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I am so glad that our Father in heaven Tells of his love in the book he has given Wonderful things in the Bible I see This is the dearest that Jesus loves me I am so glad that Jesus loves me I am so glad that this is where Jesus loved Eve and me Though I forget Him and wander away, still He doth guide me wherever I stray. Tell me, what's the love in God's word I see when I remember that Jesus loves me? When I remember that Jesus loves me I am so glad that Jesus loves me Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me I am so glad that Jesus loves me Jesus loves even me If there's only one song I can sing, When in His beauty I see the great King, This shall my song in eternity be. Oh, what a wonder that Jesus loves me! I am so glad that Jesus loves me! Jesus loves me! Jesus loves me! I am so glad that Jesus loves me! Jesus loves even me! Jesus loves even me. Amen. Alright. Remarkable, isn't it? I mean, stop and think about that song, Jesus loves even me. We all know how lovely we are, and why it's a miracle that God loves us, that He cares about us. And, yeah, Praise God we were able to share that message even yesterday with people at the Galilee. All right, children, six, five, four, three, two, and one can be dismissed. We want this to shore to the creche. And the rest of us, please open up our Bibles again in James chapter five. All right, James chapter five. This past week, it was an incredibly busy week. I want to thank the Lord for the grace he gave for this week. just as, from a preacher's standpoint, you know, there's five services I'm preaching this week, Youth Activity, and, five? Yeah, Thursday, Youth Activity, and then three today. And so that's a lot. We got Gallaudet, getting ready for that. We had Youth Activity, getting ready for that. And just, I mean, there's a lot. And we had a birthday as well, Ben's birthday. And so Wednesday, Ben's birthday, we took off in the afternoon, headed up to Rode Ferry. And something we like to do up there is look for agates along the beach. And we're doing that. And most of my family had gone to the cherry shops and all the things and look around the town center. And I had Nelson and Mac. And we're looking for agates. And there's a beach that we like. And there's an RNLI station there with a boat. and everything we go under this where the boat launches to get to this other beach and there was a lot of debris on the beach because we had a storm the week before and so the beach isn't that clean it's rocky it's a pebbly beach and Nelson goes I am missing my slingshot and he had a slingshot that came from Colorado my family all went to Colorado Last year and while they're out there, they got the kids slingshots and they're not just any slingshot They're carved slingshots that his is an eagle face, you know So it's got white and it's it's wood color and I'm missing my slingshot. It fell out of his back or whatever It's like, okay. Well, thank you really easy to find because there's all this wood debris all over the beach and so we're looking for it and we spent probably a probably 10 minutes at least looking for it and gone I called back underneath to the other side and back to the other side and we looked everywhere and so we got back to the other side again where we had started and I said well Nelson let's pray about it and so we prayed asked God to help us find it and to direct us to it and I kept walking forward and I look back and he's like going this way and he goes way back this way goes over by the RNLI station he goes here it is 25 seconds and After we prayed, God helped him find it, okay? And I can tell you other stories about finding things, an answer to prayer. God is a God that answers prayer, and prayer makes a difference. It made a difference there. I mean, we couldn't find it. We proved we couldn't find it by looking around for it for 10 minutes. By the way, we had looked over there already where he found it, and hadn't found it. But we prayed, and God helped us find it. Prayer makes a difference. James 5-11. Says, behold, we count them happy which endure. You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. Okay, the patience of Job. Job endured that trial of affliction, he got through it, and God delivered him. God's a merciful God. But can you remember when God delivered him? God delivered Job after he prayed. And I know he prayed for his friends, but after he prayed, and so the Bible says in Job 42 verse 10, the Lord turned the captive Job when he prayed for his friends. Also, the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Okay, he prayed, and God delivered. And prayer makes a difference in God's timing. He's gonna deliver. He's very pitiful and of tender mercy. That means he cares a lot about us and what we're going through. The Hall of Faith, Hebrews chapter 11. It's what men and women accomplish by faith. And yet, in saying that they accomplish it by faith, there's an understanding that this is also accomplished through believing prayer as a trusted God. Why? Faith is the fodder of prayer. It's what prayer feeds upon, gives it energy. And so that faith would enable them to go to God, just like George Mueller claiming the promises of God and going before God and saying, God, please. God, please. Prayer is what communicates faith to God. So yeah, I mean it's a hall of faith, it's what they accomplished by faith, but we can't today read that list and think what happened aside from believing prayer, okay? What did they accomplish? It says in Hebrews 11 verse 32, for what shall I more say for the time would fail me to tell Gideon of Beric and of Samson and of Jephthah, of David also and Samuel and of the prophets who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they may obtain a better resurrection. It's a long list of things that they accomplished by believing prayer. It's impossible to think that women receive their dead race to life again without prayer. There's a specific example we'll look at a