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Oct 27, 2024

Prayer Questions & Secrets

Prayer Questions & Secrets

Passage: James 5:1-18

Speaker: Matt Petty

Series: Faith in Action

Keywords: church, faith, jesus, god, sermon, christian, bible, christ, gospel, hope, sermons, holy spirit, jesus christ, lord, christianity, bible study, son of god, inspirational, faith in action, power of prayer, study the bible, prayer of faith, prayer and healing, bible teaching, christian motivation, burnt hickory worship, burnt hickory baptist church live stream, christian inspiration, transformative prayer, bible study in the book of james, christian confession and healing, christian confession and healing, how to pray faithfully, how to unlock power of prayer

When life feels uncertain, and challenges press in, where do we turn? Today’s message in our Faith in Action series explores James 5:13-18 to reveal the power of prayer—how faith-fueled prayers bring healing, forgiveness, and transformation. Through questions on prayer, faith, and confession, we discover why God listens to prayers rooted in trust and humility, and how confession opens us to His healing. We’ll explore practical ways to approach God, pursue righteousness, and commit to continual prayer, following the example of Elijah's bold faith. Are you ready to unlock the transformative power of prayer? Take your next step in your faith journey at burnthickory.com/next.

Today we are in the last of our James series. This is our 12th week. We're going to be in James chapter five, and we're going to finish up this series called Faith in Action, where our friend James is encouraging these first-century believers (and us) about how to walk out our faith. It's been such a great journey to watch James take so many of life's principles about things we face in life and point out how we as believers in Jesus can live.

So far, he talked about what a Christian has in Jesus, how we can stand in the trials, what a Christian should do with serving him, not being prejudiced, taming our tongue, what we should say and not say, and how we can use God's will and power to direct us in life. And last week, he even showed us how we can trust God with tomorrow and have patience. I love this week because he's about to take everything he has said and point out a macro principle for any believer who wants to see God move in their life.

Today is James giving us final wisdom towards how to walk out and live in faith. On top of that, today is one of the hardest texts to not get bogged down in the weeds. It’s one of the hardest texts to know exactly what's being said. So, here's what I want to do to keep us on track. Let me give it to you as a principle, and we'll spend the rest of the time working through this principle. James looks at us and says, in all the struggle, in all the pain, in persecution and sickness, and in all of the question…

The prayer of a follower of Jesus offered in faith and righteousness is powerful and effective in every situation. Bringing healing, forgiveness, and transformation. That's going to be a working thesis for the rest of this text.

James 5:13 says, is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well. The Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

This is the core teaching where James is landing this letter: we need to grab hold of the miraculous gift of prayer. My first response in reading the Word is to ask questions of the text to see where God is taking us. So, for the critical thinkers, for the skeptics, I'm going to ask some questions about the text today.

Here's the first one, what is a prayer is offered in faith? Now we just read it in verse 15. Here's what I know about most of us who are believers in Jesus. We understand that prayer is communicating with God. We understand that prayer is talking to and hearing from God, and it’s this amazing gift that God has given us. But when you throw in this phrase in verse 15, prayer offered in faith, it kind of complicates things in our minds. The phrase “prayer offered in faith” isn't a normal phrase in the Bible. Actually, this is the only time it's used. So, what does it mean to have a prayer that is offered in faith?

First, I want to tell you what it's not. Some people have taken this phrase to mean it is a prayer offered with zero doubt in it, that has this 100% assurance. Once I speak this or once I pray this, God is now on the hook and will do exactly what I am asking him to do, exactly at the moment that I'm asking him to do it. Actually, some of you grew up in faith traditions where you were taught this. If you offer this prayer to God and your heart is right, then he will absolutely do it at that moment, in the way that you just said it. Maybe even you heard it from a person who says they have a ministry of prayer or a ministry of healing. And they said, if you'll pray this just like this, then you will be healed. But if you're not healed, it's because you don't have faith. Now, I find that a little bit ironic it's always the person who is hurting who doesn’t have enough faith and not the person who has the ministry. But listen, that's beside the point. Here's what I will say: that's not biblical. It's not theologically correct and it really destroys the person who's praying.

