Download Audio: 5_17_2009_Sermon
On 6 August 1806, an event happened in a Massachusetts field that would literally change the history of the world. Five college students had gathered in this field in order to pray that the gospel of Jesus Christ would be carried to the people of Asia. The course of their collegiate studies had made them more aware of the peoples of Asia and their great need for the gospel, and so they gathered to pray.
As they did, a thunderstorm developed and they took refuge in the lee of a large haystack. It seems as though the breath of the Spirit of God was blowing in the prayer meeting which came to be known as The Haystack Prayer Meeting, for in the days, weeks, months, and years that followed, word continued to spread of the prayers lifted up to God on that day. From that prayer meeting, missionary zeal and passion began to flow. Each of the five young men involved in The Haystack Prayer Meeting became personally involved in missions’ efforts of various kinds. One of those students, Samuel Mills, became a great missionary leader playing a key role in establishing both the American Bible Society and the United Bible Society. He died while returning from a short term mission trip to Africa. Today, many missions’ organizations trace their history back to The Haystack Prayer Meeting.
Thus, God has been and still is answering the prayers of those five students on that day, that the people of Asia would hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and come to personal faith in Him. All of this in answer to the prayers of a small group of believers gathered with the common purpose and passion that Jesus Christ would be known and believed upon among the nations to the glory of God. Our God is mighty to answer the prayers of His people who will unite together and pray with earnestness and passion for that which will glorify His name.
One of the great praying men in church history, George Mueller, wrote, “Be encouraged, dear Christian reader, with fresh earnestness to give yourself to prayer, if you can only be sure that you ask for things which are for the glory of God.” This may raise many questions in your mind as to what is for the glory of God, but at this point please first be encouraged by the great promise of prayer God makes to us. God encourages us to pray and promises to do great things in answer to pray.
Jesus said, “ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9). A great world of joy, and discovery, and blessing awaits you when you learn to pray. Prayer is like snorkeling along the Great Barrier Reef looking for hidden treasures in a world of beauty. Great are the blessings that await you, as the people of God, when you pray. Not least of which is the knowledge that our God is with us, He hears us, He cares us about us, and He answers us.
Our Lord Jesus Christ was a magnificent man of prayer. O how the disciples must have marveled when they saw and heard Jesus praying to His Father. As a matter of fact, it was upon being with Jesus as He prayed that one of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). The prayer life of Jesus was so powerful, so mysterious, and so compelling that when the disciples saw it, they wanted to experience it.
Therefore may we ask, along with the disciples, “Lord teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). And, He does teach us to pray in the inspired words given James 5:13-18. In this section we learn to pray personally, with pastors, with the church body, and with faith. So, let us embark, together, on the great privilege of learning to pray as we consider these important words.
I. Learn to pray in a personal fashion (13).
Personal prayer is of utmost importance. You must learn to pray personally. We can see James’ emphasis on personal prayer in verse 13. Notice the phrase “let him pray.” Every believer must learn to pray and to do so in any and every circumstance. Pray when you are suffering, and pray when you are cheerful.
Thus, James agrees with Paul who exhorted us to “pray without ceasing.” Always pray. Pray, morning, noon, and night. Pray as you drive or walk up the stairs. Pray as you rise up and lay down. Whatever you do, be sure to pray. But this brings to mind one of the ever present dangers any time we think or talk about prayer.
The topic of prayer can be so often discouraging. Hearing about the prayer life of other Christians is often discouraging. Since the time I read that Martin Luther would rise at four in the morning and pray for four hours every day, I have always had a lagging sense that I am a terrible failure at prayer. Therefore, if, as we begin to think about prayer this morning, you begin to feel like you’re a failure as well, then that makes two of us. And, I suspect that there are many of us who feel this way. We want to pray, we want to grow in this way, yet we simply find the way so extremely hard.
