PRAYER is POWERFUL!

John Farley
Pastor-Teacher
Sunday,
June 11, 2017

Practical Christianity:

PRAYER is POWERFUL!

The two great themes of James in his final exhortation are patience, and prayer.

Jam 5:13-20

Prayer is mentioned in each verse from Jam 5:13-18.

Pray for your needs. Pray for others.
Pray together.

Jam 5:13

The first exhortation is for the suffering believer to pray for the patience to endure that suffering. (context is Jam 5:10)

Rom 12:9-13

Jam 5:14-15

1. It’s the PRAYER offered in FAITH that restores the one who is sick. (see also Mat 21:22)

Here FAITH means confidence that the Lord’s will is to heal the person.

2. In the first century, anointing with oil had a medicinal purpose.

Luk 10:33-34

James anticipated the return of Christ as Messiah.

3. The proclamation of the coming kingdom was accompanied by anointing the sick with oil and healing them.

Mar 6:12-13

4. James ministered in the period when miracles were common, especially healings.

Act 2:43; Act 3:1-9; Act 4:7-12,Act 4:29-30; Act 5:12-16; Act 8:5-8; Act 9:32-42; Act 14:8-10;
Act 15:12-13; Act 19:11-12;
1Co 12:9, 1CO 12:28.

Act 5:15-16

5. During our Lord’s earthly ministry, healing and the forgiveness of sins went hand in hand.

Luk 5:17-25

Jam 5:16

We are to pray for one another to be healed of any sickness.

This is the only verse in the New Testament that explicitly commands believers to confess their sins to one another.

The practice of confessing sins originated in the Law of Moses. See Lev 5:5; Lev 16:21; Num 5:7

Confessing sins is also mentioned in two Psalms: Psa 32:5 and Psa 38:18

The Jewish remnant that returned with Nehemiah to Jerusalem confessed their sins as well as the iniquity of their fathers.

This was a one-time event. (Neh 9:2-3)
The same thing occurred with Ezra. (Ezr 10:1, Ezr 10:11)

John the Baptist baptized the Jews in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

They did this once, as part of a ritual that prepared them for their coming Messiah.

Mar 1:4-8


© Lighthouse Bible Church of South Florida, Inc. / John Farley • lbible.org • All rights reserved.