WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.120 You guys came in pumped last Sunday night, off summer camp, full of energy, the music 00:00:06.120 --> 00:00:08.599 team at the front, and the place was just alive and electric. 00:00:09.240 --> 00:00:11.700 And I'm hoping the afterglow of that's still going on for you. 00:00:11.720 --> 00:00:15.400 But you missed a great sermon in the morning here last Sunday morning because Steve spoke 00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:19.219 on prayer, and he spoke from Matthew chapter 9 in particular. 00:00:20.460 --> 00:00:24.359 And he used a particular image which just set my heart on fire. 00:00:24.359 --> 00:00:31.259 I loved, because he spoke about the love of the Lord Jesus Christ for people, and he 00:00:31.259 --> 00:00:37.280 talked about the passage in Matthew 9 when Jesus saw the crowds, and he looked at them 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:41.480 and he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without 00:00:41.480 --> 00:00:41.960 a shepherd. 00:00:42.679 --> 00:00:49.859 And Steve in his message drew out this particular word used in the Greek Bible which means that 00:00:49.859 --> 00:00:57.259 Jesus was moved with gut-churning, gut-wrenching compassion for the people who were standing 00:00:57.259 --> 00:01:01.420 in front of him, especially for those who don't know to call him Father. 00:01:02.480 --> 00:01:04.120 God loves the lost. 00:01:06.140 --> 00:01:14.039 The Lord's Prayer, which we pray often in church, begins with the extraordinarily familiar way of 00:01:14.039 --> 00:01:17.099 speaking to God, Father, our Father. 00:01:17.099 --> 00:01:24.819 Our society tells lies against God and makes all sorts of accusations against God. 00:01:25.379 --> 00:01:28.560 You'll hear it at school, you'll hear it at uni, you'll hear it in the workplace. 00:01:29.060 --> 00:01:32.359 We put things on God which are absolutely untrue. 00:01:32.859 --> 00:01:35.039 We say things like he doesn't care. 00:01:35.759 --> 00:01:41.299 He doesn't care when we hurt or we blame him for how bad the world is and how nasty stuff 00:01:41.299 --> 00:01:41.759 happens. 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:46.539 We say what sort of a maker creates the pain and the disorder that we live in. 00:01:46.540 --> 00:01:49.740 If he's so perfect, why isn't his world so perfect? 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:52.240 Heard those sort of questions and those things said about God? 00:01:56.540 --> 00:02:03.040 I read about Jesus' resurrection of Lazarus in John 11 the other day and I read it from 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:08.980 a different English version and I was struck by not just the tears that Jesus cried but the 00:02:08.980 --> 00:02:15.500 anger that Jesus had, the passionate anger and then the tears as he encountered the devastation 00:02:15.500 --> 00:02:17.900 that death had brought to his friend's family. 00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:25.240 And it was with passion and it was anger that he marched to the tomb and he ordered the tomb 00:02:25.240 --> 00:02:28.900 opened and Lazarus to come out and to be released from death. 00:02:29.180 --> 00:02:31.740 That is God's attitude towards death. 00:02:31.740 --> 00:02:40.600 God is deeply distressed by the brokenness of our world and he takes huge action to reconcile 00:02:40.600 --> 00:02:43.280 the world to himself through the life of his son. 00:02:47.020 --> 00:02:53.660 And the scriptures show us time and time again him inviting us into the safety and the security 00:02:53.660 --> 00:02:55.180 of relationship with him. 00:02:55.520 --> 00:02:57.420 He allows us to become his children. 00:02:57.419 --> 00:02:59.919 He permits us to call him father. 00:03:01.959 --> 00:03:06.739 If you ask me what my signature verse is, you know, sometimes you can pick up on preachers 00:03:06.739 --> 00:03:11.359 and think they go to a particular verse over and over again and I hope I'm not too easily 00:03:11.359 --> 00:03:15.079 marked but one that can mark me is John chapter 1 verse 12. 00:03:16.079 --> 00:03:24.479 To all who received Jesus, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:25.039 of God. 00:03:26.919 --> 00:03:31.340 Preaching about prayer again tonight, I'm preaching from James chapter 5 in particular. 00:03:31.859 --> 00:03:35.319 Keep your Bibles open so you can be looking at what I'm saying and reading it from the 00:03:35.319 --> 00:03:36.459 word at the same time. 