Providence and Prayer

Please remain standing for the reading of the word from the epistle of James in chapter 5. I'm going to begin reading in verse 7 and complete the entire chapter from there. This is God's holy and infallible word.

Be patient therefore brethren unto the coming of the Lord. Behold the husband Waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth and hath long patience for it. Until he received the early and latter rain. Be also patient.

Establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord. Draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another brethren lest ye be condemned. Behold the judge standeth before the door. Take my brethren the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering affliction and of patience.

Behold we count them happy which endure. You've heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. But above all things my brethren swear not Neither by heaven neither by the earth neither by any other oath.

But let your yay be yay and your nay nay lest you fall into condemnation. Is any among you afflicted let him pray. Is Any Mary let him sing psalms. Is Any sick among you 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 in the prayer of faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up and if he has Committed sins they shall be forgiven him.

Confess your faults one to another and pray one for another. That she may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are. And he prayed earnestly that it might not rain.

And it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth and one convert him.

Let him know that he which converted the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death. He shall hide a multitude of sins. Please pray with me now. Oh Lord, I Asked that you would grant These your people the gift of prayer that they would pray in accordance with your will.

That in every season and circumstance there their attitude would be one of either praise or prayer. Hope and obedience. And we ask all of this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Please be seated.

The title of the message today is providence and prayer and The whole of the sermon could be found under this heading. The efficacy of prayer in every circumstance. The efficacy of prayer in every circumstance.

For those of you who need some form of outline to help you with your attention. The first point I would offer is the Christian Is to see everything in relation to God. That is obvious, but we need a special attention to this subject the Christian.

It's to see everything in relation to God. Second we will recount the circumstances of prayer and praise in our text. And. Lastly, we will probably not give much attention to you'll have an assignment today this afternoon to read the narrative of first Kings 17 and 18 it.

It's a lot more than just rain not falling in context. We're probably not gonna spend much time because of how long it will take to get through the other parts. But I encourage you to read that today an example of fervent effective prayer of a righteous man.

The example of Elijah is the third point. And finally, we will Give more application. Hopefully there'll be more interspersed throughout the efficacy of prayer in every circumstance. John Calvin said in relationship to this part of the book of James.

James here means that there is not no time. There is no time in which God does not invite us to himself. And I was spellbound by that. There is no occasion. There is no time where God does not bid us to come to him.

Wow, what a privilege it is to be the people of God. We say though with the disciples Lord Teach us to pray the Christians Are to see everything in relation to God. One of the things that is so often a challenge for us is we have many needs and responsibilities many obligations and duties to perform and and because of that busyness in our own creatureliness and our the earthiness of our lives.

We can go along with some period of time not considering How this relates to my relationship with God. Everything in life as we learned this morning. Everything is touched by the Word of God. Everything for the Christian must be seen and perceived in relation to his covenant communion with God.

That right there would be enough for us to dwell on to think about but this is just an overarching idea. A Great commentator and theologian Mateer said to pray to him is to acknowledge his Sovereign power to meet our needs and to praise every occasion.

Prayer and praise in our text in every circumstance. In Praying we acknowledge his sovereign power to meet our needs and in praise is to acknowledge his sovereign power in appointing our Circumstances and you may say I don't like my circumstances and I say toughen up praise the Lord He has put you there.

Whether as a source of supply in need He is our supply. Or the source of the gladness of our joy. God himself is our sufficiency. Your life must be characterized by prayer by praise by faith by obedience and hope.

If you live your life before the face of God and you're praying to him and you're praising him. That will be your experience an experience of joy and hope and obedience. This is more than just a proposition.

James urges us to find in God Sufficiency and to make use of the divine resources that he has supplied. Brethren, do you see everything every detail of your life in Relationship to your relationship with God.

How is the Christian to see everything in relation to God. Mater again, the Christian life is to be an exercise listen carefully in practice consecration. The Christian life is to be an exercise in practiced consecration to hallow every pleasure praise.

