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Examining Your Ways: Run to God No Matter What

James 5:12-18

Last Tuesday afternoon, as I met with a few colleagues to look at this week's Bible passage, I read the text and then asked Pastor Jeff Liou to pray. He prayed, "Heavenly Father, we run to you today. We run to you with our problems. We run to you with our praise. We run to you with our weaknesses. We run to you with our sins..." As he prayed, I knew that what Jeff prayed is exactly what Pastor James called us to do in James 5:12-18. So today, we too will seek to learn from James about how to run to God in prayer.
Of course, there is a fundamental question that always comes up with this topic: Can prayer really change things? Many people question whether it does. One area of doubt about prayer was caused by the rise of modern science in the Enlightenment period. Most of us who are here today have been educated to see the world simply as being a place of cause and effect ruled by material laws. Of course, people who view the world like that wrestle with finding a meaningful role for prayer except possibly as for our own mental and emotional well-being. I've even heard Christian speakers suggest, "Prayer is important – but mostly for how it helps the one praying – not to change things."
And this point brings us to what Pastor James of the 1st Church of Jerusalem had to say about prayer. Remember that James had written that God knows what tomorrow holds – so James believed that God is in control – that God has a plan for this world and the future is in his hand. But, we will see that in spite of believing that, Pastor James spoke clearly about praying that God will intervene in our lives and change things. James was convinced that God has found a way to manage the universe in such a way that prayer changes things. I think the key sentence today is in 5:16b: The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. And that's the thought James drove home near the end of his pastoral letter. What does he say?

#1: When You're in Trouble, Run to God (5:12-13a).
Is anyone among you in trouble? Let him pray (5:13).
Read vv.12-13a. Let's take a moment to think about how these apparently unrelated verses go together.
In 5:12 James tells us how we ought not to respond to trouble. "Watch your words," he said. Job, whom he had referred to in 5:11, is the key to understanding the main point James is making in v.12. Job's wife encouraged him to curse God for all the problems he had. But Job replied, "You are speaking foolishness. Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?" This is what God said about Job: "In all this, Job did not sin in what he said (Job 1:22)." In all his trouble, Job refused to swear against God, to blame God, or even by taking oaths to try to manipulate God.
Here's the point: In every language, people use oaths of different kinds to emphasize what we are saying. Sometimes it's just, "I swear on a stack of Bibles that what I'm saying is true." But often, this attempt to make a point strongly leads on into other kinds of swearing. The Apostle Peter was a classic case. On the night of Jesus' trial, he was accused of being a disciple and he said, "I'm not." Then he snapped and the Bible says, "He cursed and swore." Isn't that a normal human reaction under pressure? An oath easily becomes an expletive.
James in 5:12 says that very often people swear by God – "by heaven". Sometimes. We use profanity: People swear by something vile "on earth". Sometimes it's just plain crudity: People swear "by anything else." And the more we do it, the more it becomes a way of life. And what does it mean really? It means we are not responding patiently to our troubles. No, we get mad and our speech gets out of control. When trouble comes, James said, watch your tongue. It will be the first thing to get out of line and sin.
James tells us what a Christian ought to do in v. 13. Is anyone among you in trouble? Let him pray. James is telling us to do what Jeff Liou prayed, i.e, we should run to God. That's a very basic thing Pastor James wants to teach about prayer. You should immediately run to God when you are in trouble.
Don't misunderstand: That's not the ONLY time you should pray. Some only turn to God in distress. What a horrible way to think of any relationship! How would you like it if a friend came around to see you only when he/she needed something? No, a true friendship involves a sharing of joys as well as troubles.
Are you in trouble? Don't swear but pray. This is the proper response to the trouble that God allows to come into your life. There's all the difference between swearing in Christ's name (v.12) and praying in Christ's name (v.13). The former changes nothing. The latter can change everything.
And since this is written to a church congregation, it's clear to me that one of the best places to pray about trouble is when you are with your Christian friends in a church setting. That way, we can pray with and for one another and help bear one another's burdens.

