words, "effectual" and "fervent." Prayer requires energetic entreaty. God does not lead His people to pray for things which He does not intend to give them (Romans 8:25). Many believers feel ill at ease and inadequate in prayer. They view their temptations and weak nesses as peculiar to themselves alone. They imagine that deeply spiritual, almost sinless Christians are the only people who can pray the "effectual, fervent" prayer. James reminds us that Elijah prayed in this manner although he was beset by all of the testings common to us. He wanted to die and pride filled his heart. Yet, his prayers re sulted in supernatural effects. He prayed persistently and frequently. The historic record of Elijah's life in the book of First Kings in the Old Testament reveals that at times he stood on the mountain top of victory and at other periods he de scended into the valley of deepest despair. James does not present him as perfect. The chief charac teristics of Elijah's prayers were their urgency, fervency, expectan cy and constancy. Robertson says, "There is no use to pray in any other way." We find a final plea in verses 19 and 20. James implies that it is pos sible for a believer to wander from his original commitments to the Lord. Prayer can thus be one of the means by which this believer is brought back to the life of victory in Jesus Christ. He is not talking about losing one's salvation. We have a responsibility, not only to keep ourselves unspotted from the world, but also to encourage and assist those who are weaker in the faith that they might return to their first love. The word "convert"
Prayer is a tremendous subject. We must understand the meaning of the passage so that we do not read into it many erroneous and false notions. Let us continue to ask the Holy Spirit to be our Guide and to give us His perfect wisdom for every need. As James, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit comes to the close of his epistle he very practi cally deals with the all-important subject of prayer. You and I are to be filled with prayer which is dy namic in its proper exercise. According to James 5:16 con fession is essential for forgiveness and healing. From the original text it is really a distortion to twist the expression "one to another" to mean confession to another human being of some sin. "Group confes sionals" are certainly not scriptur al. The point he is making deals primarily with physical healing. If the sick person is not willing to confess his sin against the Christian whom he has offended he need not expect God's forgiveness or healing touch. Perhaps the sin of grumbling and griping (5:9) has caused the illness. Such things can easily bring on indigestion, heart burn, migraine headaches, colitis, ulcers and even worse maladies. All such tensions can readily build up in our minds and bodies. Con fessions of faults to one another and prayers of intercession for one another constitute two conditions for receiving answers to prayer. The word translated "prayer" in James 5:16 carries with it the idea of addressing a king. We dare not come to God presumptuously and pompously. We should approach Him humbly, without thought of personal merit. Notice the other Page 52
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs