16. THE POWER OF PRAYER

26 May 2013
Steve Grant
Series on The Epistle of James
James 5:13-18

THE POWER OF PRAYER

The passage before us today is not an easy one to understand, much less an easy one to preach. However, if we are to remain true to the Word of God then we must immerse ourselves in it rather than shy away from it.

On the face of it, almost every verse in this passage has the term ‘pray’ (or ‘prayer’) in it. So we can safely conclude that James had the idea of ‘prayer’ on his mind when he was writing this. It’s quite significant that he does this; because he’s nearing the end of his letter and the thing that is on his mind is ‘prayer’.

What’s more, we can discern four instances of prayer that James seems to be advocating: Prayer when we suffering; Prayer when we’re joyful; Prayer when we’re sick; and Prayer when we sin.

We need to pay close attention to what God is teaching us through James given that prayer is such a vital part of Christian living.