(Preached at Cross of Christ Fellowship on 8.24.25)
James 5:13-20 “Prayer and Care”
Intro: At end of our series in James, it will take a lifetime to learn and put book of James into practice
Theme of James: spiritual wholeness. This is what a mature Christian looks like and by God’s grace ought to do.
-Joy in trials; hearers and doers of the word; no partiality; faith showing itself in works; taming the tongue; wisdom from
above; repenting of sin; not boasting about tomorrow; and patience in suffering.
-TODAY: END of the letter–A call to prayer and care.
–A mature Christian is praying Christian who goes cares for those who wander astray.
OUTLINE: 1. A Call to Prayer; 2. A Call to Care
- A CALL TO PRAYER (13-18)
A mature Christian is a praying Christian.
–Before, you become a Christian: Prayer is mysterious, weird
–After you become a Christian: Prayer is experience of intimacy and dependance on God.
-NCC: Prayer is pouring out our hearts to God in praise, petition, confession of sin, and thanksgiving.
-In this section, we are instructed to pray and in the many situations of life and reminded of its power
1. INSTRUCTION TO PRAYER IN THE MANY SITUATIONS OF LIFE (13-14)
Becoming a Christian does guarantee you an easy, comfortable life
-There are great joys and great trials.
-In all circumstances a mature Christian is a praying Christian.
-Suffering: Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.
-Christian life includes suffering: sickness, frustration, disappointment, betrayal, persecution
-Our Church: Sadness of saying goodbye to the Calvehars
-Immature Christian: Instead of praying, we often complain or distract ourselves.
-Mature Christian: prays to God in the midst of suffering.
-Cheerful: Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
-We often forget to praise God for the many blessings.
-Mature Christian will sing praise God
-Sick: Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
-Bible is not against medicine and doctors (see Luke, the physician)
-We are invited to pray to God, who heals through medicine or prayer or both
–OIL: elders of the church are to anoint with oil (symbol of consecration) and pray
NOTE: “Elder” is a qualified man God calls to lead a church (Now: me, John)
QUESTION: What is your prayer life like right now? Are you quick to pray in all the situations of life?
-Or have you drifted into self-reliance and little prayer
TIM KELLER: After 50 years of ministry, biggest regret in ministry: not praying enough.
2. HELPFUL MOTIVATION FOR PRAYER: Prayer is powerful (15-18)
-Chess: Different pieces; pawns limited power; queen is very powerful
-James reminds us the great power of prayer
-Being convinced of this truth in our hearts, will lead us to pray more often.
-MAIN IDEA: “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (16b)
–RIGHTEOUS PERSON: None of us are righteous in ourselves, but is gift through gospel—2 Cor 5:21
-GREAT POWER of PRAYER: More powerful than we imagine or realize
-We are speaking to an OMNIPOTENT God! A God who hears and answers prayer!
-This is the God who invites us to prayer and get the glory as He answers prayer.
-HEALING THE SICK (15a-16a)
-God, if it is His will, heals the sick (save the one who is sick)
-Sometimes our sickness is due to sin—not always, but sometimes.
-Assurance of forgiveness for our sins (16)
–PRACTICAL: Good to confess your sins to trusted friend or spouse
–CONTRA ROMAN CATHOLICISM: We don’t need a priest
-ELIJAH’S POWERFUL PRAYER (17-18)
–1 Kings 17-18 tells of Elijah’s prophetic ministry in Israel
-Elijah “was a man with a nature like ours”àNOT a super-saint, but a believer like us.
-Prayed ‘fervently that it might not rain’àAnd it stopped raining for 3.5 years!
-Prayed againàrain came and earth bore its fruit.
SEE AGAIN from this text: Prayer is POWERFUL, and the mature Christian is called to be frequent in prayer.
–SPURGEON: powerful ministry: he credited it to the dozens who prayed for him on Sundays.
-A mature, growing Christian, is a praying Christian.
*APPLICATION: Let’s hear and respond to God’s Word by making PRAYER a PRIORITY: individually and with others.
-As you read the Bible, pause and pray…
-Set aside time to pray: (ACTS): Prayer church, leadership, lost. Start with 5 minutes, and work way up to 20-30
-Pray with each other: Monthly prayer meetings; CG; Discipleship groups; in your homes; before/after service.
- A CALL TO CARE (19-20)
Biblical description for us before we were Christians: “lover of self”, ‘lover of money,’ ‘lover of pleasure,’
-Christian: ‘lover of God,’ ‘lover of what is good’
-Becoming a Christian changes what we love: God supremely and our neighbor as ourselves
-One way we express that love is caring for those who wander from the truth.
BRING BACK THE WANDERER: My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, (19)
-“wanders from the truth”=The Bible tells us the truth about God and reality
-When we drift away from the Bible’s teaching, we drift away from the truth of God
-“Someone brings him back”=ministry of one Christian to another
-Someone turns from God in practice or doctrine, and you lovingly speak and bring them back
-Great beauty and goodness of lovingly caring for the wanderer
GOODNESS OF REPENTANCE (20)
– let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering
–Save his soul from death: spiritual death in hell.
–will cover a multitude of sins.: sins of apostacy and unbelief.
APPLICATION:
-Be a committed member of CCF who is honest with struggles
-How is someone going to bring you back from your wandering, if you nobody knows you?
-Care enough for each to reach out when you see another wandering
-It will probably be awkward to loving confront, but it is more loving to God and neighbor.
HEAR AGAIN THE GOOD NEWS OF THE GOSPEL!
-We were prayerless, self-reliant, estranged from God, and ‘lovers of self’
-Jesus came to us while we were wandering far from God and brought us back to God through his death and resurrection.
-He died for our sinful neglect of God, our proud prayerlessness, our selfishness and sin.
-If you believe in Christ, you experience this salvation and are made a child of God.
-You are set on a new course: one of joyful prayer and intimacy with God along with a sacrificial love of others
Unbeliever: this is better than you can imagine—a God who knows your every need and hears your prayer, a God you can love, a God who makes you like Jesus.
Believer: Let the truth of the gospel lead you more boldly to pray and care for the wanderer. This is who we have been saved to be—men and women who pray and seek to see others saved in the gospel.
CLOSE: A mature Christian is praying Christian who goes cares for those who wander astray.