The truth is, none of us pray as we ought. None of us pray long enough, hard enough, or sincerely enough. In many ways, one of the most important truths we must keep in mind regarding prayer is that our faith must never be in praying itself. Rather, our faith must be in the One who has always prayed for us, the perfect Prayer, our Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus lived the perfect life of prayer for us, so that God would not condemn on the basis of our failure in prayer, but would embrace us on the basis of our faith in Christ and His triumph in prayer.
Therefore, we want to be sure that we remain gospel centered in our thinking and practice of prayer. However, knowing that Jesus prayed for us and God will not love us one ounce more because of our efforts at prayer, this should not discourage us from prayer, but encourage us to prayer. We should be spurred on to prayer because of our knowledge of what God has done for us through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
James, who wrote these words, was known as such a devoted man of pray that the ancient historian Eusebius testified that “his knees grew hard like a camel’s because of his constant worship of God, kneeling and asking forgiveness for the people.” Yet, again, let that not be a discouragement to you. None of us will probably pray ever like James, but we can learn to pray; we can learn to pray with the Spirit’s help. Therefore, “let us pray.” Let each one of us pray personally and learn to do it as a way of life.
There are many, many important principles and helps to learn regarding prayer. But let’s focus on one important truth in terms of learning to pray personally. Martin Lloyd Jones, one of my favorite preachers of the 20th Century, said this about prayer, ‘Above all – and I regard this as the most important of all – always respond to every impulse to pray.’ Lloyd Jones said that the single most important practice to apply in your prayer life is “to respond to every impulse to pray.”
What he means is that it is the Holy Spirit who is prompting you to prayer, drawing you into your relationship with God, and you should never fail to heed such a prompting. Whenever you are prompted to think “I should just stop and pray now,” receive that as a prompting of the Holy Spirit and stop and do it. Just do it. Just pray. While you’re driving alone, while you’re talking with a friend about a burden, while you’re eating together as a family, make it your aim to respond to every impulse to pray. “Let each one of us pray.”
II. Learn to pray with the pastors (14-15).
But there is another level of praying that perhaps we seldom think of. Notice in verse 14-15 that we must learn to pray with the pastors of the church. There is a great deal to work through in these two verses, let’s try to take one thing at a time and understand what James is teaching us.
First, let’s clarify the word “elders.” What is an elder? James is not referring to the elderly with this word, but rather to the pastors of the churches. So, the word “elder” is a biblical word, and it refers to the office of pastor. So, pastor, elder, bishop, these are differently used to describe the same office within a local church, but perhaps different aspects of work of shepherding or overseeing the flock of God.
So, the roles that Tony, Andy, and I have may differ in terms of emphases, yet primarily we are called to engage in the same kind of ministry; it is the ministry of the word and prayer. Along with the Apostles in the book of Acts, therefore, we must affirm that “we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
And it is this unique ministry of prayer, to which the pastors are called, that James is referring to here. As pastors, we are often swamped with our many duties, and we try to focus on the ministry of the word, but we must not fail to remember the ministry of prayer, especially prayer for you, the members of the congregation.
But you, the congregation, must not forget about this important aspect of pastoral ministry that has been ordained by God for the good of your soul and body. James says that if you are sick, then you should “call upon the elders to come and pray over you.” So, never hesitate to call upon us, your pastoral staff, to come and pray over you. This is part of our calling, part of the way that God has called us to serve you, and we are glad to do. The phrase to “pray over” calls to mind the picture of literally standing over the bed of the sick person engaging in prayer for him or her, so this is literally what we do for the sick, we come and pray over you.
The word “sick” in this passage can refer to physical illness or to spiritual weakness. So, you certainly should be encouraged to call upon your pastors for prayer when you are sick. Along with the laying on of hands and anointing with oil, God may be pleased to grant a measure of faith through which He will most certainly heal you of physical disease.
This certainly can happen and must insist it does happen that God brings about healing through the faith exhibited in this kind of praying. We must acknowledge that God doesn’t always heal us of our diseases. We will all ultimately get sick and die in some way. And there is no magical oil or magical prayer that will usher in healing.
