Sermon Excerpt from James 5:13–20
My heart’s greatest desire is not JUST that we love God and our neighbor, or love to serve God by serving our neighbor. Nor is it ONLY that we are people of the Word, treasuring the Christ who is the Word and His glory above all things. Yes, my desire is that we are all of those things—but my desire is also that we are a prayerful people who love to pray and live to pray.
When reading our text this week, a quote came to mind that has stuck with me. It’s from Oswald Chambers: “Prayer does not fit us for the greater works. Prayer is the greater work.” Chambers challenges the common view of prayer—that it’s simply a way to get something from God, whether physical or spiritual. But the truth he points to is this: prayer is not just a means to a greater gift or work. Prayer itself is the greater gift and the greater work from God.
If only we accepted and applied this truth, it would change how we live. If we approached God knowing that the ability to speak to Him is greater than anything we could hold or do, we would be more grateful, content, peaceful, patient, loving, and fruitful—and therefore, God would be more glorified in our lives.
Why do I believe this? Because the Bible tells me so. Just as the Bible tells me Jesus loves me enough to live the life I couldn’t, die the death I deserved, and rise again to reign forever, it also tells me prayer is a greater way in which He works. And in this last passage, James tells us how.
Prayer Is Always Necessary for Our Good (vv. 13–15)
James asks: “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders…and let them pray over him.”
His instruction is clear: pray in every circumstance. In suffering—pray. In joy—pray. In sickness or health, sorrow or rejoicing, richness or poverty—pray.
Paul seemingly instructs us in the same direction: “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:16 18), “Continue steadfastly in prayer” (Col. 4:2), “Be constant in prayer” (Rom. 12:12), “In everything…let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6).
So, what do we have here? We have James who says “pray in every circumstance,” and Paul who says “pray without ceasing”. In reality, they are two sides of the same coin. Because, if you’re praying in every circumstance, there will never be a season of life where you’re not praying and the same is true vice versa. Therefore, to pray without ceasing IS TO pray in every circumstance and to pray in every circumstance IS TO pray without ceasing!
Why is this so important? Verse 15 says, “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 shifts from physical to spiritual—“save” in the Greek means to save or keep; “raise up” means to awaken or resurrect. However, neither means to heal. Therefore, James’ focus is not primarily on the physical, but on the spiritual.
Now, that does not mean that the physical is to be disregarded. It’s not. Because, in knowing that James’ main focus is on the soul, we can then gather that the prayer of faith comes from a believing heart. Saving the sinner spiritually, forgiving their sin, and then pointing them to the physical resurrection when Christ returns. So, though God, through the prayer of faith that James mentions here, saves the soul by faith in Christ, it is rooted in the same truth that Christ will one day raise the body. Something else, the prayer of faith is NOT a one-time “sinner’s prayer” but a lifelong, persevering prayer of those Christ has saved, and it is the very song of praise and victory that they sing in all circumstances and through all seasons.
Prayer is the greater work because it is always necessary. Romans 10:9 shows it’s necessary at the start of the Christian life. And it’s necessary after, because there is never a time or place when God is not needed. In persecution, you need His strength; in blessing, His praise; in failure, His mercy; in sorrow, His comfort. And we never have to wonder if He hears—“Cast all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:7). Out of all the great things you could do for God’s kingdom, seek first to pray—not only because you need to, but because He desires you to.
Prayer Is Always Working for Our Good (vv. 16–18)
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (v. 16).
James is not speaking here of Catholic confession, as though we must go through a person to receive forgiveness and justification of sin, because God alone forgives sin. Instead, James is talking about sanctification, being cleansed from sin in our daily walk. And if we’re honest, we know this from experience: hidden sin rarely dies in secrecy. Yes, you may go to God a thousand times in private asking for forgiveness of the same, dark sin, but if you keep it locked away instead of putting it to death, it will inevitably return.
That’s why James tells us to confess to one another. When we humble ourselves and bring sin into the light with a fellow believer, asking them to bear the burden with us and pray for us, something powerful happens. God gives us fresh strength for the war to resist that sin and ultimately, by His Spirit, put it to death.
Therefore, beloved, the urge here is: Don’t fight sin alone. God gave us one another for a reason: to carry each other’s burdens, confess to each other, and pray for each other. And when we do, James says there is great power at work, not our power, but God’s power working for our good.
Which, by the way, explains why you don’t get everything you pray for. Sometimes you’re not praying for what you truly need, and sometimes you’re not even praying for your own good. James told us back in 4:3, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” And the grace in that fact is—even then, God is still working in those selfish prayers for your good, because He doesn’t grant them! Instead, He gives you what you need, even when what you need is not what you wanted. So, beloved, even in the seeming disappointments of unanswered prayers, brothers and sisters, praise God for His unseen provision! For He has provided for you in ways you could not see and has protected you from things you never even knew would have come had He given you what you wanted instead of what you needed.
Paul also reminds us in Romans 8:26 28, that even in our weakness, when we do not know what to pray for as we should, the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And the Father, who searches our hearts, takes those Spirit-led prayers and works all things together for our good. Even the prayers you’re too weary to form are gathered up by God and turned into blessing.
Though this would be enough, we’re not left to figure out prayer on our own. Jesus Himself taught us both how not to pray and how to pray (Matt. 6:5–13). We’re not to pray for show, piling up empty words, but to pray in secret to our Father who sees. The model He gave begins with worship—“Hallowed be your name.” It trusts God’s provision—“Give us this day our daily bread.” It seeks forgiveness—“Forgive us our debts.” And it asks for His help to walk in holiness—“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Do you pray like that? Do you desire to pray like that? I know I do! Because that is the kind of prayer God works in! A prayer that breathes life because it’s alive in Him. It is the kind of prayer that has “great power as it is working,” not because of the one praying, but because of the One who hears, answers, and works in the prayer!
Prayer Always Glorifies Our God (vv. 19–20)
James ends: “If anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back…whoever brings back a sinner…will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”
God uses His people to restore wanderers, whether they’ve strayed in belief or in behavior—and that work begins with prayer. Now, no one—not you, not me, not anyone else—can convince anyone to leave their sin for Jesus Christ. Do you know the only one who can do that? The Risen Jesus Christ! Paul says to Timothy, “The Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 2:24–25).
So then, repentance does not rely on the sinner’s dead and captured will, nor does it rely on the convincing arguments of you or me—it relies solely on the grace and mercy of the God who softens hard hearts and awakens dead souls! (Rom. 9:16)
And THAT is a BLESSED FACT, beloved! It is a fact that should cause us not to worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow rests in the hands of the Sovereign God. And it is a fact that should compel us to work faithfully today, because today has been gifted to us by the hands of the Sovereign God, and He has gifted it to us with the purpose of glorifying Him!
That is the very reason God has given us prayer and its power. It is not so we can use it to fulfill the desires of our sinful hearts, but so that we might see God transform our hearts to desire what He desires. Through prayer, our sinful desires are turned to righteous ones. Through prayer, God is glorified as we rely on His power instead of our own. And through prayer, Satan is humiliated, because every time God’s weak people plead for His great strength instead of caving to temptation, it’s a fresh reminder to the enemy that he cannot touch the glory of God in Christ!
Beloved, may we be a people of that kind of prayer—because prayer is the greater work.
Grace be with you.