1 00:00:00,800 --> 00:00:03,040 All right, good morning. Once again, church family, if 2 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:07,560 you would open your Bibles to the Book of James chapter 5. 3 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:11,200 This morning we're going to be in verses 16 to 18. 4 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:15,160 This will be our last passage in the book of James. 5 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:18,360 We've been going through it for several months, and next week, I 6 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:21,600 don't know, I I started creating a list of books in the Old 7 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:23,560 Testament. I usually switch between the Old 8 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:25,680 and New Testament. Next week will be somewhere in 9 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:27,920 the Old Testament, unless the Lord leads me to stay in the 10 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:30,400 New. And I started creating the list, 11 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:33,560 but I have not whittled it down yet as to which one I want to do 12 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:36,400 so, but I will let you know this week. 13 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:40,640 But we get to our last sermon in the book of James this morning, 14 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:44,320 James 516 to 18. So let's read the text. 15 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:47,160 I'll open this in a word of prayer, and then we'll jump into 16 00:00:47,160 --> 00:00:51,320 the sermon this morning, James 5, beginning in verse 16. 17 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:59,360 Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one 18 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:05,280 another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person 19 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:08,360 has great power as it is working. 20 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:14,480 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed 21 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:19,920 fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and 22 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:23,120 six months it did not rain on the earth. 23 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:30,120 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore 24 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:38,990 its fruit. You will pray with me, Father, 25 00:01:38,990 --> 00:01:41,590 as we close out the book of James this morning, we are 26 00:01:41,590 --> 00:01:46,190 thankful for the truths that you have taught us over the past 27 00:01:46,190 --> 00:01:47,790 several months through this book. 28 00:01:49,310 --> 00:01:54,350 Thank you, God, for refining our faith, sanctifying us through 29 00:01:54,350 --> 00:01:57,000 these words. We pray that you would do the 30 00:01:57,000 --> 00:01:59,800 same here this morning. Lord, as we continue to look at 31 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:05,520 the topic of prayer and sin and confession and sickness and all 32 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:08,560 these topics. Lord, would you refine us, God, 33 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:14,640 and sanctify us. Lord, we know that all of us who 34 00:02:14,640 --> 00:02:18,000 who have a humble heart, would, would, would gladly confess that 35 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:20,840 our prayer life needs refining, needs sanctifying. 36 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:26,200 We pray, Lord, that you would please exposed to us the the 37 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:30,000 areas that maybe we're blind to or maybe that are rough around 38 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:34,840 the edges and that need the spirits smoothing out, that 39 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:38,360 needs refinement to look like Jesus. 40 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:45,480 And so, Lord, would you teach us this morning that about the the 41 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:50,080 power and the the effectiveness of prayer. 42 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:59,320 I pray this in Jesus name, Amen. Sometimes my, my boys, my four 43 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:02,280 sons that are sitting up here on the front row, they will want to 44 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:06,360 ask me for something, whether it's to, to buy something or to 45 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:09,000 do something or to go somewhere, you know, or any number of 46 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:11,360 things. And they're not sure what my 47 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:15,520 response will be. So they try to guess among them 48 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:19,080 which of the four of them is more likely to get a positive 49 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:24,200 response from Dad. It varies from question to 50 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:26,320 question. You know, they're like you. 51 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:28,760 You, you go ask him. No, you, you got a better 52 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:29,880 chance. You go ask him. 53 00:03:31,640 --> 00:03:35,920 He'll say yes to you. As much as I find this humorous, 54 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:43,040 I will tell them. Guys, it doesn't matter who 55 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:50,480 asked me. My willingness to say yes to a 56 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:59,000 request is always based on your last name, not your first name. 57 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:10,400 It is by virtue of you being a son, and the same is true for 58 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:16,120 you and me. What makes our prayers powerful 59 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:26,560 and effective is not our first name, but the name of His Son, 60 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:32,080 Jesus Christ. That's what the sermon is about 61 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:36,320 this morning. Powerful and effective prayers. 62 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:39,280 So let's start with exhibition of the text. 63 00:04:39,280 --> 00:04:42,480 I'm going to give us the context if you weren't here last week, 64 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:45,360 they they kind of go together and then we'll pick up with 65 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:47,280 exposition and then I'll give you application. 66 00:04:47,280 --> 00:04:51,960 So the context last week we saw that James had asked the church 67 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:55,200 3 questions and given them three responses. 68 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:58,520 Question one was is anyone suffering? 69 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:04,120 Response one, let him pray. Question 2, is anyone cheerful 70 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:07,480 response to let him sing praises. 71 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:10,040 And question 3 is, is anyone sick? 72 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:13,920 Response three, let the elders pray over him. 73 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:19,320 And then James gives 2 promises to these questions and 74 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:22,320 responses. Promise one, the prayer of faith 75 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:27,200 will heal the one who is sick. And the promise to if he has 76 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:31,280 committed any sins, he will be forgiven. 77 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:33,160 That's what we looked at last week. 78 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:36,840 And this morning James is going to continue with themes of 79 00:05:36,840 --> 00:05:41,600 prayer and sin and healing. So let's start by looking at our 80 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:45,720 text, verse 16 A this first statement that James gives us. 81 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:51,520 Therefore, confess your sins to one another. 