James is not referring to a public worship service in this passage. Rather, he is referring to a member calling for the elders to come to their home or to their sick bed. And while the oil could refer to a medicinal purpose in this text, I would prefer to err on the side of caution and recognize that it might very well refer to a symbolic act, and if a faithful member of our congregation requests such an act, we the pastors will most certainly do it.
But while this word, translated sick, can refer to physical illnesses, it may also refer to spiritual weakness. James, writing to Christians about various kinds of trials and suffering, may be emphasizing the importance of calling upon a pastor to come and pray over you so that you may be healed of a soul sickness rather than simply physical sickness.
Notice verse 15b. It could be that a time of confessing your sin and prayer with a pastor would cure you of your spiritual lethargy and propel you back into a pattern of spiritual growth. God may raise you up to overcome sin and embark upon spiritual growth with renewed vigor and energy. In either the instance of physical or spiritual sickness, our pastors are always ready to come and to pray over you.
I must confess to you that this whole matter of laying on hands and praying has been and still is an area of significant growth in my life. I never really witnessed a pastoral ministry that was intentional about these types of thing.
Yet, I’m reminded that our supreme model, in this regard, is Jesus who often laid His hands on the people to whom He ministered. Jesus laid His hands on people for a wide variety of reasons from physical healing to spiritual blessings. When the disciples wanted to send the children away who sought Jesus, we are told that Jesus “took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them” (Mark 10:16). The Savior was prone to touch people, to lay His hands on people, to bless people, especially the sick and the small.
Look, no pastor here is Jesus. And just as there are no magical potions for prayer, so there are no magical pastors who can guarantee healing for you. But there is a faith that we can begin to express in God that is humble enough to call upon one whom God ordained to come and to pray according to God’s word, and you can learn to pray with such faith.
It could be that after the service you want to come and ask for prayer either now or in your home later in the week, we are ready to pray over you in keeping with the word of our Lord. So, we can learn to pray personally. We can learn to pray with the pastors. But there is a final way that we must learn to pray.
III. Learn to pray with the church (16)
Notice verse 16. Now James provides the context for powerful praying in the life of the people of God. The Master would teach you to pray not only in your personal life, but with the people of God. If you hear one bird singing, it can be quite beautiful, but if you hear a hundred birds singing it can be overwhelming.
A couple of weeks ago, we actually had some weather warm enough to necessitate opening our windows at night. The cool breeze felt good blowing through the window, but Laurie and I were amazed at how loud all the Robins, and Cardinals, and Blue Jays began to sing at somewhere around five in the morning.
Learning to pray together, in the context of the local church, is something like that. Our prayers are much more powerful when joined with the prayers of our brothers and sisters.
Now, we try to model the various elements of prayer in our corporate praying on Sunday mornings, so our first prayer as we gather will be a prayer of Adoration, our next prayer will combine Confession and Thanksgiving, the pastoral prayer before the sermon will focus on Supplication. So, this is a sort of model that you can use in your personal prayer Adore God (praise Him),Thank God, Confess your sin to God, and make Supplication (intercede for your self and others).
But perhaps one of the most important ways we can learn to pray is in the context of a small group of some kind within the church. James commands us to “confess our sins to one another and to pray for one another.” One of the best ways we can do this is in the context of small groups.
The Haystack Prayer Meeting is an example of the kind of potential there is when small groups of believers gather to pray. Now, confessing sin must be done with care. Not every sin should be confessed to an entire group. The Bible can help to determine which sins should be confessed to God alone, to one’s family, to one’s small group, and to one’s entire church body. But fundamentally, every believer needs a small group to whom she can confess sin and seek prayer support for facing the trials of life.
One pastor put it this way, “A confessing and praying church is packed with spiritual power.” Now, there is much more to say and much more for us to learn about the importance and practice of small groups, but let me emphasize to you today, the urgency of building our lives together in this way.