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:47.599 I think it'd be really easy, too easy and a bit bland to talk about prayer as an activity 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:48.719 that we ought to do. 00:03:48.799 --> 00:03:51.259 It's another thing that we've got to do to be a proper Christian. 00:03:51.259 --> 00:03:53.179 It's just yuck. 00:03:55.519 --> 00:04:01.679 Another box to tick in a long, long list of things that we ought to do to please God. 00:04:02.259 --> 00:04:02.979 Our duty. 00:04:04.039 --> 00:04:04.739 I hate it. 00:04:08.120 --> 00:04:14.519 I've been in churches where people have all sorts of different ideas towards prayer and 00:04:14.520 --> 00:04:20.800 I've been in churches where people thought that prayer was more spiritual when it occurred 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:22.660 in a particular form of meeting. 00:04:22.840 --> 00:04:26.220 You know, the whole of church prayer meeting that happened to happen in a particular way 00:04:26.220 --> 00:04:27.340 at a particular time. 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:30.960 And if we didn't have a meeting like that, then we weren't really a proper church. 00:04:33.060 --> 00:04:37.519 Or where a church service wasn't really a proper church service if you hadn't said the 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:40.620 Lord's Prayer because the Lord gave us the Lord's Prayer and we should be saying the Lord's Prayer 00:04:40.620 --> 00:04:44.639 every time we meet together, even though it might happen to be a template and the things 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:47.600 that the Lord's Prayer are talking about are things that we should be doing all the time. 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:57.280 Or, and this might be your problem more than mine, but younger people getting cranky with 00:04:57.280 --> 00:05:00.699 older people because they open up a prayer book and they pray set prayers which have been 00:05:00.699 --> 00:05:02.280 written by somebody a long time ago. 00:05:02.279 --> 00:05:09.119 And you get hot and cranky and think, that's far less authentic than somebody standing out 00:05:09.119 --> 00:05:11.259 the front and saying the first thing that comes into their head. 00:05:16.219 --> 00:05:18.939 I've been to seven different churches while I've been on leave. 00:05:20.039 --> 00:05:24.359 And I've heard prayers prayed so quickly that you didn't even know that the prayer time had 00:05:24.359 --> 00:05:24.859 just happened. 00:05:24.860 --> 00:05:31.040 I've heard people pray and tell God how to run the politics of Australia. 00:05:32.840 --> 00:05:40.300 The most wonderful experience of prayer for me was the week after the Lent Cafe siege that 00:05:40.300 --> 00:05:41.480 occurred in Martin Place. 00:05:42.740 --> 00:05:48.460 And I was in a very formal, old-style Anglican service with not many people in church. 00:05:48.459 --> 00:05:55.500 And my heart was deeply moved by an old man who led the prayers with heartfelt passion. 00:05:56.459 --> 00:06:00.620 And he went far beyond reading a form of words on a page. 00:06:00.699 --> 00:06:06.159 He prayed old prayers, he prayed his words, but he was talking to God in a way that I was 00:06:06.159 --> 00:06:07.419 glad to be part of. 00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:10.799 And I earnestly said amen to his prayers. 00:06:11.799 --> 00:06:12.699 It was alive. 00:06:12.699 --> 00:06:20.979 And I want to say tonight that prayer is the overflow of a living relationship with the 00:06:20.979 --> 00:06:21.939 Lord Jesus Christ. 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:25.300 It's not confined to church. 00:06:26.420 --> 00:06:27.719 It's whole of life. 00:06:28.659 --> 00:06:30.159 It's part of knowing Christ. 00:06:31.180 --> 00:06:39.139 It's part of living in this father-child relationship that Christ has done everything to bring us into. 00:06:40.180 --> 00:06:41.579 It's his gift to us. 00:06:42.699 --> 00:06:45.459 And prayer is vital. 00:06:45.719 --> 00:06:46.579 And it's alive. 00:06:46.779 --> 00:06:47.719 And it's constant. 00:06:47.899 --> 00:06:49.259 And it's unsophisticated. 00:06:49.339 --> 00:06:52.680 I remember back when some of my friends first came to Christ. 00:06:52.819 --> 00:06:55.759 And they were so excited because sometimes they were going into the city. 00:06:56.039 --> 00:06:59.759 And they were praying for a parking space that God had given the space they needed near the venue. 00:07:00.099 --> 00:07:02.259 And I look back now and scratch my head and think, oh. 00:07:03.300 --> 00:07:06.959 But what was good about what they were doing was they knew the Lord Jesus. 