Every pleasure that comes in is an occasion For me to praise God and brethren moment by moment every heartbeat every breath. You the people of God have an occasion for praise. Because you have been redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb.

The father has so loved you that he has sent his son into the world to die for you and to redeem you and to Sanctify you and to draw him draw you to himself. Hallow every pleasure sanctify each pain. The whole of our lives.

Whether sorrowful or joyful Should be deflected upward at once Into his presence. These two concepts will come a little bit later. I'm going to offer them now. The praise reflex is reflective. God in his mercy does things that are beneficial to us and kind to us and we reflect Back to him the goodness of his dealings with us.

But when trials come and Circumstances come and hard things come we grab the shield of faith and when those Circumstances come we hold up a shield of faith and we deflect it and allow it to go back up to God.

The Christian has tremendous privileges here in prayer that others do not enjoy. These afflictions these hardships don't just fall upon me. They're deflected heavenward. When we exercise in faith this great joy and privilege a prayer in both of these there is a glad acceptance of the will of God and That's going to become very critical for us because there may be a deficiency not only in our practice but our understanding of prayer because it swirls around this concept of the will of God.

This is the common element of both prayer and praise. In praise we say to him. Oh God your will is so good perfect and acceptable. This is what you have done for me. And in this I will rejoice and in prayer In the time of trouble In emulation of our Lord Jesus Christ in the garden.

It is a faith declaration that says Not my will but yours. Oh Lord be done. When Jesus faced all of the forces of evil all of the anguish all of the difficulties what set before him the cross the the turning of God's back on him the laying upon him and making him of sin at the moment of that strongest attack.

The Lord Jesus it says in Luke 22 He prayed more earnestly. The Son of God Righteous all of his perfections. He prayed earnestly. I feel under heavy conviction personally. For our congregation for the church as a whole.

We are weak in Prayer. We are weak in praise. We are weak, but he can make us strong. Prayer Doesn't always remove the affliction. This is RBG Tasker being quoted in a couple of places prayer may not remove the affliction.

But it most certainly can transform it. The Christian in prayer is reflecting all of his life upward. Acknowledging the sufficiency and sovereignty of God in his dealings with us in Providence. The difficult Circumstances that come in your life are not a deficiency in God's plan.

They are God's plan. Your hardship has been given to you by God himself. Practicing however the grace of acceptance. Rejecting the disgrace of stubbornness. In this the voice of prayer. And praise are united they come together in one.

For a like they say This will of God is good. Only prayer can do that only praise Facilitates and fosters us in the heart of the believer. Only then when you when you do these things there take advantage of these Things which the Lord has supplied for us so abundantly then you will get a sense of it all.

Then you'll understand why these afflictions come. You understand why you have more and more occasion to praise his holy name. Well. The first question that we have to answer. It's one of those funny things.

We always talk about prayer. Do we really know what it means? The prayer is an offering up of our request to God. Certainly isn't it? But when you get into the the deepness of the language and You begin to consider it across the whole of Scripture.

There's something that emerges that is there's very striking and it may be missing in your own thinking. I want you to listen to this impart definition of prayer to pray. To really pray is to interact with the Lord your covenant God.

By Switching and transforming your ideas and your human wishes and Exchanging them for his wishes as he grants you faith. This is what it means to pray in the will of God, but that's not really what we do.

When we pray we say Oh God, give me what I want and he says in silence No. We ask a mess. We say Oh God take away this affliction and he may say no you must be instructed by her. No, the people around you must be instructed by your affliction.

I'm not going to take it away prayer real prayer genuine prayer is to interact with the Lord by switching our wishes and ideas for his sounds similar to definition of repentance ultimately is is to Take upon ourselves the mind of God.

Related to some sin or some obedience or some omission in our lives. We've not repented if we still cherish that sin. We've not repented of it. To repent of sin means not only am I not doing it? I want nothing to do with it any longer because God has said it is bad and is evil and I agree with God.

So to the Christian in prayer interacts with the Lord with a switching Oh Lord, my circumstances are hard. Oh Lord. I am grieved. Oh Lord life is hard. I Bring these things to you in prayer now correct my thinking about all that is happening in my life and in prayer the grace of faith.