82 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:56,360 So James starts off our passage this morning with a command. 83 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:01,200 Confess your sins to one another. 84 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:04,840 Now I want to point out three aspects of this statement. 85 00:06:04,840 --> 00:06:07,480 Number one, I want to draw your attention to this word. 86 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:11,840 Therefore, anytime you see the word, therefore, you should 87 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:14,360 figure out what is it connecting to. 88 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:17,920 Let's first discuss this word. Therefore, James had previously 89 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:22,960 written, if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 90 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:28,640 Therefore, confess your sins to one another. 91 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:32,840 Did you catch that? What's the point that James is 92 00:06:32,840 --> 00:06:35,800 making here? James is essentially saying, 93 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:42,720 listen, brothers and sisters, if God Forgives our sins, and he 94 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:47,680 does because he just said so, why would we ever be fearful or 95 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:50,680 hesitant to confess our sins to one another? 96 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:57,440 You see, we always confess sins as forgiven sinners. 97 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:03,560 That's the starting point. When I confess sins to you, When 98 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:06,640 you confess sins to me, if you are in Christ, you are 99 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:09,680 confessing those sins as a forgiven Sinner. 100 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:14,680 Second point I want to mention. Notice this phrase. 101 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:19,440 One another confess your sins to one another. 102 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:23,560 Notice James doesn't say confess your sins to God. 103 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:27,760 To be sure, we should do that, but that's not James's point 104 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:31,440 here. James says confess your sins to 105 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:35,080 one another. In addition to confessing sins 106 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:40,480 to God, we are actually told to confess our sins to one another 107 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:43,920 to fellow Christians. And then #3 I want to point out 108 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:46,200 is I want you to notice this is a command. 109 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:51,360 Now we can't see that in English, but in the Greek the 110 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:55,440 verb for confess is in the imperative mood, which means 111 00:07:55,440 --> 00:08:01,040 it's a command, which means to not do this, to not confess our 112 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:04,400 sins to one another, is disobedience. 113 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:07,400 Look at verse 16. B. 114 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:15,360 Pray for one another. Confess your sins to one 115 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:17,400 another. Pray for another. 116 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:20,680 The second command that James gives is to pray for one 117 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:22,480 another. Let me point out two aspects of 118 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:26,640 this statement. Number one, this is given to the 119 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:29,000 church. This is given to the church. 120 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:33,840 Now we see different categories of prayer in this passage. 121 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:36,919 In verse 13 last week we saw that we are to pray for 122 00:08:36,919 --> 00:08:39,760 ourselves. Is anyone among you suffering? 123 00:08:40,039 --> 00:08:44,640 Let him pray for himself. In verse 14, we see prayers by 124 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:46,720 the leadership. Is anyone sick? 125 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:50,840 Let the elders pray over him. So we have prayers for yourself, 126 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:55,000 leadership praying over you. And now in verse 16, he says we 127 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:58,400 are to pray for the church by the church. 128 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:01,480 We are to all be praying for one another. 129 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:05,960 So number one, that's it's given to the church #2 this is also a 130 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:09,400 command. The Greek verb for pray is again 131 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:13,400 in the imperative mood, which means to not pray for one 132 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:20,040 another is disobedience. One of my favorite verses on 133 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:26,320 prayer is First Samuel 1223, where Samuel says, moreover, As 134 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:35,000 for me, far be it for me from me that I should sin against the 135 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:47,840 Lord by ceasing to pray for you. Look at verse 16 C that you may 136 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:51,720 be healed. Now I want to point out two 137 00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:53,960 aspects of this statement. This number one, this word 138 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:57,840 healed That word healed there. It's it's a different verb than 139 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:00,120 he used in verse 15. Remember last, if you were here 140 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:04,760 last week in verse 15, James wrote and the prayer of faith 141 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:09,200 will what save the one who was sick, the sozo. 142 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:12,400 But that's not the verb that he uses here. 143 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:19,400 He uses the word yeomi, which that 25 of the 26 times it's 144 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:22,760 translated as heal. The other time, it's the other 145 00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:24,240 one time it's translated as cure. 146 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:27,360 That reinforces the idea that I told you last week. 147 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:29,840 I don't think he's talking about salvation here when he uses that 148 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:31,920 verb. I think he's talking about 149 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:33,920 healing. I think it reinforces that idea 150 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:37,560 that he's talking about healing. And then #2 I want to point out 151 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:42,040 this word that don't miss that word that just as I said it, 152 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:45,640 when you see the word, therefore you should find out what is 153 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:47,800 connecting. When you see like so that or 154 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:53,360 that it's connecting something, that word that hopos, it's a 155 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:57,640 purpose or result clause. It tells us that this statement 156 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:00,040 is connected with what comes before it. 157 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:03,040 They're connected. Now, how are they connected? 