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The 11th Sunday in Trinity
Scriptural Teaching About Prayer
August 16, 2009

TEXT:  (James 5:13-18 NKJ) Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? 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. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
 
Last week we examined the Lord’s Prayer—today we continue with our discussion on prayer—and how we should pray—sometimes we have a friend who suffers and needs help—we pray for them—does it do any good?—what should we pray for?—how should we pray?—we begin our examination of God’s Word—the first thing we should understand is that prayer is to be persistent—Paul says pray continuously
(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NKJ) Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
 
Jesus says be insistent and persistent—God will give what you ask—therefore keep asking—and it will be given—consider the lesson of Jesus
 
(Luke 11:5-13 NKJ) And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him,`Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 `for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; 7 "and he will answer from within and say,`Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you '? 8 "I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs. 9 "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 "If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 "Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"
 
Paul asked the Ephesians to pray for him and for the saints—and he instructs them to be persistent in their prayer
 
(Ephesians 6:17-20 NKJ) And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints-- 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
 
This is not the only place Paul asks for his fellow Christians to pray for him
 
(2 Thessalonians 3:1-2 NKJ) Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, 2 and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith.
 
Notice that Paul is really asking for prayer for the work of the Church—not for his personal safety—but for the workers of God—that they may be spared from wicked men—Paul has such a sense of urgency concerning the spreading of the Word—he wants everyone to pray for the success of God’s workers—because Paul knows that God wants all men to be saved
(1 Timothy 2:1-4 NKJ) Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
 
Prayer brings comfort—strength—prayer brings help from God!—there are many examples of Old Testament prayers—and the Jews James is addressing would be familiar with these examples—and as we examine these examples—consider that each prayer is for the work of God and the glory of God—each individual wants to do God’s will—perhaps that is the lesson to learn today—pray for the things we need to do God’s work—and receive that which God promised
 
The Prayer of Abraham’s Servant Sent to Find a Wife for Isaac
(Genesis 24:13-19 NKJ) "Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 "Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say,`Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,' and she says,`Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink'-- let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master." 15 And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder. 16 Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up. 17 And the servant ran to meet her and said, "Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher." 18 So she said, "Drink, my lord." Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink. 19 And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, "I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking."
 
Gideon Asked for a Sign on the Fleece
 
(Judges 6:36-40 NKJ) So Gideon said to God, "If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said-- 37 "look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said." 38 And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew." 40 And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.
Solomon’s Request for the Wisdom to Lead God’s People
 
(2 Chronicles 1:10-12 NKJ) "Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?" 11 And God said to Solomon: "Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life-- but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king-- 12 "wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like."
 
We are instructed by Paul to watch out for and pray for each other
 
(Philippians 2:4 NKJ) Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
 
Look to God for the things your need to do His work—and have faith that He will provide according to His promises
 
(James 1:5-7 NKJ) If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
 
And in closing our thoughts, we consider the words of our text concerning a righteous man
 
TEXT:  (James 5:16 NKJ) Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
 
How did that righteous man obtain the status of being righteous?—it has nothing to do with that man—and everything to do with God’s mercy and grace—our faith comes from the Holy Spirit—and our faith fuels our prayers—therefore a righteous man is a man of faith—and his faith strengthens his prayer
 
(Philippians 3:8-9 NKJ) Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
 
And since it is our faith that gives our prayer strength—more people praying with strong faith increases the strength of our petition—many praying give strength to the prayer—and our final thought is that of King Solomon—in his grandfatherly chat with believers as he approached the end of his days on earth—hear his message concerning prayer
 
(Ecclesiastes 5:2 NKJ) Do not be rash with your mouth, And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; Therefore let your words be few.
 
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!