Building a Faith that Works:  the Book of James

Prayer That Pumps Us Up

James 5:13-20

February 2, 2003

My life can be restored through prayer when I:

 
1. Go to the Source of Help

James 5:13   “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.”

 
2. Go to the Source of Healing

James 5:14-16     ¹⁴“Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

 
3. Go to the Source of Hope

James 5:17-20  “¹⁷Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. ¹⁸Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. ¹⁹My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, ²⁰remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.”

Keys to Healing Prayer

          “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”

1 John 5:14

Seek God’s Spiritual Healing.

1 Peter 2:24,25

               ²⁴“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. ²⁵For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

Seek God’s Cleansing.

1 John 1:9

          “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Seek God’s Will.

Romans 12:1,2

          ¹“offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. ²Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Seek God’s Sustaining Grace.

2 Corinthians 12:8,9

          ⁸“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.”