Good morning, all. So we will be, I'm just going to quickly read again from James chapter five, which in the church Bibles again is page 1,000. I'll be reading James chapter 5, focusing on verses 13 to 18. So that's 1,885 in the Church Black Bibles. Right, James chapter 5, verses 13 to 18, and it reads. Is anyone of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is anyone of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain. And it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed and the heavens gave rain and the earth produced its crops. Okay, let's pray. Father above, indeed, we come before you, we humble ourselves, we exalt you, and we pray, Father, that you will bless the reading of your word this morning. Father, we have no power of our own. We are very small and we are created, but you, oh God, are the maker of the universe. Father, speak through us. May your Spirit of God abide within me and rest upon me, my feeble frame, to project your Word. And we pray, most importantly, that Jesus and Jesus Christ will be lifted up, that all of us will be drawn unto him. Thank you, Lord, for your grace, and thank you, Lord, for giving us the privilege to gather here today and to hear and to read your word and to hear the preaching of your word. Thank you Lord for your grace in Jesus name, Amen. Right so we are in James chapter 5 and it's always good to give a bit of overview about the book of James. So, therefore, the Book of James is, well, a book in the New Testament. It's a rather short book, and it generally deals with how do you achieve a practical righteousness that pleases God? That's the crux of the book. How do we allow our practice to catch up with our position? So the book in contrast to many other books in the Bible, isn't specifically dealing with Christians who are struggling in believing that they are saved. That's not the primary issue here. The primary issue here is it's a book written to Christians who are struggling to or want to know further how to please God in a practical way, in their practical life, on a day-to-day basis. How do I please God? What does that practically look like? on a day-to-day basis. So it's a practical book. And the one who wrote the book, James, the half-brother of Jesus, is inspired by Matthew chapter 7, the Sermon on the Mount, and is also inspired by the book of Proverbs, which again are sort of practical books, practical wisdom. And that's why a lot of New Testament sort of scholars would call the Book of James the proverbs of the New Testament. So it's a short book. It consists of five chapters. If we could do a bit of flicking through, we'll start from chapter one. And remember, it's talking about how do we please God. So Christians here are not worried by whether they are saved, but living a practical righteousness. How do I please God? James chapter 1 verses 1 to 18 talks about trials and temptations. How do I please God when I'm going through trials and temptations? James chapter 1 verses 19 to 27 talks about how do I please God in listening and doing, that I shouldn't just be a hearer of his word, but a doer also, pleasing God in listening and doing, with a slight more focus on doing as well. We shouldn't just be listeners, but doers. James chapter two, verses one to 13. How do we please God? Another way of pleasing God is by not showing favoritism, by having a special regard for some to a sort of disregard to another, showing favoritism. James chapter 2, verses 14 to 26. How do I please God by having a faith that's productive? So we all know that faith, well, I'm assuming we've heard of the verse that says faith without works is dead. How do we as a body and also as Christians, how do we have faith that is productive? How do we bear fruits? That's another way of pleasing God. James chapter 3. Verses 1 to 12, we are pleasing God or another way to please God is to control our tongue. We cannot surely come to church or be Christians in our world and praise God with our tongue and then, you know, within a split second curse man who's made in God's image. That's another way of pleasing God, bridling our tongue, being very careful with our tongue. Another way of pleasing God is, well, Reading on, James chapter 3, verses 13 to 18. There are two kinds of wisdom. We can please God by obtaining divine wisdom. We need divine wisdom. The Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom. It's divine wisdom that we need to walk with God. Reading on, James chapter 4, verses 1 to 12. We have to apply this divine wisdom to our spiritual life. What does submission to God look like? Again, remember the theme in all of this is pleasing God. That's what the whole book of James is about. We read on, James chapter 4, verses 13 to 18. How do we please God in our commercial lives, commercial activity, business, day-to-day work, money, savings, handling business? James chapter 4 verses 13 to 18 gives us some insights on that. James chapter 5 verses 1 to 6, how do we please God? Well, it's sort of a warning that we shouldn't hoard up our wealth. and not using wealth to oppress others. And there's a judgment upon unbelievers who store wealth to oppress others that's awaiting them. And