“Let Us Pray” (James 5:13-20)
Intro: James is one of the shortest books in the bible. He is most direct with his words and his chief concern is not how to become a Christian, it is how to act like a Christian. Our reading this morning is the concluding part of his letter and he speaks of prayer. Let us listen for God’s word to us. (READ) ///
You may well have heard this story before, but it bears repeating, there is a tale told about a pastor and a cab driver who’ve died and both were standing at the Pearly gates. St. Peter came out and bowed to the cab driver and ushered him right in. The pastor was told to wait. “Why am I told to wait?” asked the pastor, obviously disturbed, “I’ve preached the gospel faithfully to people all my life. The cabby’s done nothing but drive people around town.” St. Peter returned and said “you preached and people slept, he drove and people prayed”.
The funny part of the tale is the sad truth that like the cab driver’s passengers, for some people, we only turn to God when we are vulnerable and feeling helpless. Those are of course, good moments to turn to God – for comfort and reassurance, but James is calling us to be at prayer in all seasons of our lives. When we’re suffering or when we’re sick but also when we’re cheerful or when we need forgiveness. Elsewhere is scripture we’re encouraged to pray and praise God with every breath.
John Calvin describes prayer as expanding our hearts before God. I have always loved that definition and often use it when inviting others to pray with me. There is something different about praying in public, because as we do, we share with others a glimpse of that most personal and intimate relationship we share with God. We reveal something about ourselves as we pray while others can hear. As a parent there is nothing to compare with the first time you hear your child praying on their own, when they are just talking with God. They might pray, “bless mommy and daddy”, or “take care of my friends, thank you for my teacher, or help our dog get better.” It could be anything, but in that moment we see them in a different way, once we’ve heard them pray and had that glimpse of what they care about. (Any time that there is prayers of petition)
As a community of faith, we are a community that prays together. In fact, our worship service is full of prayers – Prayers of thankgiving, confession, prayers of the people and decication, paryers of invocation and Hymns themselves are sometimes prayers
Some people say prayer is kind of like flossing. We know it is good for us, that we should do it everyday and it shouldn’t hurt, but still many of us aren’t quite sure how to do it, or how to make it a regular habit.
I think “why” we pray and “how” we pray are influenced by what prayer is to us. For many we pray when life isn’t going well, but we can forget to give thanks and bring God into our celebrations. We pray when we are devastated and wiped out by tragedy but seldom do we sing songs when a dream comes true. At times we pray because we think we should or ought to or must. That’s OK, but we all can tell when somebody’s heart is in what their saying and so, too, can God.
When we do pray, I suspect at some level it is because there is a hunger, a longing deep within our lives to be in touch with, or connected with God. If asked can you say, why you pray? You don’t really have to answer me out loud, but do think about the times you tend to be in prayer and consider are there other occasions you might turn to God in conversation?
Each one of us prays in our own way, at our own times, for our own reasons. But I suspect that each one of us shares a desire similar to that of the first followers of Christ. We know that somehow there is something to being connected with God. We know that prayer is part of that connection and so we want to pray or learn to pray because deep down, no matter what our needs, no matter what our circumstances, what we really want is God.
Prayer is communion with God, it is communication with God. It is involves sending and receiving messages. As humans we are especially adept at sending but not so good on receiving. Perhaps there is a parable in the way our bodies are made. We have one mouth and two ears. Perhaps we should listen twice as much as we speak in all relationships, especially in the area of communing with God. Often, as Paul suggested, prayer can be moanings and groanings – too deep for words. As on hymn puts it “Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire, unuttered or expressed.”
In the Lord’s prayer we bid that thy will be done. But sometimes we may approach prayer as a way of getting what we want done. At times our prayers seem to go unanswered, then what do we do? Country singer Garth Brooks expressed a sentiment in one of his songs, “Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.” I think what he is getting at is that we often have requested of God our immediate wants rather than our needs. Prayer is about moving closer to each other and closer to God. That is what God wants.
At times our praying and living are inconsistent. We pray for peace but work for war. We pray for those who are hungry but continue policies that make it impossible to get food to people who are hungry. We pray for people in need but continue to enjoy, support, and benefit from systems that help the rich get richer and the poor become poorer. And the gap widens.
Prayer is conversation with God about the state of our lives and the state of the world. One description of prayer it that prayer is a trilogue where our best self and our worst self talk to each other and God is an active listener and participant. I like that because as my best self and my worst self converse with each other in the presence of God, God is able and willing to get my two selves together to love God with my heart, mind and soul and to love others as I love myself. We are changed through prayer.
When I was training as a chaplain, there was a woman in the hospital whose body was filled with cancer. Each day we prayed for her healing and each day the expression of disappointment at not being healed could be seen in her face. One day she said, “Today let’s not pray that I’ll be healed. God knows that I hate this illness. God knows I want to be healed. Let’s pray that, whether I’m healed or not, I’ll feel close to God because even if I’m not healed, especially if I’m not healed, that’s what I really want–God.” She was not cured but she was healed.
That’s what we all want, isn’t it? Isn’t it God that we want when we pray? We want to know that God is there. We want to know that God is with us. We want to know the truth of the promise, I will never leave you or forget about you.”
Is it true with cancer? Is it true for people facing starvation? Is it true in drought? Is it true during war? Is it true if I’m part of ME TOO? Is it true if my best friend dies? Is it true in every circumstance in life–no matter what happens, no matter what occurs in our lives, that God is there? That’s what we really want. That’s what prayer is all about–knowing, being assured, experiencing God with us, no matter what. When we pray with what is on our hearts, when we pray what matters most, what transpires is amazing, surprising.
We often conclude a prayer with the phrase “in Jesus’ name.” Why do we do that? Is this a magical phrase? Is this a formula we add to a prayer to make it work? This is not a required phrase we tack on to the end of a prayer to make it orthodox. It is not a phrase we add to guarantee God will hear us or grant our requests. To pray in Jesus’ name is to say we want to look at life like Jesus did. It is to say we are not standing above those in need, those who are poor, those who are sick, those who are lonely. It is to say we are standing beside them. They are our brothers and sisters and if we keep at it, this praying for them in Jesus’ name, Prayer changes things–sometimes even us! As this happens prayer becomes living and living becomes a prayer.
Every prayer should also include silence, to give that wind – God’s breath – a chance to blow through our open hearts. Learn to pray, James would urge us, for in our prayer we will find sustenance for our souls and hope for the future, as we commune with God.
Amen.