A Daily Walk

John Randall: This is the question I often ask people: have you caused anyone to suffer in your life? Has anyone ever suffered because of you? What should God do to you? What should his response be? It's interesting if you just think a little bit. Why does God allow suffering? I don't know, but I know that suffering certainly, as C.S. Lewis said, awakens us to the reality that there's something more.

It causes me to cry out to God. I think God uses suffering to cause us even to seek him. It's amazing. I don't know if you've experienced this or not, how motivated we are to pray in the midst of a trial. Man, I will wake up early. I’ve got to hear from God.

Guest (Male): When life is difficult, what do you normally do? Hop on social media and go on a rant? Or do you pick up the phone and complain about it with a friend? Well, today on A Daily Walk, we'd like to encourage a different approach that starts with prayer. Here is Pastor John Randall with The Power of Prayer from James chapter 5.

John Randall: James chapter 5, and I want to draw your attention beginning in verse 13 as we conclude this epistle together. "Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is 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.

And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he'll be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another. Pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins."

Father, we pray now that you would open up the text to us tonight by the work of the Spirit of God. In Jesus' name, amen.

It was back in chapter 5 and verse 7 that we turned the corner and started on the last lap of this letter. James concludes his epistle with a reminder to be patient for the coming of the Lord. Many of James' readers were suffering, and there comes a point in the midst of suffering when you say, "When is the Lord going to get here? When is he going to arrive? When is he coming back?" We're asking that question.

James provided several examples for his readers to follow. You may recall that he mentioned the patience of the farmer who breaks up the ground, sows the seed in the field, and patiently waits for rain. He can't produce it; it's something he must wait for in faith. James said to be like that patient farmer, trusting in the Lord.

But then he also mentioned the courage of the prophets who were willing to be persecuted for speaking the truth. They endured much hardship just for saying what God told them to say. There were moments when they struggled with it. Jeremiah at one point said, "God, I don't want to do this anymore. I'd really like to do something else besides prophesy because no one likes me.

People don't like to hear what I have to say. They're not responding to the truth. They're hard-hearted. You told me that yourself." But then he said, "Lord, I couldn't hold it back. It was like a fire that was shut in my bones. I was weary. I had to speak." He said to be courageous like the prophets and patient like the farmer.

Then he also mentioned the perseverance of Job and all that Job went through. He continued to go forward even though he suffered the loss of all of his material possessions, his children, and his physical health. Everything was taken from Job and yet Job continued to trust in God. James reminds the readers that God blessed him in the end. This was for a purpose.

In this last major section of the letter, James continues to emphasize that real faith produces genuine patience, and also there is the emphasis on prayer. I don't know if you're aware of this or not, but church history tells us that James had a nickname: Camel Knees.

The reason for this was because he spent so much time praying on his knees that calluses developed that were similar to the hide of a camel. That's how much he prayed. James had a lot to say about prayer throughout this epistle. And now he says again, "If anyone among you is suffering, let him pray."

James first of all talks about prayer in the midst of suffering. Notice two opposite ends of the spectrum here that you encounter in life: suffering and celebrating. First of all, suffering. The word for suffering used here is a general term which often referred to physical pain, hardship, trouble, problems, difficulties, evils, or distresses of various kinds.

In the secular Greek language, the word used described the hardships inherent in military service. Someone defined it in this way because it's a compound verb; it means to suffer the evil blows of the outside world. The subject of suffering can be a difficult discussion because there is so much suffering in the world, and everyone to one degree or another feels it.

On the spectrum, it varies. But one of the reasons for suffering is that we live in a fallen world. The way things are at this moment was not the way God created them in the very beginning. Nor will things remain the way they are forever. There is a brighter, much brighter future ahead that the Bible tells us of.

Sometimes when people suffer, it's the direct result of poor choices, sinful actions, or willful irresponsibility. It's what the writer of Proverbs said: "The way of the treacherous is their ruin." On the other hand, when you see the innocent suffering, it's difficult to understand and to comprehend.

One thinks of a child, for example, who is the closest to innocence that we could imagine in this world. When they suffer, we wonder to ourselves, "Why would God allow that?" Or to put it another way as so many often do, "Why would a God of love allow such suffering?"

The existence of human suffering is arguably the most common and difficult problem raised against the existence of God. This is the go-to reason for the skeptic for rejecting Christianity: the problem of evil within the world. The problem goes something like this: God is all-powerful, God is perfectly good, but evil exists.

So the skeptic says if God is all-powerful, he has the ability to stop all the evil in the world, and if he's perfectly good, he would want to stop all of the evil in the world. Evil however exists in the world, therefore God must not exist. That is the way they reason.

We do live in a world in which good and evil are in operation. God is good, but evil is also real and has its influence within the world for now. At first glance, it seems that suffering gives a person good reason to rule out God completely. But actually, the opposite is true.

It's only if God exists that the outrage against suffering and evil makes sense. If we're able to recognize something as evil, that means we believe that there is something good. Where does the recognition of something good and evil come from? It comes from some kind of moral law.

You can look at something and say, "That is flat-out evil." Why would you say it's evil unless good exists? If good exists, where does the good come from? Who's the moral law-giver? Again, it doesn't explain all the answers to why God allows suffering.

It was C.S. Lewis who said so famously, "We can ignore even in our pleasure, but pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, he speaks in our conscience, but he shouts in our pain. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

This evening, I don't have the time to go into a deeper conversation or a theodicy on the subject of suffering in the world, nor do I feel that I would necessarily be the most qualified. But I'd rather like to look at what James said to the church concerning suffering.

By the way, before we consider that, those of you who may question why God allows suffering and why doesn't he do something? This is the question I often ask people: have you caused anyone to suffer in your life? Has anyone ever suffered because of you? What should God do to you?

What should his response be? If you just think a little bit, you will see. I know that suffering certainly, as Lewis said, awakens us to the reality that there's something more. It causes me to cry out to God. I think God uses suffering to cause us even to seek him.

It's amazing how motivated we are to pray in the midst of a trial. Man, I will wake up early. I’ve got to hear from God. I will stay up late. "What are you doing, honey?" "I'm praying. I need to hear from God." It's just amazing that adversity and difficulty lead to so much prayer.

How many prayers go up in the day of adversity versus the day of prosperity? There are a lot of prayers going up: "Oh God, hear me. Lord, I need you." In Psalm 119 verse 67, this is what the Psalmist said: "Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word." You allowed me to be afflicted, and suddenly I was crying out for God.

I think of what he said in Psalm 119 verse 71. He actually said, "It's good for me that I've been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes." When you're suffering, I do believe that it is beneficial to pray for clarity. It's okay to say, "God, why is this happening?" You can ask him. He may not give you the answer, but you can ask.

Sometimes he will give you the answer. I think in the book of Genesis when Rebekah was struggling, she was pregnant and there was something going on inside of her internally. She asked the Lord. She was suffering, she was struggling, she said, "What's going on inside of me?"

The Lord responded and told her there were two children in there, two babies, and they were two nations warring with one another. I think of Hannah, who was unable to have children and she was afflicted by her rival. She cried and she wept, and her husband said, "Am I not better to you than seven sons?" Basically, "You're not all that, Elkanah."

But she went into the tabernacle and she prayed. She was suffering, and the Lord answered her prayer and Samuel was born. I think in the early church when the disciples were suffering persecution, they prayed and they asked God for boldness to stand. James says if you are suffering, what should you do? Pray.

That's the first thing. He didn't say stress, try to figure it out, call all your friends, or see if you can Google it. No, he said pray. The word here for prayer is actually used in the present tense, and the verb is translated as continual pleading in prayer. Keep on asking, keep on praying.

When life is difficult, when believers are weak in faith, weary with persecution, or crushed by affliction, we continually plead with God. We seek the Lord. It's also good to pray for deliverance. That's usually where I start. "God, could you just get me out of this? I don't know what the reason is, but I just want you to deliver me."

Like Peter when he was sinking. You remember he had walked on the water to Jesus and he began to sink, and he prayed a very direct prayer: "Lord, save me." The Lord pulled him up as he was sinking and pulled him back into the boat. Suffering should lead us to pray.

I also believe that we should pray for grace to stand in the midst of it. You may recall the apostle Paul spoke of his personal suffering. He likened it to a thorn in the flesh. He pleaded with the Lord three times that God would take it and God said, "Paul, my grace is sufficient for you, and my strength is going to be made perfect in your weakness."

God didn't take it from him, but he gave him grace to enable him to stand. I don't really have all the answers for why God allows suffering in this world, but I do know one of the reasons is because we live in a fallen world. I also know that one day there's going to be no more suffering when we're in the presence of the Lord.

It's going to be different. We suffer now for a little while. Peter said "for a little while." A little while seems like a long time, but in light of eternity, it's nothing. Paul said these things that you suffer at the present time aren't worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed through all of eternity.

So if you're suffering tonight, I'm not downplaying the seriousness of it or somehow saying "toughen up." What I'm saying to you is seek the Lord. Pray. Ask the Lord to be there with you in the midst of it, and ask for his grace to enable you to stand.

