Respond With Hope

father do indeed open our hearts up to the expectancy of that truth that soon we're going to be with you soon we'll be in your presence and this place will be no more uh we'll be home finally where we belong and lord now open our hearts to your word that we might be instructed thereby that we might walk in a way that's worthy and pleasing to you we ask these things in jesus name amen james chapter 5 well we've gotten to the point where we're in our almost last week of james i really wanted to kind of finish up this week but it's just not going to be we'll finish up next week um i don't know how it's been in your life but it's been really instructional and

convicting in mine i've seen the lord do a lot of things with me through this book so i pray that he's spoken to your heart as well we're in the last section verses 13 through 20 and so let's look at those together those verses james says is any one of you in trouble he should pray is anyone happy let him sing songs of praise is any one 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 each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed

the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective elijah was a man just like us he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years again he prayed and the heavens gave rain and the earth produced its cross my brothers if one of you should wonder from the truth and someone else should wonder from the truth and someone else should bring him back remember this whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sin robert go ahead and pick these two if you would there we go all right in james we've been looking at the workings of faith with the idea of

understanding that james is telling us that if we are truly believers in jesus christ if jesus is truly our lord and savior there will be evidences of that fact that he is producing in us that his spirit resident in us is working in us and we are truly believers in jesus christ and we are truly believers in us to will and to do of his good pleasure that he is working us out and filling us with him and there will be evidences of that fact in our daily lives and as we've come to chapter five we've looked at the idea that part of the workings of faith in our lives will be that as we come into difficult circumstances the pressures of life that we will be learning to respond with

hope the world is called on to have hope we are to hope in different things according to different people we're to hope in our country we're to hope in our leaders we're to hope in science but all of those are weak and limited there's only so much that each of those areas can do or provide but god calls us to hope in him because he is everlasting his mercy endures forever he'll never leave us nor forsake us he is always faithful his mercy is new every morning his grace is sufficient for us he has a plan and a purpose and he'll accomplish that in our lives so we're called on to hope in him and if indeed jesus is active and alive in our lives we will be learning to respond to him and we will be learning to respond to him and we will be

responding with hope to the different situations in life um i was reading in devotions this week and came to psalm 130 psalm psalm 130 if you look in your bible we'll probably at the top of the psalm say a psalm of ascents and it's a song the psalms are songs so it's a song that was used by the jewish people as they would come from the different areas around the world to jerusalem specifically three different times a year to worship at pentecost at passover pentecost and tabernacles but whenever they would travel to jerusalem they would come to jerusalem and they would come to jerusalem you would you come to jerusalem and you come up because it sits on top of a mountain

area mount moriah and you come up to the city of jerusalem and as you come there are different things we've talked about before there's the the wilderness that is a scary kind of place to be but just in a heart's preparation to come and meet with the lord in jerusalem they would sing these different songs as they were coming as they were ascending to the hill of jerusalem so this is one of those songs of ascents and in it or verses five and six and the psalmist writes i wait for the lord my soul waits and in his word i put my hope my soul waits for the lord more than the watchman waits for the morning more than the watchman wait for the morning it says that twice

it emphasizes that twice in verse six i thought that was interesting that caught my eye as i meditated upon that the lord impressed upon my heart the study that we've been going through in james 5 and responding with hope hoping in the lord the psalmist as he's as he's writing about coming to jerusalem he's writing about all the trials and all the things that he faces his own sin that overwhelms him at times how how will that ever be done away with and he just cries out i put my hope in the lord i wait for the lord my soul waits and in his word i put my hope in the promises that god's given us in his word and then he says twice my soul waits for the lord more than

watchman wait for the morning and so whenever god repeats himself remember it's for our benefit that we look at what he says especially there my soul waits for the lord more than the watchman waits for the morning now to understand that you have to know the eastern culture of that particular time and many of the largest cities were called fortified cities they had walls of protection built around them and there would be watchmen stationed on the walls and their duty was to watch two areas they watched in the city and if there were any kind of a disturbance going on or whatever they were like the local police force and they would summon help to take care of that

disturbance but they would also watch outside the walls for invaders for intruders and if they saw the armies coming or whatever they would call out or they would blow a trumpet and they would warn the rest of the city that there was an army coming and they would prepare now it's here though my my hope is in the lord and i will wait for the lord my hope is in the lord more than the watchman who waits for morning i was on third shift when i was in the police department we rotated shifts every 28 days which was a trip in itself because you just got used to one and you had to swing over to another one and your body just never caught up and when you get to third shift it's midnights and you're you know you're tired anyhow and you're not quite with it and

then when you have to check doors and and things like that sometimes your eyes play tricks on you and if there are places that are dark and not as well lit you have to kind of strain to see if there's something there and if you kind of hear something uh you know your adrenaline starts to flow and it can activate you and then there's nothing there and then you kind of come off the adrenaline rush which makes you more tired than you were before you know and then you got to go through your shift and you know there are evil things out there they're just out there you know that and you're just kind of waiting to make sure you know to see if you can see any of them or catch any and that's the idea of the watchman on the wall at night he knows that