little bit later that is the communication of faith to God, prayer. And so we know they prayed, and prayer makes a difference. Prayer makes a difference. We need to pray. Because prayer makes a difference. Do you really believe that prayer makes a difference? Do you pray in faith for God to make a difference in your life? That's what we want to look at this morning in James chapter 5 and the ways in which prayer makes a difference as illustrated by James as the author of this book, Under the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and I pray God will use it in our hearts this morning. Let's pray and ask God to do that. Father, I thank you for the opportunity to look at this passage on prayer, where we need to be challenged in our prayer lives, trusting you. Father, there is so much that you could do, but a lot of times we have not because we ask not, or we pray amiss, that may consume it upon our lusts. And Father, there's maybe at times not much praying that is the prayer that makes a difference, that you desire it to make. And so I pray the Holy Spirit to guide me. Guide me this time. I pray God give us ears to hear. Give us grace to take in the message of the truth. Father, I pray that you guide my lips as I speak. I can't speak. Lord, if I've ever spoken clearly any truth of your word, it's only been by the grace of God and the enablement of the Holy Spirit. And that's who I need today to help me and to guide me. And Father, I thank you for his presence. I thank you for his power to speak to hearts. And we ask that you do that, ask that you be glorified in this time, and thank you for your help in us. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Right, prayer makes a difference. First of all, we're gonna look at different ways in which prayer makes a difference. Prayer makes a difference in your emotions, all right? It makes a difference in your emotions. Verse 13 says, is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing songs. There's a kind of a contrast here in this verse. If you're afflicted, pray. If you're married, if you're joyous, let him sing songs. Difference in emotion and different need. And so this person is somebody that is afflicted, let him pray. You know, God, though he allows affliction into our life, he doesn't take pleasure in afflicting us, the Bible says. And there might be trials that you've got in your life, and you're like, why has God allowed this into my life? You know, God doesn't willingly allow those things into our life, or joyously allow those things into our life. And the word of God says in Lamentations 333, For he doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men. In other words, God isn't in heaven thinking, ah, how can I make life difficult for this person? Or if he does allow it, it's for our good, like the Bible speaks about in Romans chapter eight, all things work together for good, to them that love God. And there's a benefit to that, though he's allowed it to come into our lives. I talked to a girl in front of Pinnacliff High School as we were getting ready to hand out the football flyers, and Kirstie came by, and I had a great conversation with her. But she had lost her mom and her dad to death, and she was 21. You know, my heart goes out for her. Why? Because that affliction brings sorrow. That is a real burden, and we can understand that that is a burden. And so somebody that is facing affliction and sorrow of heart, what should they do? They should pray. They should pray. Is anyone of you afflicted? Let them pray. Remember the story of Cana. Interesting story. It's an Old Testament at times. In the Old Testament, men had more than one wife, okay? And it's a story like that. has two wives, Hannah and Penina. And Penina could have children, Hannah couldn't. And Hannah really desired to have children, and Penina would give her a hard time about the fact that God had kept her from having children. And so she's called her adversary, Hannah's adversary. And so verse 6 of 1 Samuel, chapter 1, it says, Her adversary also provoked her sore, for it made her fret, because the Lord had shut up her womb. And as he did so year by year, Elkanah, when she went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked her, therefore she wept and did not eat. Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou, and why eatest thou not? And why is thy heart grieved? Am not I better to thee than ten sons? So Hannah rose up after they had eaten, and Shiloh after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by the post of the temple of the Lord, and she was in bitterness of soul, sorrow, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore. And she vowed to Thou, and said, O Lord of hosts, if Thou would indeed look on the affliction of Thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget Thine handmaid, but will give unto Thine handmaid a man-child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no rage come upon his head. And so she's got sorrow of heart because of affliction. Why? Because she's got an adversary that's given her such a tough time. She really desires to have a child. And so she goes to prayer and she prays to God and says, God, please make a difference in my life in this condition. I have sorrow of heart. God, I need you to intervene. Okay, the question is, does prayer make a difference in our emotions? Well, God answered her prayer, granted her her request. And so in verse 17, it says, Eli answered and said, go in peace. And the God of Israel granted thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him. And she said, let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman Hannah went her way, did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. In chapter 2, verse 1, after she's had Samuel, Hannah prayed and said, my heart rejoices in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth is enlarged over my enemies because I rejoice in my salvation. Prayer makes a difference in your emotions. How so? You've got a burden. You're