158 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:09,800 James is saying that if we desire to be healed, we should 159 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:12,480 do two things. A. 160 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:14,800 We should confess our sins to one another. 161 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:18,280 B. We should pray for one another. 162 00:11:19,680 --> 00:11:23,320 Now, let's be clear. Confession and prayer doesn't 163 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:28,760 guarantee healing, but it does position us for it. 164 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:35,360 It doesn't guarantee it, but it does position us for it. 165 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:37,040 I'll talk more about that in a minute. 166 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:45,920 Look at last 16 D The prayer of a righteous person has great 167 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:51,840 power as it is working. This last statement in verse 16, 168 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:54,000 it's actually translated several different ways. 169 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:57,440 ESV, translated as the prayer of a righteous person has great 170 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:01,320 power as it's working. The NASB says the effective 171 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:04,040 prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. 172 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:07,920 NIV has the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and 173 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:10,720 effective. That Bible has the prayer of a 174 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:13,280 righteous person has great effectiveness. 175 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:16,240 CSB has the prayer of a righteous person is very 176 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:21,160 powerful and its effect. So I think any of those will 177 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:22,640 work. It's just a matter of I guess 178 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:25,600 maybe preference of of how you think the the Greek should be 179 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:28,680 translated. Three questions come to my mind 180 00:12:28,680 --> 00:12:30,600 with this statement, though. Let's take them one at a time. 181 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:33,960 Number one, who is the righteous person? 182 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:38,800 He says the prayer of a righteous person who is a 183 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:41,480 righteous person. This is very important. 184 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:46,280 The Bible speaks of two categories of righteous A those 185 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:49,640 who are positionally righteous, positionally righteous. 186 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:52,000 This is refers to all those in Christ. 187 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:55,720 If you are in Christ, you are a righteous person. 188 00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:57,960 If somebody were to, if I were to walk up to you and ask and 189 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:02,160 say are you a righteous person, what would you say? 190 00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:06,840 Hopefully you would say in Christ I am. 191 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:11,400 If you're in Christ, you are righteous, you are positionally 192 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:13,680 righteous. You have been clothed with the 193 00:13:13,680 --> 00:13:17,640 righteousness of Christ. That's AB those who are 194 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:21,800 practically righteous, those who are practically, this is those 195 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:24,360 who are referred to as walking in righteousness. 196 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:27,120 Now we all know that you can be in Christ but not really be 197 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:29,760 walking in righteousness, right? You can be walking in sin. 198 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:33,720 There are those who are practically righteous, they are 199 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:36,840 walking in righteousness. Now here's the question. 200 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:41,000 When James says the prayer of a righteous person is powerful, 201 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:45,600 effective, is he referring to a positionally righteous person or 202 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:50,400 a practically righteous person? Which of the two is he referring 203 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:53,240 to? Considering what he is about to 204 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:58,880 say in verse 17, I think he is referring to someone who is 205 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:03,400 positionally righteous. I don't think he was running to 206 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:05,800 somebody who was practically righteous, though that would be 207 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:08,160 true as well. If you're practically righteous, 208 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:11,240 you're both. But I think he's saying someone 209 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:15,600 who is positionally righteous. I don't think he's referring to 210 00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:20,040 a special category of Christians, but to any 211 00:14:20,040 --> 00:14:22,640 Christian, to anyone who was in Christ. 212 00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:28,200 I'll come back to that idea #2 second question, how are we to 213 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:31,080 understand this power and effectiveness? 214 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:35,560 James is about to give an example of it with the prophet 215 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:42,120 Elijah and question three. Why is the prayer of a righteous 216 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:47,760 person powerful and effective? If we take it as positionally 217 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:52,560 righteous, that means that all in Christ, when they pray their 218 00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:54,560 prayers are powerful and effective. 219 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:59,680 Why is that? What makes our prayers powerful 220 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:02,280 and effective? Let's be clear on this. 221 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:05,120 It's not because of the righteous person. 222 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:11,160 It's not because of the righteous person. 223 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:18,120 I'll talk more about this in the application looking for 17 A 224 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:22,920 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. 225 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:26,480 James here introduces Elijah. Now earlier he did this with 226 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:28,240 Joe, right? He introduced Joe kind of like 227 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:31,720 this out of the blue and now he introduces another man from the 228 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:33,920 Old Testament, Elijah. Why does he start talking about 229 00:15:33,920 --> 00:15:35,280 Elijah? This out of nowhere talking 230 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:37,960 about Elijah. The 2 greatest figures in the 231 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:40,760 Israelites eyes were Moses and Elijah. 232 00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:45,120 The Israelites all esteem these two men, Moses and Elijah. 233 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:48,880 Elijah was seen as one of the greatest prophets in Israel's 234 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:51,600 history. John the Baptist was called the 235 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,800 Elijah who was to come the crowds. 