The prayer of a righteous person has great power.
September 27, 2009
James 5:13-20
13Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14Is 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. 15And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
19My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
The Gospel teaches us that it is not our praying which heals and saves us, but rather it is the One to Whom we are praying that heals us, namely, Jesus Christ. St. James wrote like this: "The prayer of a righteous person has great power." The trouble is that we are all sinners. There is really no one who is righteous except Jesus Christ. The prayer of this righteous man had power when he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. "If it is possible, take this cup away from me. Yet, not my will but yours be done." It is when he prayed on the cross for those who crucified him, those who crucified him then and those who still crucify him with their sin today. "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." This is the prayer that saves us. It is the prayer of Jesus that heals us."
James says, "And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven" (v 15). We understand that this prayer is rooted in trusting Christ and therefore results in healing/salvation. Because our sins are forgiven in Jesus Christ, we become that righteous person whose prayers have great power. Such confidence causes us to open our eyes to see those who need our prayers. We see the sick, the diseased, the discomforted, the sufferers, and those who have wandered from the truth of the Gospel. We see them and in sympathy and pity we become anxious and excited to spread Godfs wonderful healing and salvation. And so we pray.
Amen.