Because number one, maybe God has another plan and a better plan. But also maybe the person who was already hurting is now hurting worse than they were before. You see, sometimes God will say, hang on a minute. I've got a better plan for you. God's power in our life is an amazing thing and you can always count on that power. But listen, what you can't count on is knowing exactly what the best thing for God to do is. Sometimes healing can come in times of prayer where we're right in the middle of the struggle and we don't necessarily have all the faith we need.

Remember Mark chapter nine, where this dad brought his son up to Jesus, who was possessed by a demon and he came up to Jesus says, Jesus, I need you to heal my son. And remember what Jesus said to him. Jesus looked at him and he says, okay, dad, do you believe? Mark 9:24, Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief. In other words, this guy looks at Jesus and he is like, yeah, I do believe, and I have faith, but I still have questions.

Have you ever been there? Jesus didn’t look at the dad and say, you don’t have faith; I'm walking away. No, Jesus healed the boy. He showed the father and the disciples what faith looked like. Because the dad was struggling, he didn't know all the answers, he didn't have everything he needed to be a super Christian. But all he knew is there was this guy named Jesus that I can call out to, and he will move in me. So obviously the prayer of faith isn't about having no doubts or Jesus never would have done that miracle.

A prayer of faith is a moment where a follower of Jesus, who is in trouble – it can be physical, mental, emotional, persecution, whatever – and they are coming before the Father that they trust and asking him to move. And what they ask for might not even be exactly what God is going to do. Don't come before God saying, God, you're going to do this. It’s God, I know that you can do this.

This is the prayer offered in faith. And I know you have the power to move in this, and I know you have the power to heal, the power to bless, the power to move, the power to resurrect the dead. And you are real, and you are powerful and you are God. And you hear me, and you love me, and you delight to move in me. I am asking you Lord Jesus to do this. That's the prayer James is talking about.

The prayer offered in faith is very simply asking God to move in you with a full belief he's listening. He is all-knowing and he can do what you are asking him to do. The prayer of faith is a prayer not necessarily in a particular outcome, but it's a prayer in the God of all the outcomes. A prayer of faith is simply coming before God saying, I don't know everything. But God, I need you to do this in my life right now. And God, whatever you do in this, I will love you and trust you, but I'm offering it up to you right now. That's the prayer offered in faith. It's not some sure outcome where if you're not faithful enough, God's not going do it. Don't ever let anybody tell you that's what it is.

The second question is this: do prayers of faith offered in faith always guarantee healing? Maybe you came from a background where this is what was taught to you. That's a great question.

James 5:15 - And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person. Well now at first glance, if my prayer is right, then I have this one hundred percent guarantee from God that he's going to do what I tell him to do, just as I prescribe him to do it at this very moment. Listen. That’s not God, and that is not how God operates.

How do I know? Anytime you read the Bible and come to a text that is difficult text to interpret, you always interpret the hard text by all the easy texts given to you. And it's exactly what you do in this case as well. This principle is repeated over and over in scripture. We see men and women of God who are faithful, that have faithful prayers, and that pray for things that don't happen. Now, either you are in a quandary, because you're looking at these people thinking they must not have been faithful. But that’s not what it is.

Take the prophets. They prayed for God to move for years, and it wasn't God's time to move. Take David for instance. He prayed for years, and it wasn't God's time to move. Take the apostle Paul in the New Testament. He prayed for specific healing. And God finally got tired of his prayer and told him, Hey Paul, quit praying that, because I'm not going do that. I have a better plan for you.

With that understanding, you can look at all those people and wonder if they are not faithful. Paul wasn't faithful or he would've gotten what he wanted. Or let's go to one more illustration. Remember Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane? Remember He said, God, if there's any other way to do this, will you let this cup pass from me? Are you trying to tell me that, because God didn’t let the cup pass from him, Jesus wasn't faithful and wasn't offering up a prayer in faith? No, that's not it at all.

When Jesus came to this earth, he self-limited his knowledge. He said I don't know the time or day in which the Father will return. He does now because he's not limited anymore. But when he was on this earth, he didn't. And actually, when he was in the garden, remember what was happening? The sin of the world was coming down onto him. And in that very moment, Jesus is looking to the Father asking if there's any other way to get me out of this situation, get me out of it. He's literally praying, God, do something else other than this. And the Father looked back at him and said, there is no other way.

Maybe God is saying, the way right here is for me to heal you, but it's not for me to heal you in the way that you're saying that you should be healed. The way for me to heal you is to resurrect you later on so that the rest of these people can be healed.

And James tells us that even sometimes when we pray with sincerity, God has a better plan in mind. That God will heal you, but you might have to wait for it. God's plan is always better than our plan. And for believers in Jesus, listen to me closely. Your prayers of healing will always be heard. It's just a question of when the healing will come.

Have you ever looked back at your life and looked at some of the absolutely silly stuff that you prayed for? And thank goodness that never happened! Can anybody say hallelujah to all high school and middle school relationships? He is saying, listen, there's a better way and I'm going to give it to you.

And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well. God does hear and God does answer absolute prayers. But also, there is a guarantee for healing for believers in Jesus that all things will be made new. The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well. That means through Jesus' death and resurrection, God will restore everything. He will make it all new, and he will set us free from all our troubles. This implies more than just physical healing. The word “well” in verse 15 is the Greek word “sozo”, which is the word salvation all throughout the gospels. You could say, in other words, that the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person saved. God will always move in those who are calling out to him for salvation and for eternity.

This leads to the third question: How does confession of sin relate to healing? Well, sin and sickness have always had this symbiotic relationship. Remember before sin entered the world: there was no sickness, pain, trouble, or persecution. But as sin entered the world, pain, shame, death, and sickness entered with it. This doesn't mean that every sickness is a direct result of sin. Jesus taught us that early on.

But some are. For ages, God has used suffering, sin, and sickness as a way to teach us and point us toward who he is. God uses these things in our lives as launching points for us to come to know him. James said that if we confess our sin, no matter the reason for the trouble, and no matter the reason for the sickness, it does two things. It opens the door for God's presence to be in my life. And it invites God to move in me. When I confess something to someone else, I'm literally lowering my pride and I'm asking for support. The same is true when I'm asking for God to move in me. If we keep these things inside, we will always continue to suffer. I’m not telling you to confess your sin to everyone. I’m not telling you to get in a box somewhere with a guy who can tell me I'm now forgiven of my sin. But there's actually the command for us to seek mature believers out, “elders” if you would, to ask them to help us process the sins in our life. To confess them means we're realizing something is happening in me and I need God's help, and I need somebody else's help so that they can come around me and pray.

Here's the principle: Confession starts the healing because it lowers my pride, admitting I need help from God and others, and it invites God to move in me. Let me be honest. For some of you, you've been praying for something for years, but God has not answered, because there's unconfessed sin in your life. He is waiting on you to confess it, to have someone else pray over you. You are forgiven. But confession starts the healing and God's power in your life.

Question number four: what does anointing oil have to do with any of this? Stay with me. In verse 14, James says, go get the elders. Go get the mature believers. Go get those who have been gifted in prayer to pray for you. Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. We don't talk a lot about this but let me work through what I think the text is saying here. Some would say the oil is nothing more than a medical practice of the day. In the first century, oil was used as an antiseptic. It was used as something that gave relief from muscle pain. Remember in the parable that Good Samaritan, the guy was beaten up. He was broken, he was cut up. The good Samaritan comes along, he puts him in a hotel, cleans them up, and oils his wounds. That's literally the same word that it says in James.

James doesn’t say go to the doctor but go call the elders and allow them to anoint you with oil. Looking at the whole context of the Bible, if there’s a special anointing, a special presence of God, or a special movement of God, the Bible says that we can be anointed with oil. As David became king, he was anointed with oil. As the priests became God’s set-apart people, they were anointed with oil. The oil was poured over the Passover lamb’s head as a symbol that the Holy Spirit was moving.

So, when James says we should anoint with oil, on the one hand, yes we should seek the best medical care possible. But on the other side, let's anoint them. Let me be clear: this is not a requirement to see God move in your life. Now, that's all the questions. Hallelujah. Let's get to the text.