#2: When Things Are Going Well, Run to God (5:13b).
Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.
This word translated "happy" is really a very broad word speaking of those times when things are going well. It's the opposite of times of trouble. Times of trouble often drive us to our Heavenly Father. Those who have gone through trials often have learned to know that God is present and sufficient in ways that those who have never faced difficultly have never learned.
So, if you are going through a relatively easy time in your life right now, what should you do? You should run to God – and thank him and praise him and sing "hallelujahs" to him. How did James put it in ch.1? "Every good gift comes down to us from our Father." Do you believe that? If you do, you should be grateful. You should love to sing praise to God and not take him and his gifts for granted.
Notice that James does not say here, "Is any of you in trouble, let him sing songs of praise." Singing songs is appropriate in good times. When we're in distress, most of us don't feel like singing. James says we need not try. I think this is an important lesson. The Bible never says that Christians always have to go around with "Hallelujah" on our lips. We don't find Job singing songs of praise when he learned his children had all been killed. We don't find Jesus in a jubilant mood as he contemplated the agony of the cross in Gethsemane. Sorrow is a part of Christian experience in an imperfect world. And offered to God in prayer, it can sometimes be more spiritually deepening and can be just as God honoring as times of joy and praise can be. Those who say, "Ignore sorrow and praise the Lord anyway" have never grasped the role that true sorrow can play in our walks with God. Tears are not unspiritual. But, we are to turn tears into prayer.
So whether you are sad or happy, share it with God through prayer and praise. Good parents often come in the evening and sit down with their children and say, "Tell me what you've been doing today." And, they want to hear about that skinned up knee, the ice cream truck that came by, the paper that the teacher liked, the math test that the teacher didn't like ... In that way, God our Father takes an interest in every circumstance. He wants you to run to him about whatever is happening in your life.
Let me tell you this: One of the most important disciplines in your spiritual life is to turn to God in good times. Usually then, we pull away from God and take him for granted. So, in good times, run to God.

#3: When You Are Sick, Run to God (5:14-15b).
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will rescue the sick person; the Lord will raise him up.
Pastor James takes more time to discuss what to do about sickness than about any other kind of trouble we might experience. I've asked myself why. I imagine the reason was that in his churches, like every church I've ever been in, when people share prayer requests, a huge portion of them is about physical infirmities. His words have led to 2,000 years of churches debating about what James meant in the two sentences that answer the question about what to do when a church person is sick. Sadly, I don't have time to go over the many different ways vv.14-15 have been understood. But, I will at least let you know how I answer several of the more difficult questions they raise.
1. How serious must the sickness be? The word translated "sick" was a word usually used for serious illness. It was more than a head cold or flu. More than that, James speaks of the elders coming to the bedside which indicates James is thinking of one seriously weakened by sickness. So it's serious illness though not necessarily terminal illness – that should lead us to call for corporate prayer.
2. Who is to be involved? He should call the elders of the church to pray.
This was an important phrase for the early church. I'm quite sure James was telling his church people that the ministry of healing was not limited to the days of the apostles. And, all Christians should pray for other believers when they are sick. Still, in these verses, what James was teaching was a specific ministry within a local church family. He said that those who are in spiritual leadership should be called in for prayer when a person is seriously sick. For us, we apply this passage to our Ministry Council, our pastors, and our prayer team. One thing is clear to me: This kind of ministry should be a normal part of church's life.
3. Who takes the initiative? He should call the elders. This part is often missed the initiative is in the hands of the sick person. Again, God surely can heal when this specific step is not followed. It's not wrong for any believer to take the initiative and say, "May I pray for you?" But, James is telling us about one role that those in spiritual leadership should always exercise. James envisioned a caring church in which a sick person calls in his spiritual leaders to pray for his healing.
4. What about the oil? Pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. That, to me, is a very interesting reference. On one side, the use of oil was probably signifying the value of natural healing means -- because oil was very important in the medicinal practices of James' day. On the other side, the oil almost certainly signified the supernatural healing power of God through prayer -- because anointing with oil was common in early Jewish and Christian sacramental settings. It pointed to the presence of God and the working of God's Spirit.
To tell you the truth, the Bible never draws a line between physical and spiritual healing. The
Bible treats the spiritual, emotional, and physical parts of a person as simply being parts of a whole. A pastor like James wouldn't have talked about healing as being either natural or divine. He knew that all healing came from God.
When we grasp that, we see that it may be that the elders were using the conventional medicines of their day but used them in a prayerful consecrated manner in conscious dependence on God. They knew that the material in the medicine was made by God and the knowledge utilized in medicine was from God too. So, they anointed with oil ... in the name of the Lord.
5. What is this prayer of faith in v.15 that God responds to? "Prayer of faith" does not mean that we make ourselves believe something we don't believe – and pray for something in a way that shows so much belief that God has to do what we ask of him. Sometimes, the greatest faith is shown in an honest confession like, "Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief." A prayer of faith has usually been understood as a very specific prayer calling upon God to act. The person praying this prayer is a spiritual leader in the church who believes God can do anything. And, it always includes, as Jesus' prayer included, "Lord, this is what we ask for... but your will be done; not ours." It is therefore a prayer – not a demand. A prayer of faith has sometimes been explained as being a prayer that is in contrast to a "prayer of rest", a phrase that is meant to describe the kind of prayer in which we don't know what to ask for as in Romans 8:26.
6. What is God promising in this passage? V.15: The prayer offered in faith will heal/rescue the sick person; the Lord will raise him up (5:15). Pastor James picked his words carefully here. I do not think he means that God promises each time we pray this way, he is forced to heal the physical sickness. That kind of healing wouldn't last anyway. All those who experience healing this side of Jesus' return will someday still die. But, James didn't use the use the usual word for "heal" in v. 15. He used a much broader word with a bigger and more magnificent promise – the promise is "to save". The absolute promise is that God will make all things right. God will save! Sickness is something that entered God's creation when sin entered the world. When we run to God in a time of physical weakness, sometimes he will heal us physically. But, James declares that God always promises that ultimate salvation will happen ending in a world with no sickness or pain. And, James drives this home with his second statement, "The Lord will raise him up." This word translated "raise up" referred to many things: a) that God will raise you up out of your shame if sin has led to your trouble, b) that God will lift you up and out of your weakness in his time and c) even that God will eventually raise you up from the dead to eternal life with him.
So, when you experience a serious sickness, you should call the spiritual leadership to pray specifically for God to heal and raise you up. We will have oil ready and will pray a prayer of faith for you. And, you will know in God's time, his presence and saving power. When you are sick, run to God.