there are intruders out there and it was at night many times that the armies would sneak in towards and would build the siege ramps the siege ramps were simply they'd bring in dirt and they'd pile dirt up and stack it up if you go to israel today you'll see the siege ramps for masada you can go down in the southern part of israel to masada the giant fortress built on top of a mountain and see the remnants of a siege ramp that the romans built when they huge thing went up hundreds of feet in the air to take the the city of masada the fortress of masada and they would build these things a lot at night because they could sneak in and start dumping the dirt and stacking it and piling it

in all sorts of towns and submarines and so on and so forth at night all at night but were completely undetected and so the watchmen were aware of that and they were wary of that and they try and strain and it causes the adrenaline to flow and they were longing for the morning for daylight so they could see better it was their hope and so the psalmist is saying here though that my hope in the lord is greater than that my anticipation of his coming of his taking care of me is greater than the watchman that watches in the night there are many here this morning who don't have hope who are seemingly hopeless and you identify yourself as a believer as a christian as a

and yet you are overwhelmed in discouragement you are overwhelmed by circumstances around you and god is telling us through james that we're to respond in these circumstances with hope god is working in our lives and he will empower us we just need to yield to him to let him help us respond and hope verses 7 through 12 in chapter 5 we saw that that response is first of all in the hope of the soon coming of the lord jesus is coming soon no doubt about that i am fully convinced in myself in my own heart that barring natural causes of death i will see jesus return i will see the lord's return in my lifetime barring any accidents or that i'm not going to grow old enough to die i really i'm i feel convinced of that in my own heart jesus is coming in this

generation and that gives me a hope and if he doesn't i'm going to be discouraged of course not i'm going home where i belong just like just like robbie was thinking i'm going there one way or another i'm going to get there but my hope is in the soon coming of the lord that was the disciples soon hope they hope that in the soon coming of of the soon return of christ they believed that he was coming against them and so we saw that in verses 7 through 12 that they were to wait they were to persevere under their pressures under their trials and they were to wait patiently like the farmer like the prophets and like job like the farmer we saw last time that they were to wait and work while they were waiting for the

harvest there's a lot of pressure there's a lot of things on a farmer but he continues to work while he waits for the harvest so are we to do like the prophets who were to witness who were to continue to tell people about jesus and about his love and about his saving power and about his enabling and about his coming again and the kingdom that is soon to come they witnessed they were belittled they were mocked some were imprisoned some were killed but they witnessed while they waited for god to vindicate them to show forth their righteousness and so are we to do that we're to live as believers in jesus christ and we'll suffer persecution for that fact but we're to continue to tell people about the lord while we wait for god to vindicate it and then

we're to wait like job we're to wait like job who worshiped while he waited for god to fulfill his purpose in job's life he didn't blame god he didn't curse god he asked god why which is fine we'll see that here today in this study but he didn't blame god for his circumstances and he didn't curse god he worshiped him while he waited for god to fulfill whatever purpose he was doing in job's life and that's how we are to wait that's how we are to patiently endure to bear up as we hope in the lord soon return now as we come to verses 13 through 20 there is another hope that as christians we are to have and that's hope in the blessing of prayer hope in the blessing of prayer now this

may sound fundamental but follow me with this today if you would humor me act like you're interested we are to hope in the blessing of prayer uh i hope nobody here works for the county if you do this is all in jest there was this guy that pulled up to a gas station out in the country i'm sure it wasn't around here but he pulls up to the gas station in in the country a little country gas store stop quick stop and after he got his gas he went in and and paid for his gas and got a coke he was standing there leaning up against his car drinking a coke and he looked across the road and there were two guys across the road and they were working one guy was standing there and

as this guy watched he would dig a hole and then he'd walk on down about 25 feet and he'd start digging another hole and the guy behind him was coming up to this hole and he was starting to fill it in and this guy's standing there drinking his pop and he's watching this for about 10 or 15 minutes and he gets in his car and he starts driving off and finally he's driving down the road he drives past these guys and he sees him doing that and he drives a little further and he can't stand it any longer he stops and he turns the car around and he drives up and he gets out and i've been watching you and one of you guys is digging this hole and the other guy is coming

along and filling in the hole behind him he says aren't you wasting the county's money by doing this one of the guys said now you don't understand mister and he leaned on his shovel and he wiped the sweat off his brow he said normally there's three of us me and rodney and mike here and he says i dig the hole and rodney comes along and puts a tree in the hole and mike comes along and fills it in and he says just because rodney's sick don't mean me and mike can't go ahead and work

unfortunately i think in our christian lives in our daily christian lives there's often something missing often we go about our day and we know god's there and we may even grab snatches of the word and we try and be good and try and do good things but there's not that communication with the lord there's not that time to just sit before him and talk to him and have him speak to us through his word by his spirit we don't take that time and as we don't take that time we are just like mike and the other worker without rodney we're digging a hole and filling it in seemingly a futile walk without prayer now if you look at this look at these verses between verses 13 and 20 seven times james refers to