00:07:07.099 --> 00:07:10.159 They were excited about what the Lord Jesus was doing for them. 00:07:10.159 --> 00:07:11.659 And they were just praying about everything. 00:07:12.699 --> 00:07:20.219 Like babbling toddlers in the presence of our Father pouring out our hearts to him. 00:07:21.219 --> 00:07:24.959 Immature, yes, but alive in faith absolutely as well. 00:07:24.959 --> 00:07:33.680 And at the same time as we grow in Christ and as we grow in the scriptures, our prayer should mature to be more and more in submission to his will but still alive. 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:40.340 And I think that's where James takes us with this burst on prayer. 00:07:40.420 --> 00:07:41.780 He's trying to build. 00:07:42.680 --> 00:07:51.980 At the very end of his letter, he's trying to build and instruct vibrant Christian communities where prayer is an overflowing part of their life. 00:07:51.980 --> 00:07:55.879 For us at St. Paul's where prayer just flows out of us. 00:07:57.640 --> 00:07:59.240 So he says, verse 13. 00:07:59.240 --> 00:08:00.939 Is anyone of you in trouble? 00:08:01.019 --> 00:08:01.800 He should pray. 00:08:02.519 --> 00:08:03.560 Is anyone happy? 00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:05.240 Let him sing songs of praise. 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:07.280 Is anyone of you sick? 00:08:07.319 --> 00:08:11.639 He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 00:08:12.740 --> 00:08:15.740 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well. 00:08:15.819 --> 00:08:17.019 The Lord will raise him up. 00:08:17.060 --> 00:08:19.360 And if he sinned, he will be forgiven. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:25.460 Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. 00:08:26.340 --> 00:08:29.120 The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. 00:08:29.900 --> 00:08:38.919 And I think I could add my bit from other parts of scripture and I would say, pray at all times and in all places and in every circumstance of life. 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:41.240 And in a way, James has just done that. 00:08:41.320 --> 00:08:45.600 He's got life covered by the different circumstances that he's put in front of us. 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:47.279 So verse 13. 00:08:47.399 --> 00:08:48.420 Is anyone of you in trouble? 00:08:49.360 --> 00:08:50.620 He should pray. 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:54.700 In the bad times, life is full of suffering and difficulty. 00:08:54.919 --> 00:08:58.560 Sometimes we bring trouble on ourselves by making stupid choices. 00:08:59.419 --> 00:09:01.220 Or it comes from the hand of others. 00:09:01.320 --> 00:09:02.300 We don't control it. 00:09:02.340 --> 00:09:06.360 Or we find ourselves drowning in heartaches that we have no control over. 00:09:07.820 --> 00:09:13.379 I was talking to some people not far away during the week. 00:09:13.379 --> 00:09:14.639 Our mum and dad. 00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:15.200 Our mum and dad. 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:25.179 And absolutely grieved that doctors have given their 12-year-old boy a 50-50 chance of surviving the cancer that he's suffering from at the moment. 00:09:25.179 --> 00:09:36.699 And one of those mums and the mum, one parent was really peaceful but tearful that God is in the midst of their suffering. 00:09:36.700 --> 00:09:42.520 And the other parent at the moment is struggling with the goodness and the justice of God. 00:09:42.519 --> 00:09:52.980 But whatever the circumstances and however you got into them, our heavenly father invites us to come to him and to pray. 00:09:52.980 --> 00:09:56.399 The words of the Lord Jesus in other places. 00:09:56.539 --> 00:09:57.259 Matthew's gospel. 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:00.899 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 00:10:01.860 --> 00:10:04.440 Or Peter in 1 Peter 5, verse 7. 00:10:04.820 --> 00:10:08.039 Cast all your cares on Jesus because he cares for you. 00:10:08.039 --> 00:10:17.639 We have a heavenly father who delights that we bring our troubles and our concerns to him. 00:10:18.299 --> 00:10:20.480 And to place them into his hands. 00:10:22.139 --> 00:10:26.179 Someone who knows about our troubles and knows about our cares. 00:10:27.079 --> 00:10:29.579 And he cares about them even more than we do. 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:36.279 A few times lately I felt like God was leading me into a desert. 