Imagine a little girl, about seven years old, happily enjoying a dream vacation with her parents at Disneyworld. Along with thousands of other people, she is riding rides, and eating cotton candy, and overall having the time of her life with her father and mother, brothers and sisters. But somehow, by some terrible providence, she becomes separated from her family. She turns around, and they’re gone. She begins to walk and then run, before sitting down in tears realizing that she can’t find them, and she’s lost. Can you imagine the fear and vulnerability of this little girl? She’s in real danger; there are bad people in the world who could harm her. But oh, how happy she will be, when an employee comes to aid, comforts her fears, searches and finds her family, and returns her to them. She will not only be overwhelmed with joy to be reunited with her family, but she will be safe with her family.
Friends, that little girl is a picture of how desperately we need to be united with the people of God. The safety of our souls depends upon being united with the people of God. Church membership and church involvement are not optional; your soul will be in real danger if you become separated and isolated from the protection of the people. Sin and Satan are on the prowl looking for that lonely believer; ready to snatch her and carry her off, away from the family of God, indeed away from faith in Christ if possible.
As believers, we are involved in real spiritual warfare, and one of the means of God to protect you spiritually is to place you among a people who will love you and care for you spiritually. This is why it is so urgent to commit yourself to one of our small prayer groups this summer, groups in which you can confess sin and pray. Confessing sin sounds intimidating, and there is a right and wrong way to do it, but it is essential to our spiritual and protection.
James commands that it be done in this passage, and I suggest that a smaller group of friends and personal relationships is a better place for such confession to begin taking place. The object is not to shame and embarrass one another but to help one another, to love one another, to promote one another’s growth in the grace of God.
Martin Luther felt that the Christian life was unthinkable without appropriate mutual confession of sin. In his Large Catechism he wrote: “Therefore when I admonish you to confession I am admonishing you to be a Christian.” It is sin that will lead you away from Christ and away from the blessings of the gospel and some sins can only be overcome by confessing them to another, bringing them to light, forsaking, and securing the help of another person to pray against and to fight against them.
Look around you, at the people of God, the family of God. These brothers, these sisters, are the gifts of God to you, to assist you in your pursuit of God and of the holiness without which no one will see them. Commit yourself, therefore, to pray with and for them, that both your soul and theirs may be greatly enriched to the glory of God in Christ.
Jesus Himself lived out His days on earth in the context of a small group of believers. Jesus did other things, He engaged in a wide public ministry, but as He fulfilled His ministry He was united with and investing in a small group of believers. He was especially interested in praying with His group of disciples, though they had a hard time learning to do so.
Yes, Jesus would pray with disciples and teach them to pray. Even as He faced the crucifixion, He huddled in the garden of Gethsemane and urged His closest and dearest friends to pray with Him and to pray for Him, though it seems they did not understand the urgency at hand and preferred to get some sleep. And when they took Him up to crucify Him, He was separated from His group of friends, and He bore the suffering and the agony of the cross alone.
And yet, even on the cross, Jesus continued to pray to His father. He prayed for the forgiveness of sinners. He poured out the agony of His soul. He gave His spirit up to His Father. When Jesus died, the veil was split in two as a great display, that through the death of Jesus Christ communion with God the Father was opened up for sinners. Yes, every sinner, who will trust in the death of Christ as the punishment for their sin, will be ushered into the great privilege to know and to pray to the true and living God.
Prayer is possible only because Christ took our sin on the cross of Calvary. Through Christ, we have been given the greatest of all possible blessings, to know and to love and to commune with Holy God. Because of Christ, you can, at this moment, approach the living God through prayer. You can pray on your own, where you are.
You can pray with the help of a pastor, here at the front, or in the foyer, or in your home later this week. You can pray with your friends in various small groups. Spiritual power will overflow among us when we pray to the glory of God through faith in Jesus Christ. How do you need to begin to pray today, personally, with a pastor, with a small group? I urge you to do it! Bow your head in prayer, come to me in the foyer, or write your name down for one of our small groups this summer.