prayer in these verses is any one of you in trouble he should pray verse 13 verse 14 is he sick call the elders of the church to pray over him verse 15 the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well verse 16 twice confess your sins to each other and pray for each other the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective verse 17 again elijah prayed earnestly verse 18 again he prayed seven times james references prayer in those verses seven in the in scripture is the number of completion god created the heavens and the earth the seventh day he was done he was complete he rested jesus was crucified on the seventh day of the week he was raised then on the first day of the week the the sacrifice for our sin and our

redemption from sin was completed he was crucified and and over the seventh day i'm sorry i get people coming right up here going wait a minute no this was a thursday friday or saturday it's no he was the work was completed over the seventh day and he was raised on the eighth day seven's the number of completion our life is not complete without prayer our christian walk is not complete without prayer warren wiersbe writes the mature christian is prayerful in the troubles of life instead of complaining about his situation he talks to god about it in quote measure of maturity in our lives when things bother us how much do we talk to god about it versus how much do we talk

to other people and complain to other people about situations in our life and these last verses verses 13 through 20 james shows us four areas he gives us four instances in which we are to pray with hope we are to pray with hope the blessing of prayer in these four instances in these four situations we'll deal with two of them today and two of them next week the first one that i want you to look at is in verse 13 and and we'll entitle it prayer for the troubled there's a blessing there's a blessing in prayer that causes hope as we pray for the troubled and that could be us as a matter of fact it's that is any one of you in trouble you should pray if you're reading king james it says afflicted

is any of you afflicted now the word that's translated afflicted or in trouble in the greek literally means suffering are any of you suffering this morning it could also mean in difficult circumstances are any of you this morning in difficult circumstances it could also be rendered in trouble from any source so it could be a physical troubling it could be an emotional stress it could be a physical trouble it could be a psychological stress it could be an emotional be a spiritual struggle it could be a family situation it could be job related stress it could be relational it could be parent child it could be spousal it's trouble or suffering from any source that kind of blankets it doesn't it kind of covers all of it so as you're here this

morning are you in trouble are you pressured are you distressed are you suffering from any source and he says then you should pray now in the context here the troubles are basically from the persevering from the first part of chapter 5 from verses 7 through 12 are you in trouble are you feeling the stress and the pressure as you persevere through this particular time like the farmer waiting for the harvest are you feeling the pressure and the stress at this particular time like the prophets and you're trying to share you're trying to live a godly life and you're being persecuted and you're waiting for god to vindicate you and you're pressed you're pressured are you struggling are you suffering as you're waiting like job and there's some circumstance

in your life that you're not able to overcome and you're not able to overcome and you're not you have no idea no idea the wherefores or the whys about and you're seeking to worship god and you're seeking to wait for god to fulfill his purpose in the midst of those sufferings in the midst of those times of affliction in the midst of that trouble he just says pray my dad's been living with us now for about a year a little over a year and it's been funny the last especially the last few months he has seen a lot of the phone calls that we get a lot of troubled people that come by and all and he said man he said there's just a lot of people in trouble in there i'm going yeah you know that's

the basic there is no normal forget normal if you're seeking to find normal this is it because there is no normal out there that you think you're seeking to attain to that normal and get there where there's no troubles and no no you know you're you're totally free financially and there's no pressures in life and all that stuff there is no such animal doesn't mean we don't work towards the holiness the walk with god we work towards that but we're not expecting to get there until we get there there's pressures there's troubles we're all troubled and we want to respond the right way verse nine tells us that we're not to grumble we're not to grudge against one another we're not to complain about each other with each other about the

situation we don't want to blame god jove is is implied by that jove didn't blame god for his circumstances for his pressures for his trial and neither do we but we hurt we ache from something either physical or emotional some pressure that's there james says is any one of you in trouble he should pray oh yeah yeah i know that i know i should pray well let me ask you are you do you well yeah you know i talk i talk to god well is it more than now i lay me down to sleep i pray the lord my soul to keep is it is it more than uh uh thank you god uh for uh oh i can't remember how it goes i said it first service and totally forgot it thank you for the birds and trees thank you for the flowers and bees thank you for the food we eat thank you for the flowers

so sweet thank you for the birds that sing thank you god for everything is it more than that is it more than some rote prayer some repetitious maybe you say the lord's prayer or and that's your idea of praying it's not god's idea of praying it's not god's idea of communing with him well i don't know how to pray i don't know i don't know how to pray in the midst of this particular pressure in the midst of this particular trial okay well let's go back to james james tells us in chapter 1 verse 5 if any of you lack wisdom let him ask of god who gives liberally why are you in the midst of this circumstance i don't know ask god god why that's not wrong you're asking god for wisdom for understanding god give