going to God. God, I'm afflicted. God, this is a trial. You take it to God. God answers, and all of a sudden, it's the, we can endure it for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. It's hope deferred, maketh the heart sick, but when that desire cometh, it is a tree of life. How? Through prayer. Let me ask you, with your emotions, does prayer make a difference? Are you going to God and saying, God, this is a real burden, this is a trial, and God, I need you to intervene. Letting God take you from sorrow to joy. Prayer makes a difference in your emotions. Second, prayer makes a difference in your health, makes a difference in your health. Verse 14 says, is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord and the prayer of faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up. And we aren't here today reading from a Pentecostal Bible. You know, we don't have a Pentecostal preacher up here today teaching faith healing and saying, you know what, you gotta help me. You just need to have faith, right? It's not that. We've got Apostle James, a half-brother of the Lord Jesus Christ, declaring to us with the authority of the Holy Spirit that prayer makes a difference in the health of an individual that is prayed for by believing prayer. By believing prayer, the prayer of faith shall save the sick. Matthew 21 verse 22, all things whatsoever shall ask in prayer, believing ye shall receive. See, we struggle with that. And we might say what some have said, I've never experienced it like that. My experience doesn't verify that. But the fact is, the Word of God says, all things whatsoever shall ask in prayer, believing ye shall receive. And we can go through a list of conditions about that. And later on in this text, we're going to come to some conditions of believing prayer. But the reality is, that's what the Word of God says. The prayer of faith shall save the sick. Prayer makes a difference in health, it's faith. You know, God's limited at times because of our unbelief. Matthew 13, 58, says, He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Mark 9, 23, Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. Acts 14, 9, Paul said to a man that did believe, steadfastly beholding him, perceiving that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, stand upright on thy feet, and he leaped and he walked. By the way, Paul was in Pentecostal Ida. Paul, a disciple of the Lord, I mean, looks at this man and says, you got faith to be healed, rise up and walk by the power of God. That's incredible, isn't it? Do you really believe that there's power and God has the power to heal? See, we've backed up a lot from Pentecostalism because they have gone crooked in their understanding of what the Word of God teaches about divine healing or tongues and that sort of thing, so we've backed up and said, well, God can't do that today. See, but God can do that today. And see, just by way of pointing out about faith, when you heard the story about the slingshot, did you believe God did that, or did you believe that just happened? See, I believe God did that because we just prayed right before my eight-year-old turned around and walked to it. But did you believe that? Because if you didn't, it's unbelievable. See, it's faith. Are we gonna trust God? Are we gonna believe that God can, and therefore that God will? Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. All right? Faith is real, it's tangible, it's trusting God, even if it seems impossible. Do you believe there's power in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ? You know, in the verse it says, let it anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord, in Christ's name, in the name of Jesus, all right? Acts chapter 3, Peter heals a man at the temple, as he's going into the temple, he heals him by saying to him, in the name of Jesus, right? Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I thee, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. Then he says in Acts 3 16, And his name, Jesus, through faith in his name, hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know. Yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. Why the name? Because the name represents a person. Who's the person? The person that has all power. Jesus gave us the privilege of using his name. We've studied it in John chapter 14. And this is what the word of God says. It says it six or seven times in different ways in the context of this. But here's two. John 14, 13. Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in his Son. Next verse, John 14, 14. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it. Again, that is, incredible. And again, I could list other things, conditions of answer to prayer, and I could do that this morning, but I don't want to aid our unbelief in saying we've got to add to the truth of the Word of God. Condition, condition, condition, condition, condition. That's why my experience doesn't match the truth of the Word of God. So we ought to say today is, hey, God is a God that's able to heal, because God says in his word, he can heal. He says it in the New Testament, in James chapter 5, that if somebody has an ailment, let him call for the elder of the church, anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith shall save the sick. It's a strong statement. So, I'd ask us this morning, must God always heal us if we ask him faith? And the answer is no. Why? God may not see that as best for whatever reason. Here's an example, the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul had probably an eye problem, okay, seems likely. Remember, he saw the bright light, he was blinded for a few days when he got saved, and then the scales went off his eyes. It's likely it was facial, okay. It was something to do with his face and maybe his eyes. It's called a thorn in the flesh. And three times he went to God and asked Him about it. And so the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 12 7, lest I should be exalted above nature through