how we as Christians should, well, not follow in the same suits. We should use our wealth to help and to uplift and not to oppress, especially with a special emphasis on God's kingdom. James chapter five, verses seven to 12. We can please God by waiting for the Lord, having wisdom, and waiting for the Lord, being patient and long-suffering. That's another way of pleasing God, not sort of, you know, that verse in Romans, you know, vengeance is of the Lord. We should hold peace, let the Lord take care of it. And finally, here we are in James chapter 5, verses 13 to 18. How do we please God? In obtaining issues, or sorry, obtaining wisdom in the issue of prayer. How can we please God in our prayer life? And actually it's just worth pointing out finally in James chapter 5 verses 19 to 20, we can also please God by restoring the sinner. It's a beautiful thing, think this. James chapter 5 verse 19 says this, my brothers, if one of you should wonder from the truth, And someone should bring him back. Remember this, whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover a multitude of sins. That's another way of pleasing God, by bringing backsliders or sinners, more specifically, sorry, to the straight and narrow. Now we're going to be focusing on James chapter 5 verses 13 to 18, which is obviously obtaining wisdom in the issue of faith. Sorry, in the issue of prayer. And that's where we draw the title of this sermon, which is called Three Kinds of Prayer, which is then found in this James 5, 13 to 18. So there are three types of prayer. The 13th verse, we're going to read it but just summing it up and then going into detail. The 13th verse directs people or persons to pray for themselves. That's number one. Number two, the 14th verse directs people to pray or directs people to seek the prayers of ministers. And number three, the 16th verse directs private Christians to pray for each other. So one is praying for ourselves, two is directing people to be prayed for by ministers, and three is directing private Christians to pray for one another. Ministerial, social secrets. So point number one, let's read verse 13 again. Point number one is let him pray. We should pray for ourselves. James 5 verse 13 says this. Is anyone of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Point number one is that, well, is anyone of you in trouble? We can just stop at that question. Is anyone of you in trouble? A lot of Christians in this world are not devoid of trouble. I remember, I think, my old pastor in the church that I was growing up in says, the only place where there's no trouble in this life is probably in the grave, before going for your judgment before the Lord. As long as you're in this life as a believer, there will be trouble. Christians, the people of God, those whom Christ loves, are not free from sickness, illness, or trouble. Jonah, chapter two, verse one. From inside the belly of a fish, Jonah cried out to the Lord. Psalm 130, verse one. Out of the depths, I cried out to you, O Lord. Lamentations, chapter three, verse 55. In his distress, Manasseh sought the favor of the Lord, his God, and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his fathers. Second Chronicles, sorry, that was actually Second Chronicles 33.12. Lamentations 3.55 says, I called on your name, O Lord, out of the depth of a pit. The point I'm making here is this. Christians are not devoid of trouble, sickness, or illness. James gets to the point here in verse 13. Is any one of you in trouble? What does it say? He should pray. Satan always has a way of making sure that when a believer is in trouble, to say something along the lines of either one of these two things. Number one, run to anywhere but God. Go anywhere, run to anyone, anyone else, anything else, but don't run to God. Don't run to God. Or, he sort of puts doubts in our mind as something along the lines of this. Stop re-returning to God. Oh, you're sinning again. Oh, you're just going to go re-return to God. You're going to repent again, but you're going to do it probably five minutes after. What's the point? So one is doubt in terms of don't run to God at all. The other is why do you keep running to God? Recent church sermons from Henry over the last couple of weeks have talked about the marks of being a Christian. And one of them, Marx, is that the direction of our life will always be Godwards. Always be God-centric. We will always be returning back to God. Is anyone of you in trouble? He should pray. Return to God. He should pray. He should seek the face of the Lord. He should humble himself. Your life will always be Godwards. It will always be coming back to God, advancing very slowly but surely, very surely but slowly. You will always seek to pray, to run back to God. Now, I've got to say a sort of disclaimer here. Remember, advancing with God doesn't only mean progressing. It can sometimes mean going low. As one old school preacher used to say, to enter the doors of the kingdom of God, it's only those that can crawl that can enter. There is an advancing with God that begins with or sort of spends a lot of our period of our time where we're burying our face in the carpet, repenting and