me understanding you know when you understand something it makes it easier to deal with right when you're in a particular situation and you understand the circumstances it makes it easier to deal with it's when you're in something and you don't know why and you don't know what in the world's going on you don't know why there's been a response this way you don't know why the situation is this way that it's hard to deal with so ask god for wisdom give me understanding lord as as to the why of this please i ask for that wisdom and it may not it may you may not get it you may not get the exact reasons why you may not know the why until you're with the lord

and then it falls into place so then ask him lord if you can't show me the why because job asked the why and job didn't see the why until after it was all over job didn't know chapter one until after he was through the trial job didn't know that things that were going on behind the scene between satan and the lord until after the trial was over and so if god's not quick to tell you the why then ask him lord how then should i respond in this situation what would be your way for me to respond in a way that would bring you glory in a way that would represent your love and your care and your mercy how can i respond in this situation that way lord that would bring glory to you and he'll show you and you know mostly it's just one of those things

where i don't want to do that you know and then pray and ask that god would reveal to you that his grace is indeed sufficient in this situation because it will be it always is but sometimes we just don't want to see it sometimes we don't see it sometimes we don't take time to see it we're so consumed with the situation we're so consumed with the pressure of the situation that we don't see his grace we're not looking up we're looking out or we're looking down and god wants us to take time to look up to spend that time with him why lord or at least show me how to respond and show me that your grace is sufficient lift me above the circumstance enough to know that your grace is sufficient we should pray now also something that's kind of

basic but i don't think we think about it a lot and i'll tell you why i don't think we think about it a lot that's the second half of verse 13 is any one of you in trouble he should pray is any one happy let him sing songs of praise now what's that saying let me give you a basic on that it's saying that in the midst of our troubles we need to realize that not everybody else is going through troubles at the same time let me say that again when we're going through troubles it doesn't necessarily mean that somebody else is well why why don't we realize that more often well most often it's because as the church when we're not going through pressured times when we're in a

an easy time we're not singing songs of praise we're not worshiping the lord and so we get around other family members or other friends or associates at work or school and they're bummed man they are bummed you know i mean it's just a bummer day and they are so discouraged and after 10 minutes with them so are you because all you've been hearing is they're complaining and their discouragement and their reasons why this business is going down the tubes you know and this teacher is just a jerk and you know whatever you're listening to their complaining and you're picking up their offense and you're becoming discouraged as well and the world is filled with that you turn on the news i've had

a good day at work 16 people died today and i you know flip the channels another person was killed by his father and flip the channels over again and all you get is discouraging words and so we are more dispensers of discouragement than we are encouragers and so is any of you happy are you did you come this morning and you're not in a trial your car made it all the way here no flat tires you didn't run out of gas everybody was ready on time this morning nobody was a grouch praise god thank him for that all these songs that we sing little choruses that we sing in the hymns and all are wonderful things to just as you get up just thank god and praise him for his grace and for his goodness and you come out encouraged you see

that's why it's so cool to sing in the hymns and all the songs that we sing in the hymns and all the songs that we sing in the hymns and all the songs that we sing in the hymns and all the genres same with those staged one you. all the songs that we sing in the hymns and all the genres all the genres and what are the next words he said every time you come home it's their high flip that comes up oftentimes and and of women are if they're not a believer they are so shocked that you wanted to pray with them they forgot what they were complaining about to begin with and they'll go through the rest of the day just wondering about you prayer and songs of praise are a vital part of our worship and we know that

but how much of it are we doing daily not not just you come on sunday mornings and here we are and we got this time set aside and well yeah and we're done now we go on about the real world no that is the real world and you're either going to be overwhelmed in troubles and discouraged and a discourager or you're going to pray and activate that area of hope in your life as you respond by praising god by thanking him listen it could whatever it is whatever it is whatever it is whatever it is it could be a whole lot worse it could be god in his mercy is restoring while you don't even know circumstances and situations that are going on god is lifting up and mending and working in his

in these particular situations he is and you need to just trust him and praise him and worship him is any one of you in trouble pray if you're happy pray god be an encourager we need the encouragement in the light of everything that's going on today second he says in verses 14 through 16 we have the blessing of praying for the sick we have the blessing and the hope in praying for the sick is any one of you sick verse 14 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 each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective prayer for the sick now first of all let me say that this these verses 14 through 16 are not a formula for guaranteed healing this is not a formula for guaranteed healing oh someone's sick and we get the elders together and we anoint them with oil and pray for them and they will be healed that's not what it's been we act in obedience though to god's word when there are those that are sick and we anoint them with oil and pray for them and they will be healed that's not what it's been we act in obedience though to god's word when there are those that are sick

well if i'm sick do i just call for the elders don't i pray that's assumed from verse 13 if you're in trouble if you're afflicted from any source sickness you pray but if you're sick and the idea here is if there's a physical sickness if there's a debilitating type of illness then you call for the elders and have them come and pray you call for the elders why do you call for the elders of the church if you go back to acts chapter 6 in acts chapter 6 peter stands before the people there's some 13 to 15 000 now in the church in just a matter of days and they're having trouble helping meet all the needs there's such a demand for food over here for the for the grecian widows and things over here that aren't mentioned in acts chapter 6 people's needs need

to be met they've given up homes and families to come to christ and and there needs to be some organizing here and peter stands up and says man listen there's just too much for us to handle we need some help so raise up from among you some guys seven guys that are filled with the holy spirit and wisdom that we might place them over this specifically ministering the needs of the grecian widow so that we may give ourselves fully and completely to prayer into the study of the word the ministry of the word of god that's what the elders are to be given to in any fellowship listen the primary function of the elders in a church is not administration that's a byproduct the primary function of the elders in the church is not to

make sure everything's painted and and built up that's a byproduct they oversee that the primary function of the elders in a ministry is to pray and administer the word that's the primary function we have care groups they are loosely affiliated care groups we don't have you sign a membership role when you fill out a bulletin flap you're not going to be hounded to death join anything or to or you know we need to see your uh monthly salary so we can set you up on a tithe program we don't do that but we do give your family your you and your family's name to a care group leader to one of our deacons and they pray for you and they will make casual contact with you either here or by phone or they see you in the store or out somewhere how you doing is there

anything we can pray for you about and you think they're just making casual conversation but they're remembering those things and they write them down and they bring them to the elders and as elders then we make a list of prayer needs and it goes to the elders and for the month the elders are praying for all these different areas of the church and they're praying for the elders and they're praying for the fellowship that's our job that's our calling we're given to the study of the word that's our calling as such we are supposed to be in tune with the lord as the leaders of the church and so you call for the elders why because there is a way that somehow they are to be able to

discern god's will in a particular area of prayer hopefully if they're given to the prayer and to the study of the word but they're doing all this other stuff they don't have time to do and that's a weakness in the church they are to anoint it says with oil in the name of the lord call for the elders of the church that they will anoint anoint him with oil in the name of the lord now let's see what that says let me let me throw some things at you there um there are some misconceptions i think in the church today where that's concerned we we do uh anoint with oil when we pray we just take a little dab of oil and put it on the forehead and it's it's more a sacramental tradition again that's

been handed down to us in calvary chapel then it is and i think an accurate application of the word i don't think there's anything wrong with it uh it's a it's a point of contact i think between the person being prayed for and the idea that right now they've been obedient to god and they've called for the elders of the church and they realize from that touch with the oil that lord i'm being as obedient to you in this area as i can with my thickness and i just lift it to you and it's a point of release for them before the lord but there are two words in the greek for this word anointing with oil one word is means the sacramental anointing as they did with the

temple and with the tabernacle the priests came and they had their anointing oil that god told them to make and they anointed the the altar and they anointed all the utensils all the tongs and the forks and all that stuff in the basin the labor and and the table of the church and they showbread and the lampstand and the mercy seat and they even anointed the priest they would take the bottle of oil then and pour it all over uh aaron or the priests and the oil would run down through their beard and onto their garments and they were covered with this fragrance which would indicate they have been anointed and sacramentally set apart under the lord but that's not the word

that's used here in the greek the word that's used here means to rub medicinally almost like you know a masseuse would take the oil and they put it on you and they rub and rub that in that's the idea of the word here for anoint with oil it has a medical medicinal application in certain areas there were not medical doctors and so the people would come to the elders of the church and they had whatever medical resources they had and they were to minister those resources to the individual that's what's implied by that they may anoint him with oil with a medicinal oil or with whatever medical abilities are there first and then pray and that's another balance of god that i think the church has gotten out of balance we are either or ultra right-wing

so where we're going to anoint and you don't if you go to a doctor it shows your lack of faith and so then you've got these people like the family that's in the news that lost their second child to diabetes a child who could have been saved who could have been fine and normal but they forsook that in the name of god and said that they believed that god was healing their child and second one died can you have the ultra right wing here of that it says we don't need medicines if you go to doctors and medical people it shows a lack of faith but then we have the ultra left wing and the ultra left wings have either been burned by that or they think that's a lot of focus

over there and so they just say they ignore that and they say the the strength is in science the strength is in the medical field and we will find a cure to cancer and we will find a cure to age and we will find a cure to leukemia and we'll find all of these things our hope is in the scientific forget all that mumbo jumbo over there and they're just as wrong as these people over here and god says there's a blend there's a balance call for the elders of the church let them minister medicinally medically everything they can do and then pray lift it before the lord james acknowledges that all healing is from god i don't care how gifted you are as a surgeon i don't care

how gifted you are as a doctor that can prescribe medicines you can prescribe until the day is done and if it's not god's will to heal that person won't be healed it's not in medical ability and it's not solely in eliminating the things that god has given to us as gifts it's in a balance and we've lost a lot of that we're usually leaning one side or the other we encourage if you're sick go to the doctor but then let us pray for you as well let's lift that up before the lord so that there can indeed be a healing if that's what you want to do he says let him anoint him in the name of the lord and the prayer offered with faith let me just take that little section of verse for just a second let him anoint him in the name of the lord