00:10:38.039 --> 00:10:40.199 And friends would say loving things to me. 00:10:40.299 --> 00:10:47.939 They'd say, oh, God has something amazing in store for you. 00:10:50.459 --> 00:10:55.740 And as kind as that is, and it is really kind, I don't think it's necessarily true. 00:10:58.259 --> 00:10:59.839 Because Christians suffer. 00:11:01.259 --> 00:11:02.819 I think I've got to look at other parts of the world. 00:11:02.919 --> 00:11:05.819 Christians suffer shocking injustice. 00:11:05.820 --> 00:11:10.440 And sometimes they walk through very deep waters indeed. 00:11:12.200 --> 00:11:14.080 And I've been thinking about it lots. 00:11:14.280 --> 00:11:18.840 Because I'm thinking, well, where can I anchor my hope? 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:23.520 And God comforted me with the words of the Lord Jesus in John 7 the other week. 00:11:23.620 --> 00:11:26.040 Jesus says he's the living water. 00:11:27.400 --> 00:11:30.760 And that he would pour out his spirit on his children. 00:11:30.759 --> 00:11:37.600 And he's picking up on how God provided for his children Israel when they were wandering in the desert. 00:11:38.360 --> 00:11:43.580 And he gave them water in the middle of the desert where there were no reservoirs and taps to turn on and stuff like that. 00:11:43.639 --> 00:11:45.319 They didn't know where it was going to come from. 00:11:45.659 --> 00:11:47.759 But God gave it to them when they needed it. 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:59.299 And for me, it's a great comfort that God won't lead us into a desert without providing for us. 00:12:00.679 --> 00:12:05.200 The desert journey might be very rough indeed, but he is with us. 00:12:05.740 --> 00:12:08.419 So he says to us, keep talking to him. 00:12:08.419 --> 00:12:13.599 But life isn't always tough. 00:12:13.799 --> 00:12:14.899 Sometimes it's pretty good. 00:12:16.740 --> 00:12:22.819 Success in business, new boyfriend, girlfriend, going okay at the moment, happiness in the family, great times at church. 00:12:23.719 --> 00:12:24.319 Enjoy them. 00:12:24.759 --> 00:12:25.779 Be thankful for them. 00:12:27.399 --> 00:12:29.039 Verse 13, is anybody happy? 00:12:29.299 --> 00:12:30.599 Let him sing songs of praise. 00:12:30.600 --> 00:12:37.200 Praise God, giving him the thanks and glory for a season of life which is enjoyable and trouble-free. 00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:39.500 Might be the safe birth of a child. 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:41.340 It might be a restful family holiday. 00:12:41.540 --> 00:12:42.440 Supportive friends. 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:43.879 School finishes. 00:12:44.100 --> 00:12:44.920 Exams are over. 00:12:45.040 --> 00:12:45.700 Pressure's off. 00:12:45.800 --> 00:12:47.820 Nobody's on your back saying, are you studying? 00:12:49.080 --> 00:12:50.399 Where are you going out to tonight? 00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:52.960 Aren't you supposed to be putting your nose into the books for a little bit longer? 00:12:53.040 --> 00:12:54.440 You've got a respite for a while. 00:12:54.920 --> 00:12:55.600 Free of it. 00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:00.580 I'm having time for serving at church without it feeling like a burden. 00:13:01.420 --> 00:13:02.779 Another thing that I've got to do. 00:13:02.899 --> 00:13:04.399 It's a joyous time of life. 00:13:05.080 --> 00:13:09.500 I think we are really quick to pray when the pressure's on. 00:13:09.620 --> 00:13:10.779 So when life is tough. 00:13:11.920 --> 00:13:16.700 But when life is okay, we can feel pretty self-sufficient and less dependent on our Heavenly Father. 00:13:17.500 --> 00:13:20.100 And James says to us, he says, don't forget God. 00:13:20.259 --> 00:13:22.300 Sing out your joy to Him, your delight in Him. 00:13:22.300 --> 00:13:25.399 Let people see your joy and your happiness in your Heavenly Father. 00:13:27.420 --> 00:13:28.360 So what's he say? 00:13:28.460 --> 00:13:30.019 He says, in bad times, pray. 00:13:31.159 --> 00:13:32.519 In good times. 00:13:32.980 --> 00:13:33.279 Pray. 00:13:33.540 --> 00:13:34.060 Praise. 00:13:36.300 --> 00:13:40.960 And then he says, there will be times when you need other people to pray for you. 00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:48.300 In fact, the elders, the leaders in the church, people with the apostolic ministry of the word and prayer. 00:13:48.400 --> 00:13:48.980 Verse 14. 