236 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,600 They even thought that Jesus was Elijah risen from the dead. 237 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:00,440 When he said, who do some people say that I am? 238 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:04,920 Some thought he was Elijah because I mean, if you're Elijah 239 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:11,520 man, Jesus got mistaken for me. Elijah is one of the two 240 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:14,600 prophets who appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration. 241 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:17,600 Moses and Elijah appear on the Mount of Transfiguration. 242 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:20,240 Jesus references Elijah and his teachings. 243 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:24,640 The bystanders thought that Jesus was calling out for Elijah 244 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:28,480 when he was on the cross. Other than Jesus, you would be 245 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:32,120 hard pressed to find a more significant character in the 246 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:38,240 Bible than Elijah. And yet look at what James says. 247 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:45,960 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. 248 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:51,400 What does that mean? That word for nature is this the 249 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:52,720 all? It's only used one other time in 250 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:55,920 the New Testament when Paul and Barnabas went to Lystra. 251 00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:58,640 If you remember in Acts, they went to Lystra and Paul had 252 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:02,120 healed a man who was crippled and and and never walked a day 253 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:04,680 in his life. And after they healed this man, 254 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:08,359 the crowd shouted out, the gods have come down to us in the 255 00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:11,200 likeness of men. They thought Paul and Barnabas 256 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:15,640 were gods and Paul said to them, men, why are you doing these 257 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:18,200 things? We also are men here. 258 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:23,560 It is of like nature as you. Same word. 259 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:29,400 I think James is trying to stress to the church that there 260 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:32,760 was nothing supernatural about Elijah. 261 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:36,800 He simply served as supernatural God. 262 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:46,960 He was a human being just like you and me, looking for 17 B to 263 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:50,760 18. And he prayed fervently that it 264 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:52,800 might not rain. And for three years and six 265 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:54,280 months it did not rain on the earth. 266 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:58,640 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore 267 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:02,520 its fruit. James here references First 268 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:06,520 Kings 17 One, if you remember the story in First Kings, Elijah 269 00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:09,960 the Tisch Spite said to Ahab, who's the king at the time. 270 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:13,880 As the Lord the God of Israel lives before whom I stand, there 271 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:20,480 shall be neither do nor reign these years except by my word. 272 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:24,320 Now the author Kings doesn't mention this, but James writes 273 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:29,320 that this came about because of Elijah's prayer, his fervent 274 00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:31,000 prayer. Not just prayer, but he says 275 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:35,240 fervent prayer. He prayed and for three years 276 00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:40,560 and six months there was no rain in the land of Israel. 277 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:46,440 Wish Elijah would come to Seattle. 278 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:56,600 That is a very long and significant miracle. 279 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:05,840 Think about that, to pray and it not rain for 3 1/2 years. 280 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:11,800 Now that wasn't a blessing, that was a drought. 281 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:17,560 Elijah prayed again and God sent rain. 282 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:23,120 I want you to imagine. Imagine one man's prayer causing 283 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:28,960 a three-year drought and one man's prayer ending a three-year 284 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:35,040 drought. That is the power of prayer. 285 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:41,240 Let's stop there. With that exposition application 286 00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:52,840 of the text, I have 7 truths for US7 truths #1 If God Forgives 287 00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:58,000 our sins. Why would we ever be fearful or 288 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:05,960 hesitant to confess our sins to one another if God Forgives our 289 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:11,000 sins? Why would we ever be fearful or 290 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:13,960 hesitant to confess our sins to one another? 291 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:19,360 Do you remember how when we were children, maybe some of you, 292 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:21,520 this was this is not true of you, this was true of me. 293 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:22,800 Maybe it's true of some of you. I don't know. 294 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:25,800 But do you remember how maybe when we were children, if you 295 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:29,040 ever broke something in the house or you did something that 296 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:34,720 you weren't supposed to do, we would try to hide it from our 297 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:38,600 parents? I can remember breaking certain 298 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:41,960 things in my house and I would quickly try to clean it up, 299 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:47,400 throw away any evidence. Later on my parents would ask, 300 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:50,120 does anybody know where the vase is that used to be on this 301 00:20:50,120 --> 00:20:58,630 table? This also applies to things 302 00:20:58,630 --> 00:21:02,710 we're ashamed of, doesn't it? I think I've told the story 303 00:21:02,710 --> 00:21:09,870 before, but I can remember wetting the bed as as as old as 304 00:21:09,870 --> 00:21:14,760 like 3rd or 4th grade. I did not want my parents to 305 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:17,440 know. I certainly did want my older 306 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:21,320 brother to know. I did not want him to hide that. 307 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:25,720 So what did I do? I just turned the mattress over. 308 00:21:32,210 --> 00:21:34,010 We grow up learning to hide our sin. 309 00:21:36,530 --> 00:21:38,570 We grow up learning to hide our mistakes. 