Look at verse 16. He says, therefore, with all that in mind, confess your sins to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again, he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

James is saying, that in the middle of your hurt, in the middle of your pain, in the middle of your trouble, in the middle of your persecution, in the middle of your family dynamics, prayer is the key that connects God's power with your soul. The prayers of the righteous availeth much. They're powerful. And prayer is the means by which God does his work on the earth.

James gives us Elijah as an illustration. You’re going to have to do some homework and read up on Elijah. There is too much for me to cover here. But he stood when nobody else stood. He absolutely claimed the promise of God that God would withhold the rain over Israel when they walked away from him. And for three and a half years a drought came on. All because this guy prayed. And after three and a half years, this guy prayed, and rain came back to the earth. The point is that we need to pray like Elijah prays. He prays for God to move, and God moves. You may say, well he was a prophet and I’m not, so he was special. So, look at verse 17. James says Elijah was a human being, even as we are.

Elijah's just like you, and you can do this.

If prayer is the key that unlocks God's power, how should we pray? Let me give you three quick secrets to powerful prayer and then we're going to practice what James preaches right here. Number one, you need to know Jesus personally. This letter was written to believers in Jesus who had surrendered their hearts to Jesus. I can't tell you how many times somebody comes into my office looking for prayer or looking for spiritual guidance and will say, I have prayed for years for God to do this thing, and he has not done it., I feel like my prayers are hitting the ceiling. And my first response every single time is this: Tell me about your relationship with Jesus. Listen, the first secret to prayer is to know Jesus personally. Do you know that God is under no obligation to move on the prayers of non-believers? You may think that's kind of harsh. But it would be harsher if the offer wasn't still there for them to accept him as Lord and Savior. But it's there. And he always hears the cry of salvation from every single soul that is on this planet. So, let me ask you this: do you know him as your king and as your savior?

Here's the second secret to powerful prayer: pursue righteousness. It’s a constant and visible right standing before God and chasing after God's will. The moment we give our life to Jesus, we are imputed. That's a big word for God, putting his righteousness in you. You are given the righteousness of Jesus. But on this side, you are called to surrender your will, your heart, and your life to him. That means when we come to him in prayer, and we're a person that maybe in 1987 at VBS says that we gave our life to him, but we haven't connected to him and we haven't walked in him, and we haven't moved in him since that day or for a long season in our lives, it means that God might not put his power in you at that moment to do what you're asking him to do. In fact, he says very clearly that the prayer of the righteous person is powerful and effective.

There's no doubt that God heard the prayer of Elijah. Because he was a true follower of God. And there's no doubt that God heard the prayer of Elijah because Elijah was faithful. Not only was Elijah faithful, but Elijah was faithful when nobody else in all of Israel was faithful. So, let me ask you, are you seen as a person who is faithful to the will and the promises of God? Are you faithful in your workplace when nobody else is faithful? Are you faithful in your school students when nobody else is faithful? Are you faithful in your family when nobody else is faithful? Are you faithful in your friend group when nobody else is faithful? If you want your prayers answered, walk in faithfulness.

Psalm says, come and here, all of you who fear God, and let me tell you what he's done for me. I cried out to him (that's a prayer) I cried out to him with my mouth. His praise was on my tongue. Do you see the connection between this and James? That's exactly what he just said. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would've not listened. But God has surely listened and has heard my prayer, praise be to God who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love for me. James and David are clearly saying that unconfessed sin, and lives that are not pointing towards the righteousness of God, are roadblocks to God's power moving in me.

I’m not saying you can lose your salvation. But I'm saying if you want your prayers heard if you want God to move in your life, and if you want God to absolutely step in when you're crying out to him, you need to be submitted to him. Two things here: Number one, have you fully given your life to Jesus? And secondly, are you fully surrendered to him right now? If you're not, God is under no obligation to move in your prayers. I know this seems harsh. But it’s not, because if you're hearing me say this, you can take care of it right now. The grace of God is there for you now, either to turn your life to Jesus for the first time or to turn your life back to Jesus to experience his power in your life.