He's going to reveal to you the errors in your thinking the ways that you are praying that are amiss. And he's going to set you on the right course now. I Want to confront us all with this? Because really we have to confess today and we have to today.

For not another moment. We have to repent of this. We've come to God in prayer and said Oh Lord, give me what I want. Repent of that today. Purpose to repent of that idea today that notion now there is a sanctified Granting of our desires in accordance with his will.

If your will is in accordance with his will your desires are going to be granted. But but we have to confess that you must confess. That you have gone to him saying I know what's best for my life and I want you to give me what I want.

It's not good. It's an egregious thing. Do you pray that your wishes would be changed. It's not how we pray. We are an. An idolatrous and self-willed people. The last idol to be slain is You your idol your selfish idol.

You pray wanting what you want. You pray in a self-willed way approaching God with the intent of him granting your wishes. You see the idolatry in there. You see you and your wishes are the most important thing.

It's idolatry maybe. Maybe we don't pray as we ought. Because we intuitively know That he may say no to what we want. Now, I know there is an omission and a deficiency in a laziness in our approach to God.

And and I would say there is a deficiency in our faith. It's an element of unbelief. We do not believe that God's arm is long enough or strong enough to act. Practically this one bought is scaring me a little bit this possibility.

Maybe we don't approach God in prayer. Because we know he won't give us what we really want. We have not. Because we ask not from James. We ask and we receive not. Because we ask amiss That we may consume it.

In our lusts delight yourself in the Lord. And he will give you the desires of your heart. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. Oh Lord teach us to pray Our Father which art in heaven. Hallowed be your name thy name thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven Lord. Will you teach us to pray today? We ask this Through the expounding of your word. Let's look again at our text in verse 13 is Any among you afflicted and This affliction covers The whole breadth of life.

There's certainly sickness included in this. This is part of afflictions, but this is any hardship or trouble. James in this very practical instruction at the close of this epistle says are any among you Afflicted the efficacy of prayer in every circumstances happy merry afflicted sick dying Starving vigorous, whatever it is the Christian in relation to God through prayer and praise.

He has an answer if any of you is Afflicted any of you enduring any hardship any suffering? You need to pray. I know some of you are Dealing with hard things today. Some of you have health challenges.

Some of you have financial pressures. Some of you have strained Relationships. You're enduring hard things. You should be in a constant state of prayer. You are enduring afflictions. The remedy the answer is to pray in that way that we have described to literally Switch our wishes and our ideas for his wishes as he imparts faith.

Oh Lord, I'm under this hardship in this affliction. You may find that this is a self-inflicted wound. Your sin has led to all the hardship. You can't even ascribe it to just works of providence. Your sinful actions have dug a pit for yourselves.

A snare has gone around your leg. You have fallen into it if you're afflicted for your own sin run to Christ in prayer. If you're afflicted because of providential circumstances you run to Christ and prayer a little part I'm Most excited about today because the other part is a little too convicting.

In verse 13 are any of you Mary. Are you cheerful and Really at the heart of this word. It's kind of an old way of saying it. Are you of good courage? Does joy fill your heart? Well, you can't move on from that without responding in every circumstance.

There's an appropriate response to God in affliction. I have to pray. If there be cause for rejoicing and merriment I need to burst forth in song and every Lord's Day as The gathered people of God there should be the joyful singing of songs.

But you know what that should happen as a course and pattern of your life throughout the week. I'm the redeemed one. I belong to Christ. My sins have been forgiven burst forth and praise. Now what's interesting about this in the original language.

It doesn't say sing psalms. It says let him sing but the word that is Translated sing is so let toe. It's from where we get the idea of songs, but but this is the part that I really want you to grab. To so let toe is to pull to twitch to twang or to play to play on a stringed instrument to Celebrate the praises of God in song.

And brethren you and I today in every day because of the merriment of our heart need to pluck the strings of our cheerful hearts and Allow the vibrations of joy to exit our mouth in the exclamation of praise.

