Friday | James 5:13-20

James 5:13-20

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 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. 17 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. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. 19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 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.

Author Randy Alcorn once wrote that “prayer is not preparation for the battle, prayer is the battle.” One of the ways in which we can cultivate joy in the Chrsitian walk is through communion with God and the people of God, especially through the means of prayer. Often, prayer is left only to requests toward God rather than adoration, confession, and thanksgiving. 

In this final passage of James, we are left with the demonstration and significance of prayer for the Christian. In short, prayer is a means of praise and worship of Jesus Christ. One of the acronyms I use to teach our students how to pray is “ACTS” which stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. I use this tool in order to teach and demonstrate the point of prayer is not only submitting requests to God, but humbling ourselves before God (Psalm 51:16-17; Philippians 4:4-7). When we humble ourselves, we adore God for who He is and what He has done for us. Here, we realize that our depravity demands dependence of God so we confess our sin. Then we give thanksgiving to God because it is only through Christ that our sins are forgiven and we are cleansed on the account of His righteousness. Finally, with a posture of humility, we provide supplication or make our requests known to God. 

Further, in community, we pray with and for one another for the same purpose--to pursue a humble posture toward God as we encourage, exhort, and support one another. Prayer is a means of praise and worship for the Christian. 

What does your prayer life look like?