#4: When You Have Sinned, Run to God (5:15b-16a).
If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.
From these verses, it's clear to me that the Bible teaches there is a connection between sickness and sin. All sickness came into this world because of sin. If Pastor James and I are right when we say that there is a connection between human sin and human illness, then we won't eradicate the one fully until the other is eradicated. When Jesus returns to make all things right, sin will be done away with and so will sickness.
I must speak carefully here. Notice that James says "if" "if he has sinned." Much sickness is not caused by one's own sin! Some sickness comes to us because we live in a sinful world and our sins impact one another. Often, innocent people must bear the pain of someone else's sin. It's sin in our human family related to Adam that generates the illness though sometimes one's own personal sins surely may lead to illness as well. I don't need to elaborate on this. We all know many ways that our sins can ruin our bodies.
Because of that, James calls for a time of confession of sins when we pray for the sick. A church that deals with sin in general in this open way, calling for confession while offering forgiveness, will likely be a church that knows greater spiritual health and probably greater physical health as well.
But, the general point James makes is this: When there is sin in your life, there is one place you should run. Run to God. Confess your sins. And you know his promise: If you confess your sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive your sins and will cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 Jn 1:9).
Years ago I took my daughter Heather to Disneyland. At the time we were reading Kenneth Greene's Wind and the Willows and she loved the story of Mr. J. Thaddeus Toad, Esq. She saw the entrance for Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and insisted we go together. As we were sitting in the wagon, she beamed with joy as she hugged my arm. But, the ride is dark and terrifying. In those parts, she grabbed me and held on so tight I didn't think I could breathe! Then, as we came to the end, she broke out into a big smile, looked up at me and shouted, "We made it!"

It's in that childlike way that God calls you to bring him into the center of every part of your life. As we go to prayer today, I invite you to do just that. In hard times and good times; in times of sickness and in times of failure, run to God. You will find that he receives you.

To His glory,

Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor