hearts. May we live with them and by them everyday of our lives and may we be obedient to what they say. May it bring light into our darkness and may we shelter in its truth. Lord shine the torch of truth into our hearts to reignite that flame that has dimmed, send your spirit on us with streams of righteousness and living water.

Amen


James commends prayer to the individual in the many circumstances that we find and also to the community, and he encourages such prayer by underscoring the powerful effects of prayer that flow from a righteous heart. He wants to commend prayer as a great source of strength.


One circumstance that calls for prayer is the experience of being in trouble. When such an experience comes Christians need patience. They are not to grumble or moan, but to pray. Patience comes from God and prayer is an effective way to obtain it.

Sickness is another circumstance where prayer is needed and concerning it James gives detailed instructions. The sick person calls for the elders of the church and they are to pray and anoint the person with oil. Oil was one of the most common medicines during biblical times and it is clear that James is prescribing prayer and medicine. The assurance is given that prayer will make the sick person well.

In the final analysis this is what affects the healing. God uses this medicine to cure the illness. The statement the ‘Lord will raise up’ means the man will be enabled to get up from his sick bed. If it is sin that caused the illness it will be forgiven.

This suggests the possibility that because of persistence in sin God sent illness as a disciplinary agent. The conditional ‘if he has sinned’ however, makes it clear that not all sickness is the result of sin.

Christians should confess their sins to each other and pray for each other. If a person has sinned against a fellow Christian he or she should confess the sin to that person. This will no doubt result in mutual confession to each other. Then the two believers should pray for each other.

Prayer is powerful and effective and the illustration for that is given by James. Elijah, he says, was a normal person just like anyone else. He had no superhuman powers; he was by nature a man and nothing more. However, when he prayed for no rain it didn’t rain. When he prayed for the rain to return it did.

The explanation of his power in prayer is twofold. He was a righteous man and he prayed earnestly. So James assures his readers such answers to prayer are within the reach of any believer.

As for backsliders, James closing purpose is to encourage Christians to make an effort to bring the wanderer back to save him from spiritual death. To bring him back to a genuine faith in the truth is to save his soul from eternal death and covers his many sins. The wanderer’s sins will never be held against him again.

As difficult as it may be to win such a person to saving faith, the eternal results make it infinitely worthwhile.

So prayer is contacting the power – the power of God. It is the channel through which the strength and grace of God are brought to bear on the troubles, problems and ills of life.

To cure the ills of life we need to be right with God and right with men and we need to bring to bear upon them, through prayer, the mercy and the might of God.

Many people do good things because they are inspired by Jesus, care for the poor and the sick, but that does not make them followers of Jesus. Jesus Christ has done things that are impossible for any human being to do; He reconciled humanity with God by his death on the cross. He is able to forgive sins. He rose from the dead and has conquered sin and Satan. These facts are the foundation of our salvation and it is only by accepting them as true in our own lives that we become Christians. They are basic to the Christian life. Followers of Jesus may have to suffer in this world, but no sins are forgiven through their suffering, as through Jesus’ suffering.

Jesus Christ can only become a real and enduring source of inspiration for our lives, if He changes our hearts, if He becomes King in our lives. It is by the grace of God that we are changed into human beings who wish to do Gods will wholeheartedly. It is the Holy Spirit who changes us from within, so that we can live as new beings, full of love, as God intended humans to be from the beginning. By reading and studying Jesus’ words Christians will, again and again, learn new insights for their own lives and for those of fellow Christians, as well as for the living of this world.

Pray with faith and be obedient. The eyes of the Lord are upon you and His ears are open to your prayer. Never doubt your prayer, thinking that it may be in vain. Before you have finished your prayer God has heard it. Hold fast and believe that God has heard you. Bring your heart cries to your father in Heaven, allow Him to care, protect and comfort you. Give it all your strength and freshness not your weakness and fatigue. God says, “Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you. Whatever you ask in prayer so shall you receive.”

Care for your neighbour and by that I mean everyone, learn to love them, desire for them more than you have to give and pray for them.

If you do not pray and care for your neighbour how can you say you love them? Meditate on the teachings of Jesus, be thankful and do that which Jesus did.

A True Life Example:

In her book, 'The Hiding Place', Corrie Ten Boom tells of an incident during her time in Ravensbrook – a concentration camp. She and her sister Betsie were held, along with many other women, in dreadful conditions. Their sleeping quarters were overcrowded beyond belief, filthy and flea infested.

Amen

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