Pluck the harp of our hearts. The twang comes out we Strum and twitch and we pull and we say oh god you have done a mighty thing in saving us. And your heart bursts forth in song but you see. There's an activity there you have to reach in there.

You have to pull on it you have to twitch it you have to twang it you have to play it. That you might sing that's the other part of this and the reason there's not a praise on our lips like there's not a prayer in our heart is we don't Do these things?

We don't see we're not looking for occasions for praise we're looking for reasons to complain. Lord make our hearts merry. Oh Lord teach us to pray. Help us to pluck the chords of joy in our hearts that we might sing praises to you.

It requires something of us. To see things as they really are. To really acknowledge the good things That Christ has done for us. Let's consider verse 14. Does anyone? sick among you. We see the importance of seeing everything in relation to God, but there's some other components in this that are tied to our relation to God.

We are tied to the Ecclesia the church. It says in verse 14 if any are sick among you Let him call for the Presbyteros the Presbyterians the elders of the church. And let them pray over him. I don't know what the occasion is.

I Don't know that you should call for the elders of the church if you have a common cold. But if you're afflicted if you're suffering if you're languishing in your sickness in your illness. You should pray and ask the elders of the church to come and pray over you.

It's important to see here that we cannot have a relationship with God apart from a Relationship with his church and a church isn't a church if it doesn't have officers. There has to be elders in a church.

So you and I have to recognize that God has established order in this world. And he says you're not just a Christian floating around. You're a member of the church and you're under the authority of the elders and those elders are under the authority of other elders in a presbytery and Call on them ask them to Pray over you.

I've been asked to do this twice. And I've done it twice. If you ever want the elders of the church to come pray for you. Call upon us. Now the next word is important anointing to anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.

This idea is usually Seen with some question marks. We would reject the notions and I'm not going to get into it in the Romans of extreme unction. But I've done this prayer Ritual and I've brought olive oil both times.

Some people say today we shouldn't do that to anoint something is to show honor. To anoint oil on someone is to smear and cover their face in their head. It was perceived to be of Medicinal value, but I think that the real balm of the oil in that ancient world was Soothing it was comforting.

So prayer should be for us as the people of God. It was usually olive oil. It was put on the face of a guest to refresh them. And I was thinking about this in a very practical way. I Spend time in the Sun too much time in the Sun and sometimes my skin is dry and I was thinking That dry and arid land.

How dry it must have always been and dusty. I Bet the young people had raggedy crinkly wrinkled skin and what must have it have felt like to have Something that was somewhat costly to produce for for you to come to a house and for the host of that home to To take that oil and to smear it and rub it to show you honor and to relieve you of your your suffering in some way Must have been very powerful and beautiful.

To have your head anointed with oil anointing has been said shares a penetrating comfort to impart strength healing and joy. We should use oil in this ceremony. Because of our creatureliness and the provision of the Lord.

The prayer the oil running down our face would be the covering of our prayers. We would we would tangibly feel that oil dripping down our head and onto our beard and we would say Oh Lord I feel and I sense the the physical but it it points me to the spiritual the reality that the elders Appointed for this very purpose to lead the church to serve the people have come and have prayed over me.

For my healing. Oh Lord, this is a comfort we pass over these ordinary things. You've probably got a better moisturizer in your cabinet than olive oil. But I wonder if we've lost something now the question of healing comes here.

Verse 15 it says the prayer of faith shall save the sick. Does that mean every time you pray for the sick? I can imagine there be some in the charismatic realm says. The reason the prayers don't work is their lack of faith and everybody can be healed if there's the proper prayer.

Does it seem to teach that? The idea of sozo and it's one of those words that is connected to save and Salvation is to heal preserve rescue. To properly deliver out of danger and into safety. Do you know that you could be wretchedly sick?

Because of sin. Providence. Circumstances. We live in a fallen world. You can be diseased for no fault of your own. I Think this pastoral approach Acknowledges that maybe I have brought some some disease into my life through sin.