the abundance of the revelations. God so worked in Paul's life that there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above nature. For this thing I have sought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. And I've said that to someone I know that is a dear person that loves God and has trusted God for healing, but God hasn't healed. OK? And God, by the way, God will ultimately heal, right? But God isn't physically in this life healed. And I say to that person, I say, I tell them about this. And I say, you know, and by the way, God answers in one of two ways in this condition. He either heals or he gives grace. Right? So God is answering. But I want to go back to the idea that God is able to heal. In answer to believing prayer, my dad Walked out of the hospital 13 days after a car accident that claimed the lives of his wife and three kids. And dad's back was broken. He was bleeding from his ears. He was expected to either die or be a paraplegic. And 13 days after the accident, my dad walked out of the hospital having tied his shoes, combed his hair, dressed himself, and a whole list of things that the doctor said that he had to do. And a Gnostic doctor wrote on his medical report, this is the greatest recovery I've ever seen from these type of injuries. 20 years later, dad's driving a transport truck and moving vehicles between place to place. And he had to get a back x-ray. He goes into the clinic, gets his back x-rayed, and the technician comes out and says, I want to meet you. He said, you're a pastor? And you had this horrible car accident? And dad goes, OK, how do you know? Since we're hundreds of miles from where that took place, I have no idea who you are. I mean, it's in the middle of nowhere. And he said, we studied your x-ray at the Mayo Clinic, the premier hospital in the United States. We studied your x-ray at the Mayo Clinic in med school and they challenged us to show how it is that your nerves are intact. Because Dan has two vertebrae that are shoved together like this. They're fused together. There's a knot in his back, alright? And somehow everything still works. Why? Because God answers prayer. And God heals. Okay, we need to We gotta go to God and say, God, when it comes to health, and by the way, in our modern medicational world, we've got medicine for everything, right? We've got all these things, and I'm not saying this morning that, oh, we shouldn't take doctor's advice, we shouldn't consider that as an option, pray about something to do. But I'm saying from the Word of God, God says, look, pray about it. You gotta help me pray about it. Why? Because prayer makes a difference in hell. Do you believe that? Prayer makes a difference in your righteousness. Prayer makes a difference in your righteousness. And if you have committed sins, they shall be forgiven you. When God touches a person's life, He changes them completely. There is a transformational change that takes place. And as this healing takes place, it's not just healing of the body, it's also healing of the soul. It's righteousness. And it appears in this case, in particular, that this condition was a result of sin. That there was a sin in this person's life that allowed this condition to take place. By the way, is that always the case? No. John chapter 9, the disciples came, they looked at a man that was born blind, and they said, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? You know what Jesus answered them and said? He said, neither hath this man sinned nor his parents, with regard to this illness. Obviously they had sinned, but this wasn't a result of that. But that the works of God should be made manifest in him. In other words, it wasn't that he was facing this blindness because of his sin, he was facing it because God was going to get great glory through that. Frances Crosby comes to my mind very quickly as we talk about that thing. You know, at two years old, a girl that could see was blinded because of a doctor that made a mistake in what he administered to her, and her whole life she was blind. And it seems so tragic, and yet, through that broken vessel, God brought such great glory to himself that we still today benefit from what God did in Francis Crosby's life. And so that could be the case, God allowing a trial. But sometimes it's because of sin. Sometimes it's the chastening hand of God. And it's what 1 Corinthians 11 speaks about. where it says, he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. You're gonna take the Lord's supper in disobedience to the heart that is against God? Then God says, for this cause, many are weakened sickly among you, many sleep. That sickness and death, as a believer, sleep is death, okay? is a direct result of the fact that you're disobedient to God. It seems that's the case here as we look at this man who is being restored. It's certainly in the context of the disobedient, all right? We'll see that as we continue on. And so, prayer being a difference, not just in healing, but in righteousness, in restoring that person to God, getting them right with God. I think we see that in Matthew chapter nine as well. There's a story of a paralytic man that couldn't walk, and his friends, remember, bring him to Jesus and comfort him. It's a story of they take the roof apart, and they lower him down through that roof to Jesus. Okay, so the story is Matthew chapter nine. They brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying in a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee, and behold, certainly the scribes said within themselves, this man blest be man. And Jesus, knowing the thought, said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether it is easier to say, Thy sin be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins. Then saith he, To the sake of the palsy, arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. And he arose and departed to his house. Hey, I don't know. this man. But I do know this man was a sinner. I do know this man had been in disobedience to God. Therefore, he needed not just physical healing, he needed God's forgiveness. And Jesus said, I forgive you of your sin, that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sin. Maybe he was converted, all right? Might have been his conversion. It might have been him getting saved and God taking away his sin. It might have been that he'd been disobedient to God and the paralysis was a result of that. So as Jesus loosed him from the bondage that he was in, he loosed him from the sin that was in his life as well. Okay, prayer makes a difference in righteousness. 