310 00:21:40,970 --> 00:21:45,040 It goes all the way back to the garden, where Adam and Eve are 311 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:52,360 naked, hiding in the bushes. We're so terrified for people to 312 00:21:52,360 --> 00:22:01,760 find out who is the real me. And so when we come to a passage 313 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:08,080 that commands us to confess our sins to one another, it can be 314 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:12,360 quite unsettling, isn't it? Now, of course, there are 315 00:22:12,360 --> 00:22:14,920 culturally acceptable sins. You know, some sins that we have 316 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:16,680 no problem confessing to one another because they're 317 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:18,320 culturally acceptable. It's like what? 318 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:22,720 We all struggle with that. But then there are those sins 319 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:28,360 that we're really ashamed of. We don't want anybody to know 320 00:22:28,360 --> 00:22:34,440 about. How do we get past this wall of 321 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:38,800 fear? How do we get past this wall of 322 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:42,320 fear? Fear of being exposed? 323 00:22:44,360 --> 00:22:50,280 Fear of being known? The answer lies in this word. 324 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:54,560 Therefore the answer lies in that word. 325 00:22:54,560 --> 00:23:01,600 Therefore, James writes, Therefore confess your sins to 326 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:05,920 one another. Now why does it lie in the Word? 327 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:08,600 Therefore, because James had just written, if he has 328 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:12,040 committed sins, he will be forgiven by the Lord. 329 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:20,200 What this tells us is that if God Forgives us of our sins, why 330 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:23,560 would we ever be fearful or hesitant to confess to one 331 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:28,720 another? You see, it doesn't ultimately 332 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:30,560 matter what anybody else thinks of us. 333 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:39,440 Ultimately, it only ultimately matters what God thinks of us. 334 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:48,080 And he says he forgives us. Brothers, sisters, let that 335 00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:54,200 forgiveness give you freedom to freely confess your sins to one 336 00:23:54,200 --> 00:24:05,000 another #2 If we confess our sins to God, why do we also need 337 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:06,600 to confess our sins to one another? 338 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:11,920 You ever wonder that if if we can confess our sins to God, why 339 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:14,680 do we also need to confess our sins to one another? 340 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:19,480 One of the doctrines that I am so grateful for, especially with 341 00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:22,480 the Protestant Reformation, is the priesthood of the believer. 342 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:27,000 This doctrine teaches us that we have direct access to God 343 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:30,120 without the need for a priest, right? 344 00:24:30,120 --> 00:24:32,640 Like you don't need, I'm not a priest, but like, you don't need 345 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:35,160 me to access God. You don't need a priest to 346 00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:37,520 access God. This is true for worship, it's 347 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:39,920 true for prayer, it's true for confession of sin. 348 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:44,560 Now in the Catholic Church, if you want to confess your sins, 349 00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:48,240 you have to go to a local priest and sit in the confessional 350 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:50,360 booth and confess your sins to him. 351 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:55,040 We don't need to do that. Why? 352 00:24:55,280 --> 00:25:00,440 Because Jesus Christ has given us direct access to God. 353 00:25:02,360 --> 00:25:05,680 All of us have direct access to God Almighty. 354 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:09,600 So anytime that we sin, we can right then and right there 355 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:13,080 confess our sins to God. He will forgive us if we are 356 00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:16,360 truly repentant and, and it's done. 357 00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:22,920 Now, as glorious as that doctrine is, there are some 358 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:25,320 potential temptations that come with it. 359 00:25:27,120 --> 00:25:30,160 One of those temptations is to think that the church is not 360 00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:35,560 necessary, right? In other words, the, the, the 361 00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:38,800 thinking is, is if I have direct access to God, if you're telling 362 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:41,400 me that I don't, I don't need to go to the temple anymore. 363 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:44,920 I don't need a priest anymore. If I can just go directly to God 364 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:49,480 through His Word, through prayer, through confession, then 365 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:52,480 I don't need the church. That's not true. 366 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:59,680 That's not true. Here's another temptation even 367 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:02,000 for Christians who faithfully attend church. 368 00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:06,960 Here's a temptation is to think, if I can confess my sins 369 00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:12,040 directly to God and receive His forgiveness directly from Him, 370 00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:16,880 then why do I need to confess my sins to one another? 371 00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:24,560 Why do I need to air my dirty laundry to one another? 372 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:33,240 Let me give you 6 quick reasons, very brief 6 quick reasons that 373 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:37,840 we should confess our sins to one another and not just to God. 374 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:44,840 A Confessing to one another produces a unique humility in 375 00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:49,720 our life. It's humbling to confess your 376 00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:57,800 sin to one another, isn't it? Sometimes it's humiliating, but 377 00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:02,280 God uses that moment to graft in us a unique humility. 378 00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:08,440 B Confessing to one another provides tangible 379 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:11,520 accountability. Tangible accountability? 380 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:14,200 You see, we can become good at tuning out the Holy Spirit. 381 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:18,640 We can become very good at tuning out the Holy Spirit. 382 00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:22,200 It becomes a little more difficult to tune out tangible, 383 00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:30,240 audible humans. See, confessing to one another 384 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:33,400 gives the church body the opportunity to show grace. 385 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:37,680 One of the most beautiful pictures of the gospel is when a 386 00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:41,840 brother or sister confesses sin to us and we are given the 387 00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:45,360 opportunity to show them the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. 388 00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:52,520 D Confessing to one another brings sin into the light 389 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:57,280 because we know that God sees everything. 