And this would make some sense to me why the elders prayers would unearth this and they're shepherding. They'd be saying okay. Have are you cheating on your wife? Maybe that's why you're afflicted. Are you robbing your employer.

Maybe that's why. These things are happening. The pastor would be looking into this not every sickness is because of sin overtly, but it is ultimately isn't it about sin and the salvation that we enjoy that the sozo of this might be a Comfort and a peace and a shalom in the midst of this sickness, which would lead ultimately to your death.

There is a salvation a saving in that. This idea, of course is principally used of God rescuing believers from the penalty and power of sin and so maybe I read of a Puritan account of a man who was Obstinate and his reception of the gospel fell desperately ill.

He called for the elders and they prayed for him anointed him. And he actually came to saving faith in Christ and died a couple of weeks later. And they said it was assuredly the illness the sickness that drove this obstinate man to his knees.

So the saving of that man was not that he got relieved of the affliction. But he had a soul that was now reconciled to God and be and was saved. It says the prayer of faith Shall save the sick and The Lord shall raise him up, of course, we immediately think of resurrection but it could be a healing physically bodily out of the bed.

It could be a real resurrection unto life with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And it says and if he has committed sins They shall be forgiven him. You and I need to be keeping short accounts with God.

And with one and one another. The second part of this is first was our relation to God in that global sense in every respect and Then the church which is reflected in the representatives of the church the officers.

But we're also required to have Communion with one another it says in verse 16 Confess your faults one to another and Pray for one another that ye may be healed. I think Mitch for praying today about the things that can happen negatively in the church body if We're sinning against each other and we're not loving each other properly.

Bitterness begins to grow. We become discontent. But if we confess our faults to each other. And pray for one another and love each other in this very deep and profound and intimate way. Then there would be healing and I think this healing extends beyond of course the physical.

But the breaches that could exist in a home and a marriage between parents and children and husband and wives. One of the greatest things that you can do if you're in any conflict is to acknowledge and own your part to confess your faults.

One of the things I hope will happen in the years to come At Ascension is that we would love each other and trust each other so much that we could confess our faults. To one another we wear masks. We cover ourselves we perform for each other.

It's time we became very honest with each other. And I think you'll find that when you go to a an honorable Christian person and your time of need confessing your sins. They're gonna be very eager to run to help you to deliver you out of that Struggle and bondage that you find yourself Pray for one another when those prayer requests come through.

Earnestly if you're able to in that moment stop in that moment and Adopt that idea of that newer fresher definition of prayer that that you would take that Circumstance and you would beseech the Lord and plead with him that he would reveal his will.

And that we would be conformed to it. That we would bear each other's burdens in this way that we would carry the load of one another and it's only possible if we Share that load with one another. Well the last part Of verse 16 I'm going to spend a moment on an overarching doctrine the whole of life now.

Relationship to the church broadly through her leadership and her members. And now the results. Do we really believe in the power of prayer? As I said this morning propositionally we do. Practically we don't.

We simply do not believe it. That the favorite slogan of the 80s probably was for Christians prayer changes things. I won't have a different definition prayer changes you. Prayer changes me and That's what we don't want.

That's the confrontation. That's the tension. Do you want to be? Irrevocably changed as a Pastor I see in myself and others. We rarely change our personality defects. Defects get a little bit Sanctified but there's not radical change and I have to wonder is it because we don't want to be changed says here that the effectual.

It's the word that we ultimately get energy from the idea of being at work. Made to a work made to accomplish things. The Effectiveness. The intensification of work. So this kind of praying is just not Oh Lord help Mark's toe.

That's hurting. This is a prayer at work laboring and and really being spent and giving a lot of energy and attention to and a crying out to God. It takes things from one stage one point. And it takes us to the next.

One description of this is it's like an electrical current. Energizing a wire. At the end making it a shining light bulb. It is the reason why the righteous man's prayer has Outward success. He's a righteous man.

He's praying in the will of God. He's clinging to the hem of the Lord's garment. He is not letting go until God blesses him. That's a prayer that works. We don't pray that way. Oh Lord, you know all the troubles I have in my life and I pray that you would make my circumstances better.

Amen. It's not this kind of praying. But maybe most striking in this language. Structure of prayer is the idea of fervency. The effectual fervent prayer. Says to be strong. To have power. I am filled with health and vigor if I'm fervent I have this strength.

Fervency is an embodied strength. And I love this language it gets into the fray. It engages the resistance. I should point out to you one of the reasons we don't pray and one of the reasons don't pray Especially for one another is.

Every time I pray for someone the Lord seems to make me want to go do something. The Lord meets the needs of his people through his people. I don't know if you know that He doesn't send money down from heaven.

The Lord provides for us his people through the moving in the spirit of his people to help them in their time of need. I don't want to pray because that means I might have to go do some work for somebody.

I want to pray for them. I'm gonna have to step in and get involved. Are you in getting into the fray with people? Are you engaging the resistance? For the believer this idea of fervency is referring to the Lord strengthening them with a combative confrontive force.

To achieve all he gives faith for it's got a military tone to it. This is the kind of prayer that the Lord loves to hear and to answer. That is when we're facing it some kind of resistance. This is what brings.

This is very important. What the Lord defines is success. Fervency brings. Not what I think success is but what the Lord defines success to be in the will of God praying in the will of God praising him for his will.

All these things seem to be coming together. This very combative. Are you combative in your prayers? Are you engaged? Are you fully engaged in your praying? The urgent request. Although the Lord approves the urgent request of a righteous man.

Who's energized by him? One Commentator on the Greek text said here the believer seeks to make petitions and faith. And I love this language again, which are in accord with God's in birthings. And what is that?

The persuasion of his will. Earnestness. Eagerness. Great vehemence with great warmth. Epaphroditus Paul writes salutes you. Colossians 4. He labors Fervently for you in his prayers. Well, the time is gone.

The James gives us a great example in Elijah and in that account and I gave you at first Kings 17 and 18, please read that this afternoon. It is the Sabbath day after all you don't have anything else to be doing.

You should read a couple chapters of the Bible in this section. We have Elijah confronting the wickedness of Ahab the exposure of the 450 wicked prophets of Baal the destruction of them him calling fire down from heaven and just before that he has the provision of the widow and her son the death of the widow's son and the Reinvigoration in life and resurrection of the dead son all.

Happens in this section that James cites to show that the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man. Availeth much. Well, the first thought that comes to mind is our Lord in his high priestly prayer prayed that he would carry some people with him and You are part of that band.

The effective fervent prayer of the righteous man has availed much the people of God. You and I in light of these things must boldly approach the throne of grace. That we might find help in our time of need.

To neglect prayer is a great deficiency in Christian virtue. It demonstrates a lack of faith and it denies that God has power to act. Where do you run when the chips are down? You better be running to the Lord.

You be you better be ready and willing when you pray to him on your knees and your knees better get scabbed. You better be on your knees and and you better be able to hear his voice the truth to come through in Revealed in Scripture and the power of the Spirit.

You've also got to pray in such a way that you're really willing to get mixed up in the dirty business of everybody's lives. Third. We need to ask the Lord today to grant us greater faith. That would yield greater fervency in our prayers.

And finally Take every circumstance To the Lord reflect his goodness and praise or hold up the shield of faith and redirect all of the trials and the hardships and the sufferings and the afflictions of this light deflect them heavenward in prayer.

That we might find help in our time of need. Brethren James teaches that righteous praying Yields God's power because righteous praying has God's will as its aim. Let's pray together. Oh Lord. We cry out to you with thanksgiving for your servant Calvin who? teaches us through the exposition of your word through ordinary preaching.

He comes to this that your servant James means to Tell us that there is no time in Which God does not invite us to himself. And Oh Lord, how much more weighty and potent is this for us who are now about to approach your table?

You bid us to come. Oh Lord. Help us to enjoy the the fullness of the gift of your grace. No, Lord, we say with the disciples. Oh Lord. Teach us to pray. We ask all these things in Jesus name, amen.