1 John 1.9, if we confess, that's prayer, our sin. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin. and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. There's no other way, is there, other than prayer. The only way that, today, if you've got sin in your life, sin in your heart, that is troubling your life, the only way for you to be set free from that is to go to God in prayer and say, God, I'm sorry, I was wrong, you were right, please forgive me. God, I'm sorry, you were right, I'm wrong, please forgive me. That's the way, by God's grace, He's provided a great way for us to be cleansed. Prayer makes a difference. You know what? Let me ask you again. Is prayer making a difference in your righteousness? In your relationship with God, is prayer making a difference? Are you keeping that slate clean? Are you keeping a short account with God? Are you getting into big debt with God and not dealing with it? Sin is a debt. It's got to be paid. Keep a short account. God, I'm sorry. Please forgive me. We're going to sin. It's going to happen. We're going to fail God. But prayer makes a difference. How? In our righteousness. And fourth, prayer makes a difference in your walk with God. Prayer makes a difference in your walk with God. And by this I mean what that poem says that I love. They in the heights are not the one who never erred nor went astray, whose throat unswerving to their goals along a smooth road squirted away. May those who stand when first comes dawn are those who stumble but were not. It's that there's gonna be struggles at times and we might feel overwhelmed, we might feel defeated, we might need help to get back to faithfulness and consistency in God's given us a way, the way is prayer. And specifically the prayers of God's people, coming alongside and praying. Verse 16 says, confess your faults one to another and pray one for another that you may be healed. In our witnessing yesterday, I witnessed a man, and I was trying to think if I knew his name, I don't know his name. As I was talking to him, his wife was actually trying to pull him away, alright, she's Catholic, and he's an unbeliever. He said, I don't agree with Catholicism, because the whole idea of confessing your sin to a man, alright, I get that. Why? Because that's true. I said to him, I said, you're right, so we go directly to God through Jesus Christ. Okay, so when it says confess your faults to one another, it doesn't mean that our church, we're gonna set up a confessional booth and anybody's gonna sit in there and have you dump on them your sin, all right? So what's it mean? It means share the fact that you're struggling with a brother so that you can pray for each other and encourage each other to go on and forgive him. Let him know, it could be called accountability. It's making yourself accountable to the church and saying, you know, I want to be faithful. I want to honor God. I want to succeed. I really have a desire, but I'm struggling. I'm struggling. Pray for me. Right? Maybe at a prayer meeting, just say, hey, I'm struggling. For instance, discouragement. Pray, God, I'll encourage you. Pray, God, I'll help you. Sharing that burden, not dumping sin. And specifically, you might need some specific counseling from the word of God. That might be a Christian brother saying, I'm really struggling with this. Pray for me. And that other brother saying, hey, that's great that you want victory. I will pray for you. Probably I'm struggling with that, too. And these are some verses God used to encourage me to help me. It's that accountability and encouragement. Part of that is prayer. Pray one for another, that you may be healed. You know, Leighton Kelly. A lot of you have met Leighton, or heard him preach. And Leighton was a heroin addict. He was in church, then he got out of church, and he came back to church. And when he came back, he lived in the pastor's house until the pastor found him with a needle in his arm, passed out in his toilet, and decided he needed more help than he could give him and sent him to a men's home in England. And that's where Leighton got victory. But all that's taking place. Do we know for sure? I mean, if David O'Gorman was here, I'm sure if I asked him, I said, Pastor O'Gorman, did you pray for Leighton when Leighton was struggling? You know what he'd say? Absolutely. Why is Leighton succeeding today? Because what this verse teaches, confess your false one to another, pray one for another, that you may be healed. Leighton had people praying for him. You know what, that men's home? I don't even have to wonder, do they pray for the guys? Absolutely. Do we pray for the guys? Not as much as we should, all right? I wanna encourage our church, we need to pray more for them, all right? We need to pray more for the Kellings. But what's God do? God comes in, he strengthens them. Their walk with God is affected as I pray and ask God to help them. Galatians 6.1 says, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fall, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Okay, ye which are spiritual, those that are succeeding, that are godly, not that they're perfect, but they're consistently walking with God, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one, what, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. By the way, Don't ever despise somebody, look down your nose at them and say, well, they deserve that because they really messed up. Why? Because, except