A Study in the Book of JamesWednesday, 16 February 2011

James 5:13-20Teachings on The Prayer of Faith

Objectives of our study:To consider the application of this scripture for its

original audience and for us today.To consider how relationship with God in Christ

empowers us to pray with faith regardless of our circumstances.

To share our willingness to seek God to continuously increase our faith and our prayer life.

To explore ways we can lovingly redirect, and support, each other when we stray from the truth.

Scripture Highlights: James 5:13-20

• James instructs believers to pray in times of trouble, happiness and sickness.

• James directs believers to call upon the prayers of the elders in times of sickness.

• James further instructs believers to confess our sins to each other and pray for each so that we may be “healed” (made whole and forgiven).

• James also teaches that when we redirect someone to the truth we save him/her from sin and death.

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.

In verses 13-18 James speaks of different forms of prayer » Supplication - talking to God about our need » Praise - talking to God about Himself » Intercession - talking to God on behalf of others » Confession - talking to God about our sin

No matter how you feel - talk to God! (James 5:13)

Praying in times of trouble comes naturally for most people.

The scriptures affirm this for believersPs 34:17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.

Ps 50:14,15 Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.

However, even those who claim not to believe will call upon God in times of trouble!

Praise and thanksgiving should also come naturally for believers.

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:19)

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16)

Call upon the elders to pray for healing.

What does James say about how prayer should operate in the church?

• James posits that the “prayer of faith can resolve any human challenge whether it is physical illness, sadness, depression, trouble (legal, marital, relational, familial, vocational, financial, etc.).

• Refer to Mark 11:22-24, Mark 9:23-24, Matthew 17:20, Hebrews 11:1, Hebrews 11:6, Revelation 5:8, Jeremiah 29:12-13, John 14:13, John 15:16 and John 16:23.

Call upon the elders to pray for healing.• What is prayer?• What is faith?• What is the prayer of faith?• In the thirteenth verse, James offers prayer

and praise as spiritual disciplines to resolve personal challenges and lack of happiness.

Call upon the elders to pray for healing.• In the fourteenth verse, James instructs the

sick to summon the elders of the Church so that they may pray over them and anoint them with oil in the Name of the Lord.

• Let’s talk about praying in proxy. Should we do so?

Call upon the elders to pray for healing.• Let’s discuss the practice of anointing

with oil. What are its origins? Should we continue this practice today? What is the significance of oil? Allude to the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37.

Call upon the elders to pray for healing.• In the fifteenth verse, James declares

that the prayer offered in faith will heal the sick person. He offers the assurance that the person will be raised from his or her sick bed. Furthermore, James insists the person’s sins will be forgiven if he or she has sinned.

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Call upon the elders to pray for healing.• Is there a link between sin and sickness? • Does God use sickness to punish people for

their sins? Allude to the story of Jason Barr about his overhearing a member condemning a person in ICU because of that person’s sin.

• What is the “prayer of faith?” The community of the Church gathers to offer its collective faith in Almighty God to heal the sick person.

Call upon the elders to pray for healing.• Note the connection that James makes between

forgiveness and healing. Also, James does not distinguish between physical and emotional healing.

• The prayer of faith will also yield forgiveness of sins. Allude to 1 John 1:9.

• The sixteenth verse encourages confession of sin. “Confession is good for the soul.” Let’s discuss the practice, process and procedure of confession.

Call upon the elders to pray for healing.• I encourage believers to form accountability

partnerships. How do you choose someone with whom you can be accountable? Respect, integrity, moral and ethical behavior, humility, confidentiality and sobriety in all aspects of life, all, comprise criteria to determine whether someone possesses the requisite character to be a mentor or accountability partner.

The Prayers of the Righteous are Effective!

• The second part of the sixteenth verse declares “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

• Righteous means to be in right relationship. Righteous does not equate with religious; neither does it emerge from rituals, rites, and personal efforts to establish or quantify self-righteousness.

The Prayers of the Righteous are Effective!

• A disciple’s righteousness flows from the holiness and inherent righteousness of Almighty God as personified in the infinitely perfect, sinless and errorless life of Jesus Christ. Allude to 1 John 1:5-10, Hebrews 1:9, 4:12-16, 7:26 Colossians 1:15-20, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 1:19 and 1 Peter 2:22.

The Prayers of the Righteous are Effective!

• James alludes to Elijah as an example of righteous man who prays fervently, effectually and diligently. His prayers prevent rain for three and a half years. Afterwards, his prayers yield rain which ends a drought and famine.

Believers should lovingly reach out to those who wander from the truth.

James asserts that when a believer wanders from the truth and engages in sin (acts of omission or commission) someone should bring him/her back.

– How do we do this lovingly? – How do we do this without becoming self-righteous?– What if any responsibility do we have to help our brother

and sister grow in right relationship God after we redirect him/her to the truth?

Believers should lovingly reach out to those who wander from the truth. In the nineteenth verse, James declares the necessity of the Church caring for each other. Should a believer wander from the faith and drift aimlessly in secular society, his or her fellow believers have the responsibility to bring him or her back? They are to go after him or her and bring him or her back into the fold of Christ.

Believers should lovingly reach out to those who wander from the truth.• In rescuing a sinner, believers save him or

her from death. Allude to Romans 6:23.

• Moreover, repentance covers over a “multitude of sins.” Allude to I Peter 4:8; God’s love as shown by believers covers a multitude of sins.