You can actually acknowledge your sin right now and fully surrender to God right now. Because the prayer of the righteous person is powerful. Did you know the prophets of the Old Testament had this weird relationship with the Holy Spirit, that sometimes it was with them and sometimes it wasn't with them, but as a believer in Jesus, post-resurrection, the Holy Spirit has been sealed in your life, and he is with you every step of the way.

He has given to you, and he is sealed in you. And on top of that, Jesus, the perfectly righteous king is now on your team, is at the right hand of the Father, and he is praying over you. So, when you don't feel like praying, confess to God your sins. When you don't feel like praying, confess to God how you feel when you don't feel like praying. Turn to Jesus's power and know the one who is righteous enough and is always heard by the Father is standing and praying on your behalf as a follower of Jesus.

The number one secret is to know him personally. Number two is to pursue righteousness. And here's the third one: keep praying. Just keep praying. When you feel like praying, pray. When you feel like it's hard to pray, pray. When you feel like you've prayed enough, keep praying some more. When you feel like it's impossible to pray, pray even more.

Elijah was a human being, even as we are. And he prayed earnestly. Now, if we had another hour, I could fully explain what that he prayed earnestly means. But we don't. It literally means that he pray-prayed. He double prayed, he kept praying, he prayed, and he stayed. He continued to pray. He was committed to prayer. He was steadfast in prayer.

In fact, if you read this story of Elijah this week, you'll see that at the end of this drought, of three and a half years, he goes up on the mountain. He takes this little servant with him, and he begins to pray that God will send rain. He prayed and prayed and prayed it. He sent his servant to check and see if it rained, but it didn’t. So, he prayed some more. He sent his little servant for the second time to see if God was going to send rain. He didn't send it seven times, y'all. On the seventh time, this poor little servant went out and looked over the valley. And finally, God began to send the cloud over the valley coming to them. And God sent the rain. God sent the rain on the seventh time. God moves on persistent prayer. It's not enough to pray once and walk away. Keep praying. You pray till God moves, or you pray till God, Apostle-Paul’s you and says, quit praying about it. So many of us stop praying in the 11th hour when it's the 12th hour that God wants to move. Keep praying.

As we close, I want to ask today, how are your prayers? How's your prayers? What trouble, what sickness, what issue is happening right now that you need to say, God, I need you to move in this. Or better yet, what have you stopped praying that you need to keep praying about? Every single one of us falls into one of those categories.

Here’s the invitation: Number one, if you need to trust Jesus as your Savior and Lord, if you need him to forgive you your sins and come into your life as your savior and Lord, come let us know. Maybe today you need to confess a sin that you have never confessed out loud.  Maybe today you need to confess something that has been holding back the power of God from moving in your prayers. Maybe today you're looking for God to do something extra special in your life, and you are calling out as almost the last resort to God in this moment. Maybe today you want somebody to anoint you with oil. Maybe you need somebody to pray for you today. I don't know what you have going on, but I do know we all have something going on. In these next couple of minutes, God, I pray this becomes a house of prayer. Thank you, Lord. Thank you. Thank you for hearing us and moving in us and being ours. In your name we pray, amen.

Follow Along with the Message

 

PRINCIPLE: The prayer of a faithful follower of Jesus, offered in faith and righteousness, is powerful and effective in  situation, bringing healing, forgiveness, and transformation.

James 5:13–16
Questions

1. What is a “prayer  in faith?”

Mark 9:24

The prayer offered in faith is asking God to move in you with a full belief that: He is listening, He is all knowing, and that He can  what you are asking.

2. Do “prayers offered in faith” always  healing?

James 5:15

3. How does  of sin relate to healing.

PRINCIPLE: Confession  the healing, because it lowers our pride, is admitting you need help from God and others, and invites God in to move.

4. What does this anointing  have to do with any of this?

James 5:14
James 5:16–18
James 5:17
3 Secrets to Powerful Prayer

1.  Jesus personally.

2. Pursue  .

James 5:16
Psalm 66:16–20

3. Keep  .

James 5:17
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Additional Notes

 

 

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