James series – “The Litmus Test for life”

James 5:15-18

¹⁵ Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. ¹⁷ Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! ¹⁸ Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.

After seeing the passion of the petitioner next, we see the:

• Piety of the Petitioner – “Righteous person”

We need to consider the character of the petitioner. James reminds us that the prayers that receive answers are from “a righteous person.” One who because they totally trust God live their life according to His Word and doing what is right. 1 Peter 3:12 says, “The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil.” Many prayers go unanswered because the petitioners pray without faith. 

• Power of passionate prayer – “has great power” no rain for 3½ years

The power was not in the person who prayed or even in the lack of rain or the provision of rain. Those were a display of power but no the source. The power was in the One in whom Elijah prayed to, God. The false prophets prayed but their prayers we rooted in religion not in a relationship with Jesus. But what is the purpose of the power, to point people to God. It’s about God’s glory not ours.

• The Promise to the Petitioner – “produces wonderful results” – 

James concludes his instruction on prayer by affirming that this type of prayer “produces wonderful results. It is the same greek word that Paul uses in (Philippians 4:13), “I can do (ischuo) all things through Christ which strengthens me.” It’s here that we see the produce of prayer, the dry dusting ground received the life giving rain and producing a harvest. God rained down blessing, on all, a righteous person prays prayers that serve more than just self. But prayers that bring blessing to those around them. Elijah prayed a corporate prayer and God gave a corporate answer. So how do you handle your personal affliction? Do you see it as an opportunity to focus in only on yourself and your wants and needs? Or do you see it as an opportunity to pray that God be glorified in your affliction? As part of a body of believers, how do we see the affliction of one of our members? Do we see it only as their problem, or do we see it as a call to prayer?  Do we see their affliction only as an interruption to the easy life that God’s supposed to give us? Like some sort of inconvenience? Or do we see it for what it can be. Do we see affliction the way that Elijah did? Do we see it as a way that God’s glory can be magnified through our lives, individually and corporately?  God gave us each other because we need each other. We need each other just like one part of our human body needs the other parts. We need each other for accountability. And we need each other for prayer. And when we do those things, all the false prophets of the world will fall before us. Why? Because when we hold each other accountable and pray for each other, God is glorified. The name of Jesus is lifted up before a watching world. Sometimes suffering is the result of sin and sometimes it’s a gift that lets us give glory to God. There is nothing more powerful than a saint shining for Jesus in the midst of suffering.