by God's grace, they're right also. All of us are capable of any sin, alright? Doesn't matter what it is, you may think you never, but hey, given the right conditions, the right circumstances, the right temptation, you might. You might. So what? Care about it. and restore. Is that gonna take place just by, hey, the Bible says this? It's gonna take place by, hey brother, I care about you, I want you to come to victory, I'm gonna pray with you about this. I'm gonna ask God to bring you to victory. And so prayer makes a difference in your walk with God, specifically praying for others, all right? Fifth, prayer rightly prayed makes a big difference. Okay, prayer makes a difference, we've been talking about it, how specifically it makes a difference. Prayer rightly prayed makes a big difference. Rightly prayed. I often have people tell me they don't believe in God because they prayed about something and God didn't answer. And I'm looking at somebody that's a complete sinner. They don't believe in God. You know what I'm saying? And I know my God gets an answer. Because they're not rightly related to God. They're not in the place of obedience where they can pray something And see God answer, okay? So prayer, rightly prayed, makes a big difference. That kind of prayer is effectual. It says, the effectual verb in prayer of a righteous man availeth not. Effectual. You know what that means? It's prayer that makes a difference. It's not in vain. It's vain if, you know, Catholicism or those religions, you know, saying their rosary, saying their Hail Mary, saying, you know, their list of things. That is ineffectual praying. It doesn't do anything. But this kind of praying is effectual, meaning it accomplished something, meaning that it makes a difference, okay? So, that's what we need. We need that prayer that makes a difference. By the way, I want to give glory to God. God kept us with good weather for the football tournament, for the parade, and for the Gallaudet. Have you thanked God, or did you thank the weatherman that it was clear? Did you think that, oh, it just happened, you know? Yeah, we pray about it every year. By the way, God's done it every year. But you know what? We've had a clear, it's been a clear summer. There was a greater chance that we'd have good weather, which by the way, in the last two weeks, we've had gales and we've had rain, heavy rain. God gave us a gorgeous day. And we prayed about the wind this year. Did you notice? It wasn't windy. There was a nice light breeze that kept us cool enough, okay? Who did that? Listen, God did. And if we don't thank Him, we're not guaranteed He's gonna do that next year because we don't really believe that He did, right? Okay, that's effectual praying. We pray and ask God, God, I pray not be a burden but a blessing. That was my prayer, okay, because I've got football tournament, I've got Gala Day, I've got praying. You did as well, but that's on top of my normal workload of normal pastoral responsibilities, which sometimes I can be overwhelmed with on its own. All right? Hey, it was fun. It was fun. Who did that? God. What is that? Effectual prayer. God, making a difference. Making a difference. You know, that prayer is in earnest, the effectual fervent prayer. Fervent means having or displaying a passionate intensity. Do you pray about it or do you really pray about it? Do you know what I mean? To go to God and say, well, hey, you know, I kind of like to have some good weather from Galilee. Or is it God for your namesake? We let these people know. We've got the Gallaudet members that come in here. We tell them, hey, we're praying about your name. We're praying that the weather will be good. We're asking God to do that. So we pray, and we pray it's God for your namesake. Prayer of glory for the fact that we're having a testimony for you. And by the way, it benefits us immensely to have a good day. Yesterday was an awesome day to get literature out. But effectual praying, I'm really praying about it. The song says, Do you really want revival? Do you really want God's power? Do you really want His Spirit to control your life this hour? Oh, repent and turn to Jesus. Seek His face and humbly pray. Do you really want revival? Are you willing to obey? And then it says, are you praying for revival? See, it's one thing to say to God, I'd really like to see revival. It's another thing to get on your face before God and say, God, we need revival. Revival has to come. Without revival, all these people are going to go to hell. God, if there's anything in my life that needs to change in obedience to you, so that God, we can have your blessing, God, let it change! Right? It's what we talked about maybe about a month ago, and that is, do you fast? If I'm serious about it, again, I mean this idea that we can just anoint with oil and pray and that's it. That's not it. It is earnest, fervent prayer. Have you fasted? Have you fasted? Isn't that what earnest is? God, it's this or I die. Excuse me, it's God or I die. It's God. It has to happen. Are you fervent? Do you really, really want it? And it's a prayer that comes from righteous lips. Fervent prayer of a righteous man. Of a righteous man. You know, God isn't interested in hearing the prayers coming from a filthy lip. God doesn't want to talk to somebody that has the weapons that put Jesus Christ on the cross and killed Him in their hand as they pretend like they really love Him and that He should answer them. It's no different than Ananias and Sapphira coming and acting real godly and getting on their knees and saying, well, God, please, we really desire to see you do what only you can do. No, wait, they're hypocrites. They lied to the Holy Spirit, and God killed them. Right? Today, as we talk about this topic of, wow, God can make it such a difference through believing prayer. It's impossible for that to take place if we are harboring sin in our heart. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. It's vain. I mean, don't go to the prayer meeting. Don't go to church. Stay home! Right? Why? Because it is pointless to come and act like you're going to worship God when your heart is completely away from God. And so the Bible says in Matthew 15, 8, this people draw nigh unto me with their mouth, honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain did you worship me. Know what that, vain means? It means it's pointless. It's pointless. It's pointless. Hey, listen though. If my heart's right with God, I'm rightly related to God, and I'm in earnest about it, I have power to go to God and I can make a difference. I can make a difference in believing prayer because God is gonna listen to somebody that's rightly related to Him. Alright? We've got power. In that prayer, availeth much. Okay? the earnest, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. I mean, think about it. You want wealth for your, I'm gonna spit. You want wealth for your family, all right? You want wealth for your church. You want wealth for your community. I'm speaking spiritually. Earnest, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. It doesn't make a difference. It makes a big difference. A big difference. Jesus, prayed that kind of prayer at the grave of Lazarus. They took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. Jesus, lifting up his eyes, said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou heardest me, always. But because of the people who stand by, I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. Would you know that Jesus gets answers to prayer? Why? Because it was visible. Listen, if your prayer life is accomplishing much, it's going to be evident. If a man loves God, the same is known of him, the Bible says. It's evident that there is answers to prayer taking place in the life of that person. It ought to be seen, why? Because it's accomplishing much. How can it accomplish much and be hidden? Right? The earnest, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. And then prayer that makes a difference in your community. All right, just a couple more points very quickly. Prayer makes a difference in your community. Elijah, verse 17, was a man subject to life passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain. And it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. Elijah prayed in obedience to God against a wicked king, King Ahab, and wicked queen Jezebel, and their ungodliness, and their bail worship, and their idolatry, and their wicked living, and their murder, right? And he said to God, God, don't let it rain. They don't deserve the blessing of God. They don't deserve the grace of God. And he earnestly prayed, and God stopped the rain for three and a half years, okay? After that, God said, go see Ahab, and I'm gonna send rain. He had the promise of God for it. And so, 1 Kings 18.1, God's gonna restore the blessing, but he's gonna restore it through prayer. And so in Acts, or I keep saying Acts, 1 Kings 18, 41, Elijah said to Ahab, get thee up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of abundance of rain. It's not raining yet, he hasn't even prayed about it yet. So Ahab went up to eat and to drink, and Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, Mount Carmel, and cast himself upon the earth and put his face between his knees. And he said to his servant, go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up and looked and said, there's nothing. And he said, go again seven times. It came to pass in the seventh time that he said, Behold, there arises a little cloud out of the sea like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee now. I've stood at Mount Carmel, and there's actually, the earth is blackened in a certain area. And they believe that's where the fire from God fell, because it's burned on the outside, instead of volcanic would be on the inside. Right? But it's on that place that this man just bowed his head and prayed. And by the way, he's just a man subject to life passions as we are. If Elijah was here, he's no different than you and me. He has no greater authority or greater power or greater ability to go to God and ask God to do anything. Why? Because he's a man subject to life passions as we are. But he prayed earnestly and he was a righteous man. And God answered and infected his community. We're talking about the rain in James chapter five, but in the story, he's calling to God to send fire from heaven. He said, hear me, oh Lord, hear me that this people may know that thou art the Lord God and that thou has turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces, and they said, the Lord, He is the God. The Lord, He is the God. God's blessing was restored, the people were turned back to Him. How? Through prayer. Prayer makes a difference in our community. See, You look at all the people yesterday and you go, God, what is it gonna take? Listen, it's gonna take believing prayer in parts of God's people that are rightly related to Him, that are earnestly asking God, God, show yourself again, that the people would stop and go, look, the Lord, He is the God, the Lord, He is the God. That's what we need. It makes a difference in your community. And then last, prayer makes a difference in conversions, in conversions. Verse 19, it says, brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one converted, Let him know that he which converted the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins. Okay, it's in the context of believing prayer. And if someone converts a sinner from the error of his way, if he saves a soul from death and he hides a multitude of sins, the sin is covered by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's a wonderful thing. How did it take place? Through believing prayer. It's the context. They cared about this person. They prayed for this person. God set him free physically. God set him free spiritually. Okay? Prayer makes a difference in conversion. I witnessed... About... I forget now. About a month and a half ago, I guess, to Mrs. Coffee. And maybe you know the