But not only when you're suffering do you pray. He says, "Hey, when you're celebrating, make sure you praise." He says here, is anybody among you not just suffering, but what about those who are cheerful? Praise the Lord. Worship, gratitude, offer it up for what God has provided. Don't take it for granted to rejoice in what God has provided.

Recall to mind where the blessings come from. Praise the Lord. Give praise to God. It's important. This week, I wasn't going to mention it, but I will because you're family and you'll get a kick out of it. I went surfing with a couple of guys in the church. It was a really short time, maybe ten minutes.

I paddled out and I turned to take a wave, and it was small. I wish it was like a really big day and I had a really good story to tell you about how awesome it was and that the accident that I had was bigger than it was, but it wasn't all that. It was just a weird freak accident.

My board came up and it hit me in the head. I felt it, but I thought, "Oh, I've been hit in the head lots of times. That's not a big deal." I paddled back out to the boys and I said, "Man, my board just hit me in the head," and they looked at me with this look on their face. They said, "You're bleeding."

I thought no I'm not, but yes I was. I was bleeding all over. My head was cut right there. You can't really see it, but there are five staples. So on my day off, I got stapled up. It was a great day. At first, I was so frustrated. But then I started thinking about all the things that I could praise God for.

It could have been my eye. It could have been anywhere, but it was in the hairline. You can't even see it. I found reason to praise God. It could have been a lot worse. What I'm saying to you is praise the Lord. When it's good, when it's bad, but especially when things are going well, don't forget to praise God.

Sometimes we take things for granted. We don't realize everything could change like that. So praise God for everything. Just waking up in the morning, "Lord, thank you that I can get up out of bed. Thank you, God, that I can walk under my own power. Thank you, God, for this piece of bread."

You don't have to get so detailed as to who planted the seed and who made this piece of bread, but thank you Jesus. Really, you just take it for granted. Lord, this hot water. You can take stuff for granted. So the Lord's saying, "Hey, listen, if you're suffering, pray. If you're blessed, praise the Lord."

It goes on to say pray when you're suffering, praise when you're celebrating, and then he says pray when you're sick. "Is 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. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up."

This particular passage has led to some debate as to what the prayer of faith is and also about divine healing. James says if you're sick, have the elders of the church pray for you. This sickness that is referred to could be physical sickness, but also it can be figuratively used of spiritual weakness. Both are applicable in this case.

I think about the book of Acts in chapter 9 when Peter was called upon to come and pray for a woman whose name was Tabitha. The interesting thing about Tabitha is she had died. The ladies called for Peter to come and pray for her. I would think that Peter would assume he was going to preside over the memorial service.

But when he arrived, they said, "You need to raise her from the dead." Could you imagine that? They're all showing what she made them and how she clothed their children, and they said, "We need to pray for her," and Peter prayed over her and she was raised from the dead. It's just miraculous what they were able to do there.

The point being, there was someone sick and they called for the elders. The word elders applies to leaders in the church, the pastors, and the overseers. Call for them, and it says that when they pray for them, anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.

I love that it says if you are sick, call for the elders. Usually, that may not be the first option. But as a Christian, why not? Sometimes we don't know people are sick until weeks later. "Oh, did you know so-and-so's in the hospital?" "No, I just found out today. They've been in there for two weeks." "Why didn't somebody call us so we could have prayed for them?"

Let us know if you get sick. If you're here tonight and you're sick, we'd love to pray for you. That's what we're here for. What we do so often is use this oil and we anoint you with it. We don't dump it on you; we just put it on you. And we pray over you. Why? Because the Bible says to do that.

So that's what we do. We follow that example. If you see people up here sometimes, wondering what we just did on their forehead, we just took some oil and we prayed over them because they were sick. I have prayed over people and I've seen people get healed.

I've been healed myself before. I've also prayed over people and they weren't healed but they went to heaven, and they were healed completely. The prayer of faith will save the sick. Here's the question: does God have the ability to heal? Yes, he does. He is able. He's all-powerful.

God can do whatever he wants. Nothing's impossible for God. Yes, God can heal. Yes, God does heal. Does God heal everybody? Obviously, no. God, as it relates to healing, it's completely up to him. He decides. I'm going to pray in faith and believe that God can do it, but if God doesn't heal here, if you're a Christian, he's definitely going to heal there.

Guest (Male): So when we're sick, take it to the Lord in prayer by faith, leaving the results with him. A good word there for us as we close today on A Daily Walk with Pastor John Randall. What you heard today is our final message in James titled The Power of Prayer. We'll finish it off tomorrow.

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