James 5:15
"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" (James 5:15).
At times when a verse is singled out by itself, the translation can be lost because the overall context is missing. However, after reflecting on the need for a Biblical foundation of faith in verses 13-14, James now completes his thought and offers comfort and encouragement to those who not only pray to God in times of need, but believe He is mighty and able to answer their prayers.
It is a powerful affirmation knowing that God is faithful to those who love Him and bestows grace and mercy upon His elect as He sees fit. It is paramount to remember that our spiritual genealogy affirms this truth.
"Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations" (Deuteronomy 7:9).
We have been chosen by God and given the opportunity to accept His free gift of salvation if we are willing to lay down our pride and selfishness by admitting we are lost without Him. For we know that our salvation does not depend on the might of our intellect or the strength of our will, but in our willingness to obey and submit under the authority of Jesus Christ and His Word.
Our identity is linked with the Father through the blood of the lamb. Therefore, in confidence, we can be assured that He hears our prayers and meets our needs.
It is unequivocally paramount to clarify that answered prayer or unanswered prayer is not solely dependent on us, lest we think more highly of ourselves than we ought. Our perspective is severely limited compared to God's.
So the minute we place expectations on God that His love or justice is measured by how and when He answers our prayers (in the way and time we think He should), our faith becomes conditional in nature. In essence, the storm tide of trials crashes in and begins to wash our foundation of truth back out to sea.
Consider the following examples Scripture declares as various reasons our petitions to God go unanswered.
Our prayers may be hindered because they have wrong motives. "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions" (James 4:3).
Our prayers not align with His sovereign will. "We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him" (John 9:31).
Our prayers may reflect how self-centered and indignant we are toward others. "Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered" (Proverbs 21:13).
Our prayers may be disregarded because we have ignored our Biblical foundation of absolute truth. "If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination" (Proverbs 28:9).
Or simply put, our prayers may not reach the Lord's ear because sin has separated our fellowship with Him. "Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear" (Isaiah 59:1-2).
At times, we must wrestle with questions that penetrate our hearts deeply because of unanswered prayer. Questions that tempt us to doubt whether God is supremely in control. Questions that seek to brand and label God as fire and brimstone rather than love and just. Questions that leave us more confused than comforted. Questions that assume God has forgotten or abandoned us most in our time of need. Questions that defy logic or common sense. Questions that run counter to our experiences and emotions.
There are an infinite amount of circumstances that can play Russian roulette with our psyche and leave us embittered, hardhearted, angry or depressed. But as followers of Christ and believers in the absolute truth of Scripture, we should not be surprised at the costs associated with our identity in Jesus. For accepting Christ as Lord and Savior does not mean life will suddenly result in prosperity and comfort. Rather, the reality of life in a fallen world is magnified when we live for Christ.
We see how seeds of doubt can grow into weeds of abandonment to God because we know how frail our hearts were prior to accepting Christ, and how easily we can fall back into unbelief if we allow tempestuous thoughts to question God's sovereignty when prosperity and comfort are no where to be found.
The amazing truth of Scripture is that God operates counter to our logical thinking. Consider how James opened his letter: "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds" (James 1:2). Only Biblical Christianity takes such a radical and illogical perspective as to count trials as joy, or tests of faith as opportunities for sanctification. Therefore, we who trust in God understand that our prayers of faith can result in healing if the Lord wills.
Conversely, we know that our prayers can result in continued suffering or loss if the Lord wills as well. Both avenues are possible outcomes for hearts that offer petitions to God trusting solely in His sovereignty. Yes, we believe God is all-powerful and can perform miracles, but our faith is not contingent upon whether our prayers are answered as we see fit.
We do not need to see signs and wonders to believe Jesus is the Christ and can provide the miracles we so desperately seek. Rather, we rest in the assurance that all things come to fruition in His way, in His timing, and for His glory, which makes it easier for us to accept whatever comes our way for better or worse.
"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).
The power of prayer for the believer in Christ is that it seeks to align our hearts with the heart of God. Prayer magnifies the reality that we need help. We are not fully equipped to handle all the struggles life throws our way. Therefore, we need the Lord's wisdom, counsel, healing and deliverance. There is a greater need though, and James clearly calls that out as forgiveness in verse 15.
Forgiveness in many ways is the linchpin to our prayer life. It magnifies the role sin has in separating our fellowship with God, which directly impacts our prayers. Therefore, we must be diligent to confess our sins to the Lord, for "the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).
Moreover, we must be willing to reconcile with those who we have sinned against and/or have sinned against us, before offering our petitions to the Lord. "So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift" (Matthew 5:23-24).
For a man that is callous and unwilling to reconcile with others will not himself be forgiven by the Father if he remains steadfast in his pride. "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matthew 6:14-15).
Forgiveness in its purest form is healing. It mends our broken hearts and restores our relationships with others and our supreme relationship with the Father when we own our sin and repent for the damages we have inflicted upon Christ. Why then would repentance not be the prerequisite with which we approach the throne of grace in prayer?
God longs to spend intimate quality time with us, but we cannot have fellowship with Him if sin continues to blatantly be present in our lives. We must repent, for only then will our prayers of faith have any chance of being answered.
Bottom-line, there is no guarantee that God will respond to our prayer requests as we prefer. What we can be certain of though is that if our intentions are pure and our sins confessed, our prayers will be heard. And the Lord will act according to His sovereign will for our ultimate benefit and to the glory of His name if we believe His character to be as righteous as Scripture declares and His purposes pure and holy.
"The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him" (Psalm 103:6-13).