story. But I came out of studying at Edinburgh New College Library. And... There's a lady standing beside me as I went to cross the road. I was handing out gospel flyers. She was the first one I handed one to. I handed it to her and she said, no thanks, I'm leaving today. I said, well it's not for an event. I said, it's actually about Jesus and God and I'd like you to have it. She said, okay. She started putting it in her suitcase. The light, the green light came on and we're stuck here. She's putting it in her suitcase. I kind of felt bad abandoning her. Crossing the road, so I waited and then we crossed the road together. Got to the other side, walked together, went down the steps by the National Museum. I started talking about the Reformation. It's something she was studying, talking about the Gospel, how it was about religious liberty and faith in Christ and Christ alone. And she had said she's from Ireland. And I said, we're in Ireland. And she said, south of Dublin. And I said, I've got friends in Ireland. One is in Bray, one's in Hartcliffe. And she said, well, I live 10 minutes from Bray. And I said, well, there's a good week church there pastored by Dan Pero. And she stops, looks real startled, looks at me and says, who did you say? And I said, Dan Pero, Dan and Sharon Pero. And she's got this, I mean, just shocked look on her face. And she says, they're my neighbors. Okay, I have witnessed as somebody that I know their neighbor. And by the way, Dan and Sharon Pero are praying for Mrs. Coffey to get saved, before I witnessed her. Does prayer work? Yeah, prayer makes a difference. Prayer makes a difference in conversion. So those are opportunities that may come to that person that you never know about, but God did because God answered believing prayer, you praying in faith for God to make a difference. Okay, Nelson found his slingshot. Praise God, I told him after he found it, I said to him, I said, hey buddy, tonight when you go to bed, make sure that you thank the Lord for helping you find your slingshot. And he did, okay? Why? Because prayer makes a difference. God did that. And I don't blame God for that. I like it when God gives us opportunities for our young people to understand that God answers prayer. Does prayer make a difference in your life? If you say today, you know what? I don't believe that. I don't believe that. You know what? Prayer doesn't make a difference in your life then. And so you're right. But if you trust God, prayer makes a difference. God just pulled us out. It makes a difference in your emotions. You know, you might really struggle with your emotions. Hey, have you prayed and asked God, God, this is the burden, this is what's troubling me. God, would you meet the need? And seeing God meet the need, and when God meets the need, all of a sudden that burden is now a great joy because you've seen God answer. Prayer makes a difference in your health. The prayer of faith shall heal the sick. You know, we gotta trust God and say, You know, we might have prayed about it for a while. You know, specifically, in our church right now, we're praying for Joel. Asking God, God heal Joel. Is God able to heal Joel? Yes. Yes. And we ought to, we ought to, as a church, say, we're just going to pray in faith for it. And ask God to do that. Prayer makes a difference in your health. Prayer makes a difference in your righteousness. God's able to forgive sin on earth. Prayer makes a difference. Prayer makes a difference in your walk with God. Confess your faults. Pray one for another. Prayer rightly prayed makes a big difference. Firm and righteous man. By the way, let me just stop there about firmancy. Let's just give you an idea. If I said today, church, after the message, we're just going to have a prayer time for anybody who wants to stay. If you want to stay, you can. How serious would you be? How concerned would you be and say, yeah, you know what? That's what we need to do. Do you get what I'm saying? I mean, it's not just like casual, oh, I'm going to pray, you know, if I have time. That's not fervent prayer. Firm prayers, man, we need to pray. I'm a righteous man, no point if you're not righteous. Prayer makes a difference in your community. And I believe God's gonna show that truth here in Longhead as we continue to pray the way not Him. And then prayer makes a difference in conversions. And so I ask again, are you making a difference through prayer? And the next question would be, if not, will you make a difference through prayer? Because James 5 just told us, well, God is able to make a difference through prayer. Let's pray. Father, I pray that the Spirit of God would take this truth and put it deeply into our hearts this morning. Father, I didn't even know what to pray Thursday night. You know, I was praying and didn't even know what to preach. And Lord, Friday I had to write the message. I didn't have any time after Friday morning. Lord, with the youth activity Friday night, Gala Day, All Day Saturday, and then Sunday. And Father, I had a busy week, but I put you first in different ways, and God, you answered. I pray that this message is a product of answered prayer. And Lord, we know that you do that. So I pray this morning. Speak to our hearts, Lord, about what you desire to do in our families. We got a lot of burdens, we got a lot of trials, we got a lot of things in our own life. And Father, it has a lot to do with our ability to trust you and to ask you to meet the need. So I pray, God, to you that I speak to our hearts this morning to stand and sing a hymn of invitation, and I pray, God, you'd be glorified in that. And it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. We'll stand and we'll sing that. I just challenge you.
Prayer that Makes a Difference
Prayer makes a difference in many areas of our life. That reality should be our experience according to the Apostle, James.
Sermon ID | 62418750130 |
Duration | 53:44 |
Date | |
Category | Sunday Service |
Bible Text | James 5:21-30 |
Language | English |