Fellow-Redeemed in Christ Jesus,
You just sang in the
sermon hymn, “My faith looks up to Thee, Thou Lamb of
Secure in our family relationship with our Lord God through faith in Christ Jesus, there are Three Reasons Why Christians Ought to Pray. God wants us to pray. We need the Lord’s help. Prayer changes things.
We may not always know how to rebut people’s arguments against prayer; that there is no god out there who would listen to us, that prayer is nothing but talking to yourself, a psychological crutch so to speak, or, that prayer has little or no effect so it really doesn’t matter if one prays or not.
It is not necessary
that I am able to answer all these objections before I can pray. I do many
things that I cannot explain how it works. I think of that when I am 32,000
feet above the ground in a narrow metal tube. Or, when
I Skype with one of our newest members who lives in
I pray, first, because God wants me to pray. There is no confusion or misunderstanding about that. The Holy Spirit through James gives us several times in our text the command to pray. Pray for the afflicted. Pray for the sick. Pray for one another. It is evident what God wants us to do.
There are many, many places in the Holy Scriptures where the Spirit reveals this will of God that I pray. In Psalm 50:15 God says, “Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” Jesus taught his disciples always to watch and pray so they did not enter into temptation. Paul commanded the Thessalonians “pray continually.” 1 Thess 5:17. God’s enemies may be able to confuse us at times with their arguments. There is nothing confusing about the commands God our Father in Christ gives his children.
A little boy whose mom tells him to wash his hands before dinner may think this is unnecessary or foolish. Nevertheless, he ought to wash his hands for no other reason than his mom told him to do it. She loves him and knows what is best for him. He loves her and ought to show his love for her by doing what she says. God has told us to pray. We do it whether we understand why or not. He loves us and we love him.
Why is it that we do not pray as much or as fervently as we should? Sadly, it is necessary to remind our children, “Don’t forget your prayers.” Even we grownups need that reminder. One reason is that in so many ways our lives are too easy. Most of us do not know what it is like to be hungry or cold, or have had to worry where our next meal or a bed for the night would come from. Because of that we begin to forget just how much we need the Lord’s help. Our prayer life suffers.
The Lord reminds us
in love that we need his help. He
reminds us that our confession in Psalm 121, “My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth,” is
not theoretical. God teaches us to pray by sending us discipline in the form of
problems like sickness, trouble, or grief. James refers to this in our text, “Is any one of you in trouble? He should
pray. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray
over him…”
We would not be forgetful of prayer even
without such needs as we consider daily our spiritual needs. We have plenty to
pray for on account of our sins against God and each
other even when other things are going well. James mentions these, “If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.
Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other…” Our
very failure to pray in this sin is a sin. For these and other sins we deserve God’s wrath and punishment. We need to pray
every day, “Forgive us our sins.”
Knowing that we are sinners leads us to see our need for the Lord’s help. It is help we have received and rely on every minute of our lives. Almighty God has had mercy on us and given his only Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins, we confess. This morning you heard the worship leader pronounce, “By the mercy of God we are redeemed by Jesus Christ, and in him we are forgiven. We are at peace with God.” You added your, “Amen,” to that.
Such forgiveness fills our hearts with gratitude that makes us happy. That makes us pray. “Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.” I heard the preschool children Wednesday singing to God with joyful voices, “Keep me, keep me, as the apple of your eye.” Many of the Psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs we sing, Ephesians 5:19, are really prayers of joy and thanksgiving to the Lord for his forgiveness. They are thanksgiving prayers for Jesus Christ who loved us and gave himself up for us as the Lamb of Calvary. It would be a good thing for to use our hymnal as a prayer book as did so many of our forbears in the faith.
Scripture also makes
clear that we Christians ought to pray because prayer changes things. Human
reason tainted by sin may wonder what’s the use to
pray since God already knows what he is going to do. Our faith, on the other
hand, believes God’s Word that declares, “The
prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”
Harry Emerson Fosdick, a prominent preacher in the early 20th Century, said in one of his books that it was heathenish to pray for rain. What does God’s Word say? “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 crops.”
Again, many places
in the Bible speak about prayer changing things. Think of Moses, for example,
how often he interceded on behalf of
This all might be difficult to explain but it is certain none the less. Unbelievers don’t get it that prayer is much more than “Break the Glass in Case of Emergency” and hope someone shows up to help. Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath. It is the soul’s sincere desire. God wants me to pray. We need the Lord’s help. Prayer changes things. So, let us pray. Amen. <SDG