and the prayer then offered with faith usually we zero in on the second half of that usually we look at and the prayer offered with faith or the prayer of faith shall raise him up and we're looking at the prayer of faith we're focusing on the prayer of faith when really we should be focusing on anointing and praying in the name of the lord what does it mean to pray in the name of the lord it doesn't mean when you finish your prayer saying in Jesus' name, amen. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but that's not praying in the name of the Lord. The phrase, in his name, doing this in the name of Christ, means in his said, or as if it were the Lord, praying or doing whatever they're doing. So if we're praying

in the name of the Lord, if we're praying and anointing in the name of the Lord, let me give you four things that it is. If I'm praying in the name of the Lord, number one, I am recognizing him as the Lord. As elders, and we're going to be down front after service today, to pray with and for those who would like prayer. If I'm praying in the name of the Lord, I am recognizing his authority as Lord. He is the ultimate authority. He is in control. He is sovereign. I am praying as unto

him. He's Lord. I'm not. And in the same token, if I'm praying in the name of the Lord, not only am I recognizing him as Lord, I'm secondly, I'm submitting to him as Lord. I am submitting to his Lordship. I am not demeaning it by demanding that I be Lord or that he be manipulated according to my way. I am thinking according to my prayer. And there's a lot of that going on today. Lord, I command you

in the name of Jesus. Boy, is that distorted and blasphemous. According to scripture, you don't command God to do anything. If you recognize really the presence of God, when the presence of God is real to you in your life, your knees will buckle. The minute you and I see God, the minute we are raptured out of here, or the minute we're caught into his presence at death, you know what

we're going to do? The first thing you and I do will not be to run up to the Lord and throw our arms around his neck and give him a big old hug. The first thing we're going to do is hit the deck face first on the ground in his presence, because we can't do nothing. You know, humbly before him, and then let him raise it up as he did the prophets, touch their shoulder and raise them up. He is Lord. And I affirm that. And I submit myself when I'm praying

in his name to his authority, to his Lordship. He's in control. I am not. He has a plan. I surrender to that. Thirdly, if I'm praying in his name, I'm recognizing his character. I'm recognizing his character. And this is important. How do you see God? How do you picture God? If you had to describe God in one word besides Jesus, or if you use Jesus, how do you see Jesus? What's

one word to describe Jesus? How do you perceive God? The Bible says in 1 John 4 that God is love. Wrapped up in that is his justice. Yeah, his wrath. Yeah. But his mercy and his faithfulness and his long suffering and his abiding presence and his grace and his enabling. God is love. And if I'm praying in the name of Jesus, I need to recognize his character. Now, what does that mean? Well, it means as I'm praying and specifically here,

as the elders seek to pray for the sick, we pray in his name. We recognize his love for this individual. When you pray and you're asking God for something right, you got to pray in Jesus' name. You recognize his sovereignty. You submit to that and you recognize his love. He is not smiting you. He is not toying with you. He's not jerking you around. You're not on a leash and he's dragging you behind him like a puppy in training. He is love and he

loves you. And he's moving in these areas for your best. And you can't see it and you don't understand it. That's fine. You pray in his name, submitting to his authority and recognizing his character. He loves you more than anything. And he would not hurt you for the world. He would not hurt you for the world. He would not hurt you for the world. He would not hurt you for the world.

He would not harm you for the world. Whatever he's allowing in your life is for a purpose and you will someday understand it and realize it. And he wants you to trust him. And fourth, if I'm praying in Jesus' name, I'm accepting his will for my life. I recognize his character as love towards me. I'm submitted to his authority. I recognize his authority as Lord. And I ultimately

am submitting to that. I'm accepting his will for my life. It is not wrong to pray as Jesus exampled for us. Not my will, Lord, but thy will be done. That's not wrong. That's not a lack of faith. That is the ultimate faith. There are those today who would condemn you for that and say you have a lack of faith. If you leave it up to God, God's given you the ability to claim what you

should have and to just take it on his behalf, on your behalf. And in the name of God, this will happen. And whoever says that not my will, but thine be done is weak and impotent, that's blasphemy because our Lord gave us that example. And if I'm praying in his name, I accept his will just like Jesus did the father. That's praying in the name of Jesus. I anoint and I pray in the name

of the Lord. And then the prayer offered with faith will make the sick person well. See, there are those prerequisites. It doesn't always guarantee healing. It says then that the prayer offered with faith will make the sick person well. Let me ask you two questions. What is the prayer of faith? And secondly, whose faith is it being offered? First of all, what is the prayer of faith?

