©Thomas B. Cundiff
Psalm 124
James 5: 13-20
Matthew 6: 9-15
Psalm 124
1 If it had not been the LORD who was on our side
—let Israel
2 if it had not been the LORD who was on our side,
when our enemies attacked us,
3 then they would have swallowed us up alive,
when their anger was kindled against us;
4 then the flood would have swept us away,
the torrent would have gone over us;
5 then over us would have gone
the raging waters.
6 Blessed be the LORD,
who has not given us
as prey to their teeth.
7 We have escaped like a bird
from the snare of the fowlers;
the snare is broken,
and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
James 5: 13-20
13Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 14Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. 17Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.
19My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, 20you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
Matthew 6: 9-15
‘Pray then in this way:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.
For if you forgive others their trespasses,
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.
For if you forgive others their trespasses,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you;
but if you do not forgive others,
neither will your Father forgive your trespasses
I. INTRODUCTION
I was sitting with a group of ministers and elders at a synod meeting a few months back -- preparing for a working lunch …. when someone asked, “would one of the pastor’s say grace?” As a minister you start to think, ‘who’s is best pray-er?” Then a women sitting next to me, an elder from Columbus, OH, -- well she just started to pray…..It warms my heart when members feel comfortable in praying without relying on the “professional pray-er” -- the pastor.
You may not know this, but there are professional pray-ers. The chaplains of the Senate and House of Representatives are professional pray-ers.
Did you know four of the last six Senate chaplains were Presbyterian? Perhaps the most famous Senate pray-ers, Rev. Dr. Peter Marshall chaplain from 1947 until he died (in office) in 1949; and Dr. Lloyd John Olgilvie, chaplain of the Senate from 1995 to 2003….the current professional Senate chaplain pray-er is The Rev. Barry C. Black—he iw a Seventh Day Adventist.[1]
Did you know on the House of Representatives die, that John Boehner in consultation with Nancy Pelosi appointed Rev. Patrick J. Conroy a Jewish priest, to be the first Jewish chaplain of the House of Representatives?[2]
And with the current political climate in Washington
“There is an anecdote about Bill Moyers when he worked for President Lyndon Johnson. Johnson asked Moyers to pray before a meeting, which Moyers did. Johnson interrupted him, saying, “Speak louder. I can’t hear you.” To which Moyers replied, “With all due respect, Mr. President, the prayer is addressed to God, not to you.”[3]
In general terms, let’s talk about prayer. For some people prayer is an anchor supporting just about everything they do. For others prayer may mean very little. Prayer means a host of different things to different people…..I am sure there are as many thoughts and styles and opinions about prayer as there are members of this church!
When you do you pray. How often do you pray? Do you pray?
For many of us, we were brought up to pray on a regular basis. Some of us begin each day or meal with prayer. We pray before going to bed.
In the church we have formal prayers throughout our worship services….we take time to put our personal prayers and concerns and joys before God each and every Sunday. We always put our worship in the context of prayer.
There are various styles of prayers….short prayers, spontaneous prayers, conversational prayers. When I started out in ministry I would write out almost every prayer – even prayers before meetings. Now most of my prayers are spontaneous…
There are also special prayers we lift to God in times of need, crisis and/or celebration. You get my point…..all kinds of prayers that are, in short, “Our talking with God!” The challenge for most of us: Discerning what to pray and then trying to figure out what kind of response we’re going to get form God!
II. SCRIPTURE
One of the prayers many of us memorize is the “Lord’s Prayer”. There is value in the discipline of praying this Lord’s Prayer consistently -- and every Sunday. This prayer covers a lot of themes. Because this prayer can mean different things to different people at different times, it is always going to have value in helping us grow in our relationship with God. Whether we have recited this prayer 100 times or 100,000 times: if we are paying attention, this prayer helps us cover a lot of “talking points” when it comes to having a well-rounded conversation with God.
And then we have scripture from James (-20) that gets very specific:
Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.
There are several key words in this particular scripture I would like to talk about this morning:
The first key word is FAITH. James prayer has been called “A Prayer of Faith”. When you try to think about it logically: For prayer to mean anything at all requires FAITH that prayers are going to be heard – and FAITH that something will come from our prayers.
For some people prayer is asking for things. In my experience, I find prayer is more about searching for a deeper understanding of just who God is as we face complicated challenges. We pray with faith that God who is always with us is also listening!
While prayer is not a magic wand or a genie in a bottle, we believe prayer can change things. Prayer can impact physical ailments and our attitude toward how we handle different circumstances, challenges and relationships. Prayer can help us get through some pretty rough days. Prayer can help us heal broken bodies and hearts.
There is nothing wrong in praying for circumstances to change in our lives – beyond what we can see or touch or comprehend.
For James, prayer requires FAITH that God is listening – and God in God’s own way will respond. What I do know from James, prayer calls us to ask God…..what is the right thing to do? What is the right answer? This all gets to the next topic: Prayer seeking righteousness…..
IV. PRAYER SEEKING RIGHTEOUSNESS
Though we can be honest and share anything we want with God, the biggest mistake we make in prayer is asking for what I WANT or for what I BELIEVE God will give me or what I feel is the RIGHT answer or outcome to a situation. The biggest error we make with prayer – is second guessing God.
But what does God want? What does it mean to make things right with God? The word we use to talk about getting things right with God is our searching for that which is RIGHTEOUS before God!
Anther theme,
V. PRAYER IS SURRENDING OURSELVES TO GOD
Within prayer there is often the desire to surrender ourselves to God. When we pray to God, “I give my life to you” – we might find that our lives can truly change.
Surrendering our lives to God is hard work. Submission to God's Will might be even harder. But a righteous prayer – seeking a just and true answer – a right relationship with God, is a prayer worth praying. So this question: Are you willing to pray: YOUR WILL BE DONE GOD -- NOT MINE, BUT YOURS GOD -- ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN?” In prayer, God calls us to search for what God wants…..not always what I want! Of course we pray for good health. But what does God want? What is God’s Will for us?
VI. FINALLY, GOD ALWAYS LOVES US
