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James 5:12–20 (ESV)
12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation. 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.
There are loads and loads of superstitions in sports. For example, Serena Williams would not change her socks once during a tournament. Michael Jordan would always wear his UNC shorts under his Chicago Bulls shorts. In NASCAR, shelled peanuts are considered bad luck and are almost never sold at events. Baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs always ate a chicken before games. Baseball pitcher Turk Wendell would brush his teeth in between innings. Wayne Gretzky would put baby power on his hockey stick and wouldn’t let any other sticks touch his.
The list goes on and on and it’s not just limited to sports, I’m sure that you’ve encountered several superstitions in day to day life: not walking under a ladder, not crossing the path of a black cat, tossing spilled salt over your shoulder just before you knock on wood of course.
To folks who don’t know Jesus, prayer can look like a superstition as well. In their eyes, it appears that we’re offering up words to something or someone unknown, hoping that somehow, someway, it will make a difference.
But we know that prayer isn’t an offering to the unknown, it’s to the Lord, revealed in Scripture, and revealed in the Word become flesh, in Jesus the resurrected Son.
So it makes sense that at the end of his letter, James centers everything on a call to patient prayer. As we pray, we submit ourselves to the Lord, we trust the Lord with the subjects of our prayer, and we draw near to the Lord. The promise, as James has already mentioned in 4:7-8, is that the Lord will draw near to us.
James calls us to pray in all circumstances, in suffering or celebration, or in sickness or in sin. And by the way, anointing with oil is not some magical action, nor is it an act meant to conjure up the presence of the Lord. It is simply an act done in faith, through God’s representatives, the elders of the church, as a sign, recognizing that God longs to heal people and any healing is due to His power rather than any human effort.
For the Christian, prayer is the place where physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual healing takes place. For the sinner, prayer is the place where forgiveness flourishes and reconciliation to the Lord and others abounds.
The person who prays, “Stands with one foot in the place of trouble, sickness and sin and with the other foot in the place of healing, forgiveness and hope. Prayer then brings the latter to bear on the former.—N.T. Wright
Prayer is powerful, and we are called to patiently endure in prayer in hope and trust in the Lord (there is patience piece again—remember 5:7-11?). James’ call to prayer makes it clear that the Lord is at work in and through our prayers. Prayer then, is not only a work that shows our faith, it is our inheritance and our opportunity for the Lord to work through us for those who are struggling, for those broken and lost, for those who have wandered, and for the world.
I’ve never known someone, saint or sinner, who was unwilling to have me pray for them.
Let the Lord speak to and through you in prayer. Who is it that the Lord wants you to hold up in patient prayer?
God bless you, and know that you are constantly in my prayers.
Scott
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