Well, first John chapter five, verses 14 and 15, John says, this is the confidence we have in approaching God, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked of him. If I am going to have a prayer of faith, it has to be faith in his will being accomplished. If you, I'm telling you this morning that James is telling us to respond with hope in the Lord. You have to have faith in

that, that that's his will and that he'll accomplish his will. And so if I'm going to have a prayer of faith, I'm praying that God, this is your will. And that I'm praying that you'll accomplish that will. I have faith that you will do that. Now, again, let's get back to the elders, because this is where they tie into this. The elders are the ones that are seeking the mind

of God. They come to pray. When we are called to pray, a lot of times people will come up here and they have circumstances and conditions they're asking for prayer for. And we literally stand there and between us and God are going, oh Lord, how do I pray? Show me how to pray. When I visit somebody in the hospital that's sick and dying, you don't just walk in there with a pre-planned

prayer. Well, I'm going to go in and give them a three-point prayer with a close. You know, you don't do that. You walk into somebody that's laying there sick and dying and you are empty with words. You would love to have that. You would love to have that. You would love to have that. This would be a Peter and John experience. You know, silver and gold have I none, but in such as

I have, give I thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk and have them leap out of the bed and run down the hall with you. You know, that'd be great. But is that God's will at that particular time? I don't know. Will somebody say it's God's will that none be sick, that everyone be healed? Ultimately, that's going to be the case, but it's not now or nobody died.

We'd have a whole list of people that are still alive back to Adam because they had the faith to believe and they didn't die. But I can't say that it's God's will in every circumstance for people to be healed. I can't say that. That doesn't happen. But the elders, when they gather to pray, they pray and they're seeking the mind of God in this. They're seeking God's will in this.

And there are times that we just lift them up and God, whatever your will is. But there are times when God will really impress upon one of our hearts that this is a time he does want to heal. And you begin to pray with that assurance that God's really prompted our heart where that's concerned, that God bring the healing. Okay, now whose faith is at stake? Whose faith is the prayer

that's offered in faith? Whose faith is the prayer of faith that will raise them up? The elders, the person is totally out of this picture other than has already prayed and now called for the elders to pray. And the elders are praying and it's their prayer of faith lifted up. Another misconception among the positive confession people is that if you are sick, it's your fault. You don't

have enough faith to be healed. And it couldn't be any further from the truth. It's the prayer of faith offered by the elders in this particular circumstance. It's the elders praying. You have prayed and you're just at the end and so you call the elders and the elders come and they lay hands and they pray. You can't be blamed. You can't blame the person that's asking for prayer for

not having enough faith. They've had enough faith to be obedient to God's word and call for the elders. Let me share something here. The gift of faith in scripture is transitory or transient. What I mean by that is you will never find anyone in the Old or New Testament who had the gift of healing. Wait a minute, weren't there, didn't Elijah heal different people? Absolutely. Didn't Paul heal different people? Absolutely.

Didn't Peter heal different people? Absolutely. Not all the time. The gift of healing is not resident. It doesn't just, and by resident, it is resident in the sense that it's a part of the person of the Holy Spirit. But it's not just operational at the will of the individual. It's operational at the will of the Holy Spirit. Let me take just a minute to talk to you about the

gifts of the Spirit. I've mentioned this before, but I want to mention it again. Each of you as a believer in Jesus Christ, the minute you asked Jesus into your heart, the Holy Spirit came in and sealed you with the seal of promise, Ephesians 1.13. Now, what that means is the person of the Holy Spirit. He is a person of the Godhead. He came into your heart, all of him. He didn't get

his pinky. You know, I need more of the Spirit in my life. You know, I've got to get his arm in there and then get the rest of him in there. He didn't start to put his foot in. And now I need more of you know, and you're praying to drag more of the Spirit of God in your life. No, he came in and sealed you according to Scripture. The moment you believe he's all there and he is the giver of

gifts. According to 1 Corinthians chapter 12, he is the one who gives you, but they're not gifts like little packages. So he didn't just come by your life and go, well, let's see, you'd look good with teaching and with mercy and with administration and throw those little boxes into your life. And you've got those boxes. Now you're wrestling with trying to open the box and let it out.

And see, unfortunately, that's how many of us as Christians are. Which box did I get? I don't know what gifts I have, but I don't know what box I got. Let me tell you, you got them all. The Holy Spirit lives within you. You got them all. He's the giver and he gives severally as he will. There are some times he will use a gift of healing through you as you're praying for somebody and you pray that they're healed and they are. And you go, wow,

but it's not you. It's the Holy Spirit who chose at that instant to use that gift through you. And that's why Paul, you see, you don't see Peter and John going everywhere, raising everybody. I mean, they didn't come back. Acts was not Peter and John came to the temple the next day to heal everybody else that was laying there. You don't see Paul healing everybody. Paul, Paul, Timothy's mentor, Timothy's father in the

faith. Timothy evidently had a stomach ailment. Could have been ulcers. Could have been bad indigestion. I don't know what it was. But Paul writes to Timothy and says, take some wine for your oft infirmities, for your stomach's sake. He didn't say, Timothy, you've got that problem. Now I'm telling you again, you go find the faith healer. You go find the guy in town with the gift