00:13:48.980 --> 00:13:50.280 Is any one of you sick? 00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:51.279 He should call the elders of the church to pray for you. 00:13:51.279 --> 00:13:56.720 He should call the elders of the church to pray for him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 00:13:56.720 --> 00:14:00.439 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well. 00:14:00.539 --> 00:14:01.819 The Lord will raise him up. 00:14:01.820 --> 00:14:04.280 And if he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 00:14:04.280 --> 00:14:07.680 It's a particular kind of trouble. 00:14:08.400 --> 00:14:08.879 Sickness. 00:14:08.980 --> 00:14:09.680 Serious illness. 00:14:10.980 --> 00:14:21.420 And one of the things as a pastor that I regard as a very deep privilege is to be invited into people's lives as they grapple with debilitating illness or very, very serious life events. 00:14:21.419 --> 00:14:36.299 And it's a joy to be able to bring, not solutions, but the word of God and prayer to them and sometimes to see physical healing and other times to bring God's comfort, even though the ultimate outcome may even be death. 00:14:36.299 --> 00:14:41.819 Now, I think some people use this passage in a doubly cruel way. 00:14:43.299 --> 00:14:51.339 In the ancient world and in the modern world, maybe you sometimes associate serious illness with sin. 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:58.639 I've got to tell you that in my heart of hearts, I think this is really yucky, but in my heart of hearts, I sometimes do the same. 00:14:59.539 --> 00:15:03.699 And I have no right to and I am really wrong when I do it. 00:15:03.700 --> 00:15:09.720 We think God is making people sick because of their sin. 00:15:11.300 --> 00:15:13.560 You see that going on in John chapter 9. 00:15:13.740 --> 00:15:15.400 There's a man who's blind from birth. 00:15:16.500 --> 00:15:20.440 And the religious leaders come up to Jesus and they ask Jesus about this place. 00:15:20.540 --> 00:15:22.040 They say, who sinned? 00:15:22.280 --> 00:15:26.280 Was it him who sinned or was it his mum and dad who sinned that this has happened to him? 00:15:28.220 --> 00:15:30.180 Now, they didn't have any other solution. 00:15:30.660 --> 00:15:32.940 For them, it was one or the other. 00:15:32.940 --> 00:15:33.880 It had to be sin. 00:15:34.100 --> 00:15:36.020 They just couldn't figure out whose sin it was. 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:38.980 It was a mum and dad's or did he do something wrong while he was in utero? 00:15:38.980 --> 00:15:46.360 And Jesus blows their thinking out of the water when he says, well, neither. 00:15:47.519 --> 00:15:54.120 This has happened so that God would be glorified and then Jesus proceeded to heal him and God was glorified. 00:15:54.120 --> 00:16:04.940 And Jesus, in that one action, that one event with that one man makes it very clear that sin and sickness are not necessarily linked at all. 00:16:04.940 --> 00:16:10.940 But sometimes they are. 00:16:13.080 --> 00:16:22.200 And James says, when you read very carefully here, he says, if he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 00:16:22.200 --> 00:16:29.580 If, if, if he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 00:16:32.660 --> 00:16:42.440 So the brother or sister who is ill, who humbles themselves to other believers and asks for the Lord's mercy will be forgiven unconditionally. 00:16:42.440 --> 00:16:48.560 And it's extraordinary, isn't it? 00:16:48.580 --> 00:16:53.900 Because you could be on your deathbed and reflecting on moments in life. 00:16:53.940 --> 00:17:00.340 You could be thinking back even now to moments in life which fill you with incredible shame. 00:17:00.340 --> 00:17:10.819 And the Lord Jesus says, we will be forgiven when we humbly seek God's healing and forgiveness through his people. 00:17:13.620 --> 00:17:19.200 And whatever that dark moment is that your own heart condemns you for, 00:17:21.160 --> 00:17:27.920 Jesus is able to wipe it clean and he is more than generous to cleanse and to forgive you. 00:17:30.339 --> 00:17:33.079 And he gives us eternal life. 00:17:34.659 --> 00:17:37.119 He makes us able to stand before him. 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:46.379 And even if we die from our sickness, we will not die eternally if we are forgiven by Christ. 00:17:49.519 --> 00:17:59.720 The other cruel twist on this verse is to saying to someone that the reason they're not recovering is because they don't have enough faith. 00:18:01.159 --> 00:18:04.339 That's a really nasty thing to say to anyone. 