390 00:27:57,880 --> 00:27:58,520 You know what? The day. 391 00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:01,160 That's a wonderful doctrine. But you know what the danger of 392 00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:03,040 that is? We could think, well, God sees 393 00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:08,240 everything, so I'm never in darkness because God sees 394 00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:09,520 everything. That's not true. 395 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:12,280 We can deceive ourselves in thinking that we're in the light 396 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:13,720 when we're actually in the darkness. 397 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:19,520 Confessing to one another exposes the darkness, and it 398 00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:25,440 brings the sin into the light. E Confessing to one another is 399 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:28,240 contagious. It's contagious. 400 00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:33,960 We learn how to confess sin to one another by others confessing 401 00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:41,320 sin to us, and vice versa. If nobody is doing this, nobody 402 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:47,520 ever knows how to do it. F last one confessing to one 403 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:50,320 another guards against hypocrisy. 404 00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:54,400 There are no hypocrites with God. 405 00:28:56,160 --> 00:29:00,680 No one can be a hypocrite to God because he sees all things. 406 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:05,640 He knows all things, but not so with the church. 407 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:08,680 You can be a hypocrite in the church. 408 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:13,480 I don't know. I don't know what you do on your 409 00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:15,360 own time. You don't know what I do on my 410 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:20,560 own time. It's all too easy to slowly 411 00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:22,280 become a hypocrite in the church. 412 00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:31,160 Confession guards against this. Brothers, sisters, it is not 413 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:33,800 enough to simply confess your sins to God. 414 00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:43,400 We also need to confess to one another #3 prayer is one of the 415 00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:47,480 few gifts that we all get to give. 416 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:54,760 Prayer is one of the few gifts that we all get to give in the 417 00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:58,840 game of basketball, One of the lessons that's so important for 418 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:00,280 a team to realize. This is probably true in all 419 00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:02,600 sports, but I'll just use basketball since that's what I'm 420 00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:04,560 most familiar with. In the game of basketball, one 421 00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:06,840 of the lessons that's so important for a team to realize 422 00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:09,920 is this. Not everybody can be a scorer. 423 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:16,560 Not everybody can be a point guard, right? 424 00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:19,080 My coach used to tell me, like, you're a big, you're not a point 425 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:20,040 guard. Don't bring the ball down the 426 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:22,120 court. Not everybody can be a point 427 00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:24,440 guard. Not everybody can make 428 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:27,480 spectacular passes. Just because your teammate can 429 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:29,080 make a spectacular pass doesn't mean you can. 430 00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:35,040 Not everybody can be a leader. Not everybody can be a hero and 431 00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:40,360 take the last shot. The team can only function 432 00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:43,960 properly if they all know that they have different giftings, 433 00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:49,640 capacities and roles. Same is true in the church. 434 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:54,360 This is why Paul talks about gifts in the church, right? 435 00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:57,360 Not everybody can be a teacher. Not everybody can be a leader. 436 00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:00,560 Not everybody will have the gift of wisdom or knowledge or 437 00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:02,960 prophecy or faith or mercy, right? 438 00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:09,160 That that's how it works. But there there is one gift that 439 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:14,080 we all get to give and that is prayer. 440 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:23,920 You all get to exercise this gift of grace to pray for one 441 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:27,040 another. Earlier he had said that the 442 00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:30,800 sick person should call on the elders of the church, the elders 443 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:33,240 to come and pray over him. But now he exhorts the church, 444 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:35,920 he says, all of you be praying for one another. 445 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:41,960 Prayer is such a wonderful gift because you don't have to be a 446 00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:44,800 leader to do it. You don't have to be a teacher 447 00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:47,400 to do it. You don't need to be an elder or 448 00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:49,560 a Deacon. You don't need to go to seminary 449 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:51,280 for it. You don't need to be a Christian 450 00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:53,080 for 10 years. You don't need to get 451 00:31:53,080 --> 00:31:55,800 specialized training. You know, I was thinking about 452 00:31:55,800 --> 00:31:59,720 this, like, how many professions do you have to get hundreds, if 453 00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:03,760 not thousands of hours before they will let you practice it, 454 00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:06,200 right? Like doctors, right. 455 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:07,680 Which I'm thankful for. I don't want to. 456 00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:10,160 You have to go to a doctor. And it's like, like, how long, 457 00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:11,560 How many hours have you been doing this? 458 00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:17,680 This is my first operation. Doctors have hours. 459 00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:21,360 Psychologists, physical therapists, electricians, 460 00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:25,840 plumbers, cosmetologists, airline pilots, they all have to 461 00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:30,400 record hundreds or thousands of hours before they can practice 462 00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:32,640 this. But we don't need a prayer 463 00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:36,080 certificate. We don't need to take a course 464 00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:38,760 in prayer. We don't need to have 1000 465 00:32:38,760 --> 00:32:42,640 supervised hours. If you are in Christ, you are 466 00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:46,280 competent and qualified to pray for one another. 467 00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:52,800 God has given you permission and access to his throne of grace to 468 00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:56,920 intercede for your brothers and sisters, all of you. 469 00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:01,720 It's one of the few gifts that we all get to give. 470 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:11,960 So let's give it. Let's regularly give it for 471 00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:19,800 physical and spiritual healing are better positioned with 472 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:24,960 confession and prayer. Physical and spiritual healing 473 00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:30,120 are better positioned with confession and prayer. 474 00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:35,960 Over the years when I have talked to young men who are 475 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:40,760 interested and potentially asking a girl out, I will tell 476 00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:48,480 them you need to take some steps to better position yourself of 477 00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:55,520 her chances of saying yes. If you show up in sweatpants and 478 00:33:55,520 --> 00:34:00,400 AT shirt that hasn't been washed in a week, maybe she'll go for 479 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:02,120 that. Maybe she likes that, you know, 480 00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:05,000 casual, laid back kind of smelly person. 481 00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:11,440 But there are better ways to position yourself. 482 00:34:14,280 --> 00:34:23,520 Take a shower, shave, get a haircut, comb your hair, put on 483 00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:29,800 some nice clothes, brush your teeth, maybe a little bit of 484 00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:31,960 Cologne, not too much. Don't overdo it. 485 00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:40,239 Now all of this is no guarantee that she will say yes. 486 00:34:40,239 --> 00:34:46,000 You may do all the right things and she still said no, but it 487 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:50,760 does better position you to receive a yes. 488 00:34:54,400 --> 00:35:00,400 So what about with the Lord? Are we able to better position 489 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:05,680 ourselves with the Lord? James writes. 490 00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:10,520 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one 491 00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:15,400 other. And here it is that that you may 492 00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:20,840 be healed. Now James is not saying you will 493 00:35:20,840 --> 00:35:23,920 be healed, he's saying that you may. 494 00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:31,920 In other words, confession and prayer better position ourselves 495 00:35:33,080 --> 00:35:38,560 to move the heart of God. Let me give you a few examples 496 00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:40,760 from Scripture. Remember Hezekiah? 497 00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:44,640 He grew sick and was to the point of death. 498 00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:49,320 Isaiah told him. Thus says the Lord, set your 499 00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:53,000 house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover. 500 00:35:54,160 --> 00:35:57,000 Now this is a prophet of God. This is Isaiah telling him, 501 00:35:57,240 --> 00:36:01,000 Isaiah said, Hezekiah, you're going to die, you're not going 502 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:02,920 to recover. Now I don't know about you, but 503 00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:06,480 that sounds pretty final. I think if Isaiah had told me 504 00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:10,800 that I've been like, all right, I guess I'm fine, but not to 505 00:36:10,800 --> 00:36:12,440 Hezekiah. What did he do? 506 00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:14,640 He turned and he prayed to the Lord. 507 00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:18,400 And what did the Lord say? I have heard your prayer. 508 00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:24,120 I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. 509 00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:31,520 He gives him 15 more years. Imagine if he hadn't prayed. 510 00:36:34,680 --> 00:36:37,640 He would have died. He would have died. 511 00:36:39,640 --> 00:36:44,040 Remember Miriam, she and Aaron opposed Moses, challenging his 512 00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:46,440 authority. So the Lord disciplines her with 513 00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:49,080 leprosy. We're giving every indication 514 00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:51,440 that this discipline of the Lord was permanent leprosy. 515 00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:53,320 I don't think it's just like temporary leprosy. 516 00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:56,320 I think the Lord was going to, she was going to have leprosy 517 00:36:56,320 --> 00:36:58,880 the rest of her life. But what did Moses do? 518 00:36:59,240 --> 00:37:03,280 Moses cried to the Lord. Oh God, please heal her. 519 00:37:03,720 --> 00:37:07,520 Please. And what did the Lord do? 520 00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:13,920 He healed. Brothers and sisters, do you 521 00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:16,880 want motivation to confess your sins to one another? 522 00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:21,080 Do you want motivation to pray for one other? 523 00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:30,080 Here it is. It better positions us to be 524 00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:40,520 physically and spiritually healed #5 you don't have to be a 525 00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:46,720 pastor or a priest or a prophet or a missionary or an elder or a 526 00:37:46,720 --> 00:37:51,240 Deacon or a leader or a teacher or an apostle or even a mature 527 00:37:51,240 --> 00:37:55,600 Christian for your prayers to be powerful and effective. 528 00:37:55,600 --> 00:37:59,800 You don't have to be any of that. 529 00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:08,480 I will often joke with my wife that I think the Lord likes her 530 00:38:08,480 --> 00:38:12,920 more than me. I think He does. 531 00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:18,040 There have been so many times where I've been working on a 532 00:38:18,040 --> 00:38:22,920 project and I'm stuck. I can't figure out how to fix 533 00:38:22,920 --> 00:38:25,560 something. I can't move forward with this. 534 00:38:26,080 --> 00:38:27,960 And I have prayed. I mean, I have prayed. 535 00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:31,680 I have prayed, I have prayed. Still no progress. 536 00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:35,920 And then Lauren will, I'll get her involved, she'll pray and 537 00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:39,760 it's solved. And I jumped with her. 538 00:38:40,160 --> 00:38:42,520 I, the Lord, must like you more than me. 539 00:38:43,720 --> 00:38:44,840 She doesn't like it when I say that. 540 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:52,560 The reality is, is that we might subconsciously or even 541 00:38:52,560 --> 00:38:56,520 consciously think that our prayers don't accomplish that 542 00:38:56,520 --> 00:39:00,880 much. You ever felt the way like you 543 00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:04,200 ever felt like I don't really feel like my prayers do that 544 00:39:04,200 --> 00:39:08,560 much. And this is where James wants to 545 00:39:08,560 --> 00:39:14,280 correct our thinking. Our prayers are powerful and 546 00:39:14,560 --> 00:39:20,000 effective. James references Elijah, who had 547 00:39:20,160 --> 00:39:24,200 performed miracles unsurpassed by anybody in the Old Testament. 548 00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:28,920 The man had told a widow that our flour and oil would not run 549 00:39:28,920 --> 00:39:32,480 out, and it didn't run out. He raised a widow's dead son 550 00:39:32,480 --> 00:39:35,400 from the dead. He called down fire from heaven. 