James 5:13-18, Bold Praying

(We have concluded our studies in basic Bible doctrine.  For the next few days I want to post what I call "odds and ends."  The subjects are not all related but we trust will be uplifting/edifying.)

Some time back a young in our fellowship, Daniel King, preached on several occasions while we were spending time with family.  Our church has enjoyed his preaching in my absence, and I was able to hear him on one of those Sundays.  It was very encouraging and I want to share with you my notes from his message.

The beginning text was today’s reading from James, with the key thought coming from 5:16-17: The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.  Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly.  James is a had hitting book, a perfect example of Heb. 4:12 where the word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  Brief mention was made of the fact that God always answers our prayers, but always in accordance with His will.  Also, he mentioned briefly the need we have in our fellowships to share our needs with others; otherwise people will not b praying for us.  This must, as 5:16 indicates, include our trespasses.  As Scripture makes clear, if we make room for sin in our hearts the Lord will not hear our prayers (Ps. 66:16-20; 1 Pt. 3:8-12).

With this background, we were then led to consider bold praying, the kind of praying that characterized Elijah.  Our brother brought to our attention three illustrations, beginning with Elijah.

·       Bold praying of Elijah, 1 Kings 17:1-7; 18:41-46.  As James points out, Elijah prayed twice, once to bring an end to the rain and begin the drought; and once to bring back the rains.  It is great encouragement to note that, according to James, Elijah is a man just like us.  I say that because when you read the story, it is quite amazing.  As Daniel mentioned, the first prayer doesn’t look like a prayer.  Elijah just makes a proclamation that it won’t rain again until he says so.  He understood God’s will, and was God’s prophet.  The second prayer is one of great pleading with God, with his head bowed between his knees and seven times he pleads with the LORD.  The requests were certainly bold, and in between was the event on Mt. Carmel when Elijah called down fire from heaven.  This was an opportunity for the people to repent of their sin and acknowledge the true God.  In other words, the three plus years of drought was an important event to help turn the hearts of the people to the LORD.

·       Bold praying of Nehemiah, Neh. 1.  Nehemiah’s bold praying is based on the word of God.  Nehemiah heard a report of the sad situation of Jerusalem.  His first reaction was to pray.  His prayer is based on God’s promise that if, in captivity, Israel would repent and turn to Him, He would return to them and bring them back to the land (Neh. 1:8-9; Deut. 30:2-5).  When he finished praying Nehemiah just returned to his job, and God answered the bold prayer.  Not only did God enable Nehemiah to go back to rebuild the walls; He moved the king to provide the materials necessary for the work.

·       Bold praying of Joshua, Josh. 10:7-15.  This is the occasion when, in answer to prayer, the sun stood still for about a day so that Israel could complete the defeat of her enemies in obedience to the LORD.  Again, Joshua’s words aren’t the typical prayer.  It sounds more like he commanded the sun to stand still.  But we know it’s a prayer because of the remarkable statement in v14: And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the LORD heeded the voice of a man, for the LORD fought for Israel. 

As encouragement for us, at the conclusion of the teaching we were reminded of our own promises from God with respect to prayer.  First, He commands us to come into His presence to pray, promising grace and mercy to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16).  And second, God reminds us that He will do exceedingly and abundantly above what we ask or think (Eph. 3:20).  We need to pray bold prayers!