00:18:06.220 --> 00:18:13.619 Try saying that to the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 when he's talking about his thorn in the flesh that won't go away. 00:18:15.480 --> 00:18:19.319 Or to every believer who has died in the last 2,000 years. 00:18:19.419 --> 00:18:21.019 Everybody who dies as a Christian. 00:18:22.519 --> 00:18:24.459 Tell them that they didn't have enough faith. 00:18:25.699 --> 00:18:26.539 It's nonsense. 00:18:26.539 --> 00:18:26.740 It's nonsense. 00:18:26.740 --> 00:18:32.039 But look very carefully at the verse. 00:18:33.339 --> 00:18:35.000 It's not the sick person's faith. 00:18:36.059 --> 00:18:38.559 It's the prayer that the elders offer in faith. 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:44.480 So if you want to say there isn't enough faith, it's the church leaders who lack it, not the person who's seeking prayer. 00:18:46.019 --> 00:18:48.599 See how that goes if a pastor ever puts that one on you. 00:18:48.599 --> 00:18:52.779 And then I love the last bit. 00:18:53.419 --> 00:18:55.619 The last bit here is incredibly powerful. 00:18:56.699 --> 00:18:57.779 It's verse 16. 00:18:57.779 --> 00:19:14.940 I think when we first went to give this message a name, we were going to call it powerful and effective prayer. 00:19:15.220 --> 00:19:19.299 And I've stepped away from that tonight because I think that's a bit nonsense too. 00:19:19.299 --> 00:19:23.039 And I'll tell you why. 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:36.319 Because if we are a righteous man or woman or young person, however we want to describe ourselves, we are a righteous person because of the sheer grace of Christ and his gift to us. 00:19:37.099 --> 00:19:38.139 He makes us righteous. 00:19:38.279 --> 00:19:39.559 We don't make ourselves righteous. 00:19:39.559 --> 00:19:42.859 If we're in Christ, we are righteous. 00:19:43.159 --> 00:19:43.879 He's done it all. 00:19:45.899 --> 00:19:50.940 Prayer involves humility, humble authenticity in terms of St Paul's values. 00:19:52.639 --> 00:19:56.559 So working through this passage, James says to us, if we're in trouble, we need help. 00:19:58.220 --> 00:20:00.519 If we're in good times, then don't forget God. 00:20:00.639 --> 00:20:02.559 Acknowledge the kindness and the goodness of God. 00:20:03.779 --> 00:20:08.480 If we're in serious illness, our need and dependence on God and others, ask other people for help. 00:20:09.559 --> 00:20:12.559 But here at the end, also in failure. 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:15.220 In failure, pray. 00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:30.359 How hard it is for us to go to a brother or sister, might be our mum and dad, might be our husband or wife, brother or sister, 00:20:30.359 --> 00:20:39.299 and humble ourselves and say, I am sorry for what I did to you. 00:20:39.559 --> 00:20:44.839 Or someone at church, I am sorry that I gossiped about you. 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:48.799 I said things about you which were not true. 00:20:50.099 --> 00:20:53.879 I delighted in talking about bad things about you. 00:20:55.559 --> 00:21:00.159 I am sorry that I poured out my anger and my frustration against you. 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:04.600 Please forgive me. 00:21:04.600 --> 00:21:11.100 Or brother, I need help. 00:21:12.100 --> 00:21:13.380 I feel trapped in sin. 00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:15.900 I've been looking at pornography and I don't know how to stop. 00:21:17.640 --> 00:21:22.420 Or I've been abusive towards my wife or cold to my husband or filthy with my parents. 00:21:22.540 --> 00:21:24.980 I've been stealing at work or school. 00:21:24.980 --> 00:21:30.079 That's tough. 00:21:33.319 --> 00:21:35.240 Revealing ourselves to another person. 00:21:36.519 --> 00:21:40.680 Putting ourselves at their mercy and also at the Lord's mercy. 00:21:41.539 --> 00:21:46.819 Taking the risk that they might take your confession and use it to hurt you. 00:21:46.819 --> 00:21:53.939 It's very different from the corporate confession that we do in church. 00:21:54.200 --> 00:21:59.379 You know, often nearly every week at church we say a prayer where we acknowledge our sins as the body of Christ. 00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:07.419 That's a great prayer to do, but it's general and it's safe. 00:22:07.420 --> 00:22:15.460 You can sit here in church and you can say that prayer without revealing anything about what is really going on inside you. 00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:22.759 James is speaking about confession that is specific. 