Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one
another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great
power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed
fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not
rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth
bore its fruit. My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and
someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from
his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
(James 5:16-20 ESV)
This isn't the first time in the book of James that we've read about prayer. In chapter 4, he talked about how our prayers are nonexistent and/or selfish and that's why they seem to go unanswered. In yesterday's passage, James talked about some specific types of prayer requests.
In these last few verses of the book of James, he continues yesterday's discussion of printer. I like for 16 in the New American Standard, it says, "the effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."
What does he mean by effective prayers? First that word can also mean continued prayers. So it may not happen as soon as you pray, it may take time! So don't give up. Also in Matthew 17:20 Jesus tells us if we even had the tiniest amount of faith, we could do great things.
What does he mean by a righteous man? A righteous person is someone whose desires are in line with God's desires. Remember, those verses in chapter 4 were all about asking with proper motives.
So what James is saying is if we are seeking to love, honor, and serve God and pray with faith that He will do the things we are asking, it will happen.
James then gives us an example of this. I don't know how much you remember about Elijah, you can read about him in 1 and 2 Kings. He was a prophet of God who showed great faith at times and also hid in fear. He was the guy who challenged the prophets of Baal and miraculously helped the widow have enough flour and oil to provide for her and her son. James says he was a guy just like us – he didn't have special powers. He was a normal guy who struggled and sinned in his attempts to love, honor and serve God, just like we do. And when he prayed for a drought, there was a drought. And then when he prayed for rain, it rained.
Through our prayers, we have access to the same powerful God that Elijah did.
This isn't the first time in the book of James that we've read about prayer. In chapter 4, he talked about how our prayers are nonexistent and/or selfish and that's why they seem to go unanswered. In yesterday's passage, James talked about some specific types of prayer requests.
In these last few verses of the book of James, he continues yesterday's discussion of printer. I like for 16 in the New American Standard, it says, "the effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."
What does he mean by effective prayers? First that word can also mean continued prayers. So it may not happen as soon as you pray, it may take time! So don't give up. Also in Matthew 17:20 Jesus tells us if we even had the tiniest amount of faith, we could do great things.
What does he mean by a righteous man? A righteous person is someone whose desires are in line with God's desires. Remember, those verses in chapter 4 were all about asking with proper motives.
So what James is saying is if we are seeking to love, honor, and serve God and pray with faith that He will do the things we are asking, it will happen.
James then gives us an example of this. I don't know how much you remember about Elijah, you can read about him in 1 and 2 Kings. He was a prophet of God who showed great faith at times and also hid in fear. He was the guy who challenged the prophets of Baal and miraculously helped the widow have enough flour and oil to provide for her and her son. James says he was a guy just like us – he didn't have special powers. He was a normal guy who struggled and sinned in his attempts to love, honor and serve God, just like we do. And when he prayed for a drought, there was a drought. And then when he prayed for rain, it rained.
Through our prayers, we have access to the same powerful God that Elijah did.
Pray continually. Pray unselfishly. Pray for others. Pray for spiritual growth
and things God desires too. Pray with faith. Pray with confidence that God
desires to answer your prayers.
Questions:
1) Do you pray often – continually? Daily? Weekly? Monthly? Ever?
2) How does your prayer life (or lack thereof) show what you believe about God?
3) What can you do to make sure that the things you were praying for our things that God desires and not just selfish things?
4) Take some time to journal about this passage, and more specifically about a time that you saw God answer a prayer that you may have been praying about for a long time.
Questions:
1) Do you pray often – continually? Daily? Weekly? Monthly? Ever?
2) How does your prayer life (or lack thereof) show what you believe about God?
3) What can you do to make sure that the things you were praying for our things that God desires and not just selfish things?
4) Take some time to journal about this passage, and more specifically about a time that you saw God answer a prayer that you may have been praying about for a long time.
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