551 00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:39,720 He parted the Jordan River. He was taken to heaven without 552 00:39:39,720 --> 00:39:42,720 dying. And in this example here he 553 00:39:42,720 --> 00:39:46,520 prayed that a drought would happen for 3 1/2 years and it 554 00:39:46,520 --> 00:39:49,360 did. And then he prayed again and it 555 00:39:49,360 --> 00:39:54,880 started to rain. The brother can pray and fire 556 00:39:54,880 --> 00:39:58,920 will fall from heaven and he can also pray and rain, not fall 557 00:39:58,920 --> 00:40:04,280 from heaven. Now we might think, man, he's in 558 00:40:04,280 --> 00:40:08,960 a super spiritual category. It's a category I could never 559 00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:15,200 attain to. There were times I've wanted to 560 00:40:15,200 --> 00:40:17,400 go golfing and I prayed it didn't rain and it rains every 561 00:40:17,400 --> 00:40:24,600 time. I know Elijah, but look at what 562 00:40:24,600 --> 00:40:31,480 James says. Elijah was a man with a nature 563 00:40:32,280 --> 00:40:38,240 like ours. He was a human just like you and 564 00:40:38,240 --> 00:40:42,280 me. Now we might think, yeah, OK, 565 00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:47,960 but he was a righteous human. Which leaves the number six. 566 00:40:48,880 --> 00:40:56,760 Number six, What makes prayer powerful and effective is not 567 00:40:56,760 --> 00:41:04,880 the righteous person, but the righteous. 1 What makes prayer 568 00:41:04,880 --> 00:41:11,560 powerful and effective is not the righteous person, but the 569 00:41:11,560 --> 00:41:18,040 righteous 1 One of my favorite quotes is by a preacher named 570 00:41:18,040 --> 00:41:21,680 Paul Washer. I don't think he coined it, but 571 00:41:21,680 --> 00:41:23,680 Washer frequently states it like this. 572 00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:34,200 There are no great men of God. There are only small, weak, 573 00:41:34,720 --> 00:41:38,560 faithless men of a great and merciful God. 574 00:41:44,570 --> 00:41:51,370 Prayer is powerful and effective, but what makes it 575 00:41:51,370 --> 00:41:55,450 powerful and effective is not the righteous person, but the 576 00:41:55,450 --> 00:42:00,280 righteous. 1 Remember when Joseph was able to interpret 577 00:42:00,280 --> 00:42:02,760 Pharaoh's dreams when nobody else in Egypt could? 578 00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:05,920 What did Joseph say? It is not in me. 579 00:42:05,920 --> 00:42:08,560 Oh Pharaoh. God will give Pharaoh A 580 00:42:08,560 --> 00:42:11,320 favorable answer. Remember when David came out to 581 00:42:11,320 --> 00:42:13,280 fight Goliath? What did he say? 582 00:42:13,720 --> 00:42:18,000 The battle will be one that all the earth may know that there is 583 00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:22,400 a God in Israel. Remember what Daniel was called 584 00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:25,840 in to interpret Nebuchadnezzar's dreams when none of his wise men 585 00:42:25,840 --> 00:42:27,120 could? What did he say? 586 00:42:27,440 --> 00:42:31,080 Oh, king, no wise men or enchanters or magicians or 587 00:42:31,080 --> 00:42:34,240 astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has 588 00:42:34,240 --> 00:42:37,160 asked. But there is a God in heaven who 589 00:42:37,160 --> 00:42:40,880 reveals mysteries. Remember when Peter healed the 590 00:42:40,880 --> 00:42:42,960 lame man? What did he say? 591 00:42:43,080 --> 00:42:45,440 Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this? 592 00:42:45,520 --> 00:42:50,920 Why do you stare at us as though by our own power or piety we 593 00:42:50,920 --> 00:42:57,680 made Him walk? We must be so careful not to 594 00:42:57,680 --> 00:43:02,440 think that the power and efficacy of our prayers is 595 00:43:02,440 --> 00:43:05,440 directly correlated to our righteousness. 596 00:43:10,320 --> 00:43:14,040 Our righteousness does not empower our prayers. 597 00:43:14,920 --> 00:43:17,280 Christ's righteousness empowers our prayers. 598 00:43:23,720 --> 00:43:28,240 Brothers and sisters, don't ever forget 2 truths about prayer. 599 00:43:29,880 --> 00:43:34,680 They are powerful and effective, and what makes them powerful and 600 00:43:34,680 --> 00:43:41,800 effective is not the righteous person, but the righteous 1. 601 00:43:48,620 --> 00:43:52,100 Be careful in thinking that like, oh, I haven't lived very 602 00:43:52,100 --> 00:43:55,060 well this life. This week I've been in sin. 603 00:43:55,060 --> 00:43:58,520 It's not going to matter if I pray because God wouldn't listen 604 00:43:58,520 --> 00:44:05,440 anyway. If that's your thinking, let me 605 00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:08,280 clue you in. Under that premise, He should 606 00:44:08,280 --> 00:44:15,000 never listen to you because in and of yourself you are always 607 00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:22,000 wicked in His eyes. Just because you read your Bible 608 00:44:22,000 --> 00:44:26,480 this week and prayed and served in church doesn't mean like, oh, 609 00:44:26,480 --> 00:44:29,040 I'm on God's good side now He'll listen to me. 610 00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:37,400 That's not how it works. And yes, if you want to hear the 611 00:44:37,400 --> 00:44:39,200 other side of the coin, can our sin hinder our prayers? 612 00:44:39,200 --> 00:44:42,320 Yes, it can. Peter says this in first. 613 00:44:42,320 --> 00:44:54,880 Peter #7 last point, Sometimes you have to pray 7 times before 614 00:44:54,880 --> 00:45:00,120 you see a little cloud. Sometimes you have to pray 7 615 00:45:00,120 --> 00:45:03,640 times before you see a little cloud. 616 00:45:06,120 --> 00:45:08,680 One of the questions I have been asked about prayer many times 617 00:45:08,680 --> 00:45:10,960 through the years is this. How long should I keep praying? 618 00:45:12,960 --> 00:45:14,120 Like, how do I know when to stop? 619 00:45:14,880 --> 00:45:16,920 You're praying for something. You're waiting for God to 620 00:45:16,920 --> 00:45:18,280 answer. No answer. 621 00:45:18,280 --> 00:45:20,680 You pray No answer. Pray no answer. 622 00:45:20,680 --> 00:45:22,480 How long should I keep praying? How long should I do this? 623 00:45:23,360 --> 00:45:24,840 When should I stop? Should I stop? 624 00:45:26,600 --> 00:45:29,360 Here's the challenge. There are examples in Scripture 625 00:45:29,360 --> 00:45:32,440 where despite asking for something multiple times, God's 626 00:45:32,440 --> 00:45:34,880 answer was no. Moses asked to go to the 627 00:45:34,880 --> 00:45:37,160 promised land multiple times. God said no. 628 00:45:38,280 --> 00:45:41,200 Paul asked for the thorn to be removed three times. 629 00:45:41,520 --> 00:45:43,480 All three times God's answer was no. 630 00:45:44,200 --> 00:45:48,360 Even Jesus asked the Father three times if it was possible 631 00:45:48,400 --> 00:45:52,040 for the cup to pass. God's answer was no. 632 00:45:54,200 --> 00:45:59,800 But there are many more examples where the Lord answered only 633 00:46:00,000 --> 00:46:05,520 after persistent prayer. Jesus healed the Canaanite 634 00:46:05,600 --> 00:46:10,120 woman's daughter only after she persisted in asking Him. 635 00:46:10,800 --> 00:46:15,480 Hannah prayed for years for a child and was finally given one. 636 00:46:16,800 --> 00:46:20,920 The church prayed earnestly for Peter's release from jail, and 637 00:46:20,920 --> 00:46:24,000 he was released. In the parable, the persistent 638 00:46:24,000 --> 00:46:27,560 widow Jesus said that she asked the judge continually for 639 00:46:27,560 --> 00:46:30,200 justice, and he finally gives it to her. 640 00:46:30,760 --> 00:46:36,720 And even Elijah James says then he prayed again and it rained. 641 00:46:37,040 --> 00:46:39,520 But if you go back and read the story, here's what actually 642 00:46:39,520 --> 00:46:42,280 happened. Elijah went up on top of Mount 643 00:46:42,280 --> 00:46:44,600 Carmel. He bowed down to the earth. 644 00:46:44,720 --> 00:46:46,880 He put his face between his knees. 645 00:46:47,080 --> 00:46:51,080 He told his servant, go up now and look to the sea. 646 00:46:51,800 --> 00:46:58,440 So a servant does. He looks out, He says there's 647 00:46:58,440 --> 00:47:03,800 nothing. There is nothing. 648 00:47:06,720 --> 00:47:08,800 How many times have we prayed and said the same thing? 649 00:47:10,920 --> 00:47:17,840 There is nothing. But what did Elijah tell him to 650 00:47:17,840 --> 00:47:20,600 do? Go again? 651 00:47:22,320 --> 00:47:28,640 Go again? Seven times, and the seventh 652 00:47:28,640 --> 00:47:37,200 time he said, behold, I see a little cloud, like a man's hand 653 00:47:37,200 --> 00:47:42,680 rising from the sea, church bodies. 654 00:47:42,680 --> 00:47:55,600 Sometimes you have to pray 7 times or 97 times before you see 655 00:47:55,600 --> 00:47:59,200 a little cloud. Let's pray.