of healing and have him pray for you. He didn't say, Timothy, now I'm coming in a month. You hang on when I get there. These hands will heal you, Timothy. He didn't say that. He said, take some wine. The gift of healing is transitory. It's transient. It moves around as the spirit moves. And so we pray, God, if it's your will, show us your will for this. That's what the

elders do as they seek to pray. And God sometimes moves as the elders pray for healing. I've asked you a couple of weeks ago to pray for a brother named David Allen, missionary to Thailand, who had some parasites that they couldn't identify and the doctors gave him two months to live. Last week, I mentioned that we'd gotten word that they brought him back to Houston and that he was recuperating. They could find no trace of the parasites anymore. They were thanking the church

for praying and asking the church to continue in prayer. This week, I got another email. He's been released from the hospital. He's doing fine. He's recuperating with his family and is seeking to go back to Thailand. God answered prayer in that way this time. I don't know why. It wasn't any formula. It's just that God chose to move and heal this time in that way. And so we pray.

Is any of you sick? You're praying anyhow. Now call for the elders and let the elders pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Lord. And prayerfully, that prayer of faith that God's going to move will raise you up. If not, the prayer will be an encouragement. God will encourage through that prayer. And maybe he'll open that area where you'll realize God's grace a little

more. Or maybe he'll open that area where you realize that the mercy of God is there and you'll be encouraged. You're never going to get a nothing from coming and having the elders. Another thing quickly as we get ready to close, verse 16 also indicates that some sickness is the result of personal sin. Now let me qualify this quickly because there is on this ultra right-wing fringe

again another chastening remark that if you are sick, it's a result of your sin, period. But you're in sin. You got them sniffles. You got that sore throat. It's a result of sin. You need to confess it and forsake it and by faith pray and you'll be okay. All of our sickness and death is a result of Adam's sin in the garden. We get sick and die because of original sin. But

not all sickness is the result necessarily of personal sin. Case in point, Jesus and his disciples walking along came up to this blind person. Disciples said to Jesus, Master, whose sin is it that caused this man's blindness, this man's illness? Was it his or his parents? And Jesus said, neither. Well, neither sin, but that the grace of God might be made manifest.

At this particular time, this individual evidently born blind for that particular occurrence when Jesus was going to walk up and heal him. That's it. For whose sin was Job afflicted the way that he was afflicted? According to Job, according to our reading in Job, for nobody's sin. Are you running out of battery? You're not getting faith? You're okay? According to Job, it wasn't for his

sin. It wasn't for his family sin. It was something that was going on behind the scenes between God and Satan. But there are times, as indicated here in verse 16, that our sin is responsible for a particular affliction in our lives. Sin affects us emotionally and physically. When you lie, all of a sudden, you're aware of that. And you're aware of that because the Spirit

of God makes you aware of that as a believer in Jesus Christ. And all of a sudden, you'll find yourself sweating. And you'll find yourself getting a little nervous and a little short for a breath because you realize that that's wrong. And you're having a physical and an emotional response to that sin, to that area of lying. When you get angry or when you become

bitter at someone, the Bible says that it causes rottenness to our bones, literally causes bone rot. So sin can affect us emotionally and physically. If you're sick, then there's an area where one of the things you should do is, God, search me. Am I harboring anything? Is there anything that's unconfessed? Is there something, Lord, that my attitude needs correction? I confess it before

you. I repent and let God bring the forgiveness that's necessary. If any have sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to each other. And pray for each other so that you may be healed. Now, let me just briefly hit on this and then we definitely will close. When you confess sin, there is an order to that. First of all, we're to confess it to the Lord. 1 John 1.9, to confess it to him and he's faithful and

just and forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. Because every sin is against God ultimately. David acknowledged that in his own sin. I have not sinned against man, I've sinned against God. Every sin is disobedience to God. So first of all, we confess it to God. Secondly, we confess it to those whom our sin has hurt. Period. We confess if we've sinned and we've hurt a person, we go to that person and ask

their forgiveness. If it's a group of people, we ask for their forgiveness. But you don't stand up in the meeting and say, yes, I've committed the sin of adultery and I just wanted to confess that now before everybody here in this place that I've committed that sin of adultery for God and everybody. You'll end up stumbling more people than the original sin itself is. God does not say that. That's not what's implied here in verse 16. The idea

is the confession of sin to the Lord and to those whom your sin has affected. Period. But that's necessary at times to be healed. And that's where we pray and ask God in those times of sickness as well. Lord, show me. Search me, O God, Psalm 139. Know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. And see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. I want that, Lord. I want

that, Father. So if you're in trouble, pray. If you're sick, call for the elders and let them pray. We're going to have the elders and the deacons down front here in just a minute as we close. And we'll be available to you for prayer. Next week we'll look at the last two areas of our hope and the blessing of prayer. But as we close, let me ask you, how is your prayer life?

Right now, how is that time that you spend with the Lord or don't spend with the Lord? Where is your prayer life with God right now?