Prayer Still Works

James 5:13-16

I have heard it said by some that prayer is nothing more than a Christian's self-help medicine, a verbal homeopathic remedy of sorts. I have even heard it said on television documentaries that prayer is the perfect illustration of the power of suggestion. In other words, if a man convinces himself that he is healed of a sickness, then his brain will heal him. These same people try to find scientific evidence to disprove every sign, and a psychological basis for every miracle. Worst of all, some of these people are in our very own church. We fellowship and break bread with them every Sunday. We study with them, and even more frightening is that we learn from them as well. From laymen to preachers, the church is becoming infiltrated with people that no longer believe in the power of prayer; worst of all, their ideology increases in popularity day after day. It is distressing to see that so many people in the church today do not believe in a God that answers prayers. They believe in an impersonal god, the watchmaker god, who built a clock, wound the spring, then let time run its own course. John Newton, like me, believed in a personal God, a caring God that answers prayers. You can see this in the marvelous hymn he taught his church to sing: “Thou art coming to a King, large petitions with thee bring; for His grace and power are such, none can ever ask too much." Note, he sings "Large petitions with thee bring", for this is our God, an awesome God, and a God that is willing and able to answer prayers of any size. James was trying to drive this very point home when he wrote, "Is anyone of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone of you happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is anyone of you sick? He should 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 make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective (James 5:13-16)." The purpose of the book of James, written to the Christian Jews who were scattered throughout the Roman Empire, was to exhort his readers to support with their lives, that which they had proclaimed with their lips. In the aforementioned passage (5:13 – 16), it is the wisdom and strength of prayer that James is trying to teach by describing various types of intercessions that should be lifted up before the Lord. This was a vital part of the structure of the body of Christ. This was to be a foundation not only for the individual but for the body of believers universal. It was, and is, the tie that binds. Time has not changed the importance of James' convictions. We, as individuals, and a universal body, need to support with our lives that which we had proclaimed with our lips. The wisdom and strength of prayer that James proclaimed to the scattered Jews in the First Century continues to be the strength that binds the individual together with the body, and the body together with the foundation, which is Christ Jesus our Lord. Prayer still works, and always has. For our God isn't only the maker of the watch, but the keeper of time as well. He is behind every catch and click for every second of every day. He is the craftsman who said to His creation, "I am with you always (Matthews 28:20b)." He is a personal God, a caring God, and a God that reminds us, "Thou art coming to a King, large petitions with thee bring; for His grace and power are such, none can ever ask too much."  [mp]

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Michael D'Urbano
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