00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:29.039 Naming very specific sins brings them into the light and brings us to a place of healing. 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:39.920 I have only ever known mercy from other believers when I have revealed personal weakness, as hard as it is, about myself to them and asked them for help. 00:22:40.039 --> 00:22:46.899 Only once in nearly 40 years has that trust been misused. 00:22:50.299 --> 00:22:52.200 James says, verse 16, 00:22:52.200 --> 00:23:11.279 So I'm not saying to you tonight that you should go out and that you should blurt all your personal information and inner feelings to just anyone. 00:23:11.480 --> 00:23:17.000 Because the truth is some people are not trustworthy and some people do gossip all over the place. 00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:26.920 But I think that James' vision is of Christian communities where we are praying all over the place with one another, 00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:30.980 where we are admitting specific offences against each other, 00:23:31.359 --> 00:23:35.619 where we are bringing hidden sin into the light so that we can be healed. 00:23:35.720 --> 00:23:38.279 That's the type of vision of the church which he has. 00:23:38.279 --> 00:23:48.859 And so I want to challenge you and say that if you know that you have acted wrongly towards a brother or sister in Christ, 00:23:50.240 --> 00:23:56.019 that you go to them, that you admit it, and that you ask for their forgiveness. 00:23:56.019 --> 00:24:08.379 And I also want to challenge you that if there is secret sin in your life that has a hold over you, 00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:14.680 that you go to someone you trust, maybe a leader, maybe somebody like Sam, 00:24:15.920 --> 00:24:21.619 and confess it and ask for any help that they can give you to keep putting it aside. 00:24:21.619 --> 00:24:29.419 James tells us that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. 00:24:29.539 --> 00:24:31.239 A righteous person? What's a righteous person? 00:24:31.619 --> 00:24:35.739 Someone like us who has been forgiven by the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:24:38.119 --> 00:24:40.239 None of us is righteous by our own efforts. 00:24:40.359 --> 00:24:42.679 Our righteousness is the gift of our Heavenly Father. 00:24:42.759 --> 00:24:47.299 And then he uses the example of Elijah, and Elijah is one of the really great ones in the Old Testament. 00:24:47.299 --> 00:24:51.240 And he says, Elijah was a person just like us. 00:24:51.319 --> 00:24:55.059 He prayed earnestly that it wouldn't rain and it didn't rain on the land for three and a half years. 00:24:55.680 --> 00:24:59.200 And again he prayed and the heavens gave rain and the earth produced its crop. 00:24:59.539 --> 00:25:03.980 He's telling us, really simply, that Elijah was a very ordinary person. 00:25:04.119 --> 00:25:05.139 He was just like us. 00:25:05.379 --> 00:25:08.960 But God used his prayers in the most remarkable and powerful way. 00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:16.940 The picture of prayer here is of us calling on our Heavenly Father in every circumstance of life, 00:25:18.059 --> 00:25:21.240 expressing dependence on him in trials and difficulties, 00:25:21.480 --> 00:25:24.019 telling him our joys when things are going really well, 00:25:24.420 --> 00:25:27.759 looking to the leaders of our church when big sickness comes upon us, 00:25:28.019 --> 00:25:31.660 and being humble to admit failure and weakness, failure and wrong, 00:25:31.720 --> 00:25:33.920 when we've done stuff that we really shouldn't do, 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:40.019 to be a body of people who show our dependence on each other and on Christ by confessing our sins. 00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:43.600 I love the way that we pray in church. 00:25:44.019 --> 00:25:47.580 I also love the way that we pray with each other outside the service. 00:25:47.700 --> 00:25:50.460 When the service is over, how we sometimes stand in little groups, 00:25:50.740 --> 00:25:54.300 and you see heads down, somebody's listening to another and they're praying for each other. 00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:58.660 We're sharing joys, we're sharing concerns, we're sharing struggles, 00:25:59.060 --> 00:26:02.140 and together we're committing ourselves to our Heavenly Father in prayer. 00:26:02.140 --> 00:26:07.759 It's a joy and a privilege that he allows us to know him and one another in such wonderful ways. 00:26:08.440 --> 00:26:08.800 Amen.