seeking after him, still advancing. Matthew 5, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God, blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. James Montgomery, a Scottish poet, said this, is the burden of a sigh, the falling of a tear, the upward glancing of an eye when none but God is near. If anyone of you is in trouble, let him pray. Sometimes when we hear let him pray, there's a bit of a dullness. There's a sigh sometimes. And a very interesting point from Don Whitney says this, the problem sometimes is not that we pray about the same old things, but that we tend to say the same old things about the same old things. So the problem sometimes is in the method. The Bible says that we should be encouraged to pray. If anyone of you is in trouble, let them pray. How can we pray? Well, we can just pray by reading the Bible. You can pray the Bible. If I just go to, for example, just using as an example, the book of Psalms. I'll just go to Psalms 27. Very quickly. I'm just sort of going randomly through scripture. We should pray, we should be encouraged to pray the Bible. Actually, let's go to Psalms, yeah, Psalm 23, 862 in the Church Black Bibles. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. So let's stop. Thank you, Lord, that you are my shepherd. Thank you, Lord, that I shall not want. Your word says it. I don't know much to pray about. Pray the Bible. Because the Bible gives us great ways to say different things about the same old things. As long as we're saying the same old things about the same old things, you enter a dull, boring, bland, uninspiring life of prayer. And we're going to read a few verses down in James chapter 5 that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective, fervent. If you don't understand, keep reading. If there's a point in scripture where, you know, you're going through some verses in scripture, you understand verse 1, great, pray about it. You go to verse 2, oh, it gives you a lot to pray about, pray about it. You go to verse 3, there's nothing, you don't get anything from it, you don't quite understand, all right, well, surprise, surprise, keep reading. Verse two, Psalm 23. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the quiet waters. He restores my soul. Lord, thank you that according to your word you make me lie down in green pastures. Thank you, O Lord, that you restore my soul. Verse three, he guides me in paths of righteousness for his namesake. Father Lord, show me these paths of righteousness. Your word says that you guide me in these paths of righteousness for your namesake. Lord, show me. Verse four, even though I walk through the valley of shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Lord, the valley of shadow of death that I'm in, and I'm fearing evil, your word has told me I should fear no evil. Show me, Lord, how to do this. Your word says it. I'm trusting in you. You see? Praying the Bible. Going verse by verse, praying the Bible. It is a very, very helpful tool. When it says in James 5, is anyone of you in trouble? He should pray. He should pray. No excuses. Because sometimes when we're saying the same old things, about the same old things, we can be speaking to the wonderful, marvellous creator of the world and be uninspired. And the problem is not necessarily that we don't know who we love or that we don't know that God is God, but if we just sink ourselves in our own juices, devoid in ourselves of scripture, there's a danger that it can become bland. We must use the scripture and be inspired by the scripture when praying. Point number one, very simple, we must pray for ourselves. We must pray for ourselves. We shouldn't complain, we shouldn't murmur against God, we shouldn't moan or groan or mumble to man. We are not told that only in some kinds of suffering, by the way, that we should pray for ourselves, we should pray for ourselves. And it's very interesting and it's very important to note that remember behind every smile sometimes there can be an aching heart. Suffering doesn't just mean when times are going good. The book of Proverbs 14 says, verse 13 says this, even in laughter the heart may ache And even joy may end in grief. Ecclesiastes chapter 2 verses 1 to 2 says this, I said of myself, come now, I will test you with pleasure. Enjoy what is good, but it proved to be futile. I said of laughter that it is folly and of pleasure, what will it accomplish? It doesn't say in certain times of suffering we should pray. In all times of suffering, there are people who are Outwardly, doing well. Christians who may be smiling a lot, but man, as we know, looks at outward appearance. God is the one that sees the heart. Even in laughter, the heart may ache. Is anyone of you aching? Is anyone of you in trouble? Let him pray. Our life will always be Godwards. And that's why even the second part of that verse, let him sing. Is anyone of you happy? Let him sing songs of praise. It's still towards God. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Let the name of the Lord be praise. That's the words of Job. Is any of you happy? Great. Let him sing songs of praise. Still all glory goes to God. In suffering, God, you are still sovereign. When times are well, God, you're still sovereign. If anyone of you is in trouble, let him pray. Ecclesiastes 7 verse 5, better to heed to the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the songs of fools. Let him pray. Look at what it says in verse 12, just for a quick second. Above all, my brothers, do not swear, not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. Or you will be condemned. It's always important that we understand the context that this verse is in, not just the following verses, but the verses before. If any one of you is in trouble, let him pray. Not swear. with a rash impatience, but let him pray. Let him pray for support. Let him pray for patience. Let him pray for sanctification of afflictions. Let him pray for perspective, not to swear with a rash impatience. Fanny J. Crosby, a writer of 9,000 hymns, born blind. In one of her wonderful hymns called Close to Thee, one of the verses says this, not for ease or worldly pleasure, nor for fame my prayer shall be. Gladly will I toil and suffer, Saviour only let me walk with Thee. See that? The key thing is to have the presence of the Lord near. If anyone of you is suffering, if anyone of you is in trouble, let him pray. The presence of God near, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want regardless of how intense the trial is, as long as the presence of God is near, then we can overcome it. We should pray for support. We should pray for patience. We should pray for perspective. God might not change the situation, but he'll change us in the situation. If any one of you is in trouble, let him pray. That's point number one. Point number two is the praying of elders upon the sick person or over a sick person. Let's read James chapter 5 verses 14 to 15. This is what it says. Is anyone of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Point number two is simply that we should ask elders, or the prayer of elders over a sick person is also very crucial. A person who is sick, is anyone of you sick? He should call the elders to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. A person who is sick, so weak, so distraught, in such a turmoil, almost bedridden. They are in a deep thought, a deep place. The elders can come, ministers can come and pray over. The key word here, or one of the key words here, is it says, pray over him, which, again, emphasizes that sense of supremely weak, bedridden state. A Christian that's so, whether physically or psychologically or mental health-ly, distraught, that it's touching the pit, that they are unable to leave their house. They're unable to attend for Christian fellowship, whether online or in the flesh. They should pray for them. a physical condition that keeps the person from getting out to fellowship. Cold and formal prayer is not effectual. Is anyone of you sick, he should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. the keep now with the oil. Let's also remember that, especially in the book of Acts, there were many cures that were sometimes done or wrought about by only a word. We see that in Acts chapter 9, Acts chapter 14, Acts chapter 16. There were some cures or healings that took place by the taking of a hand or embracing. We also see that in the book of Acts, Acts 3-7, Acts 20 verse 10. Some cures were brought about by the laying of hands. Mark 16 verse 18 and Acts chapter 9 verse 17. And then, as we can see here, sometimes by the anointing with oil. We also see that in Mark 16 verse 13. So the point is that this It's not a sacrament, and it shouldn't be limited to a sense of exclusivity. And remember that the point here is that the call of the elders is to pray, first and foremost. Not necessarily what is used within the prayer, but it is to pray. Nevertheless, oil is mentioned. Verse 15, as we've just read, and the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well and the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Again, the Lord will raise him up, emphasizing that weak, sick, bedridden state that that particular person is in. The Lord will raise him up. Verse 15 must be understood as such promises are everywhere that they will be restored to health if it pleases the Lord. I think it's in Daniel chapter 3 verse 18, very explosive verse. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they're standing before the king and they say, and they tell the king, look, you know, we're not bowing down to this image you've made. Your Excellency, they're very respectful, sir, you know, we will salute you, we'll give on to you, that which is due to be given on to you, but this image that you have created, we are not going to bow down to it. Look at what they say in Daniel 3 verse 18, but even if, so they're talking about they believe that God will save them, They have the faith that God will save them from this furnace that the king is about to prepare for them or death that's heading their way. But then look what they say, even if not, which means even if God doesn't save us, O king, let it be known to you, we will not serve your gods. and worship that golden image that you have set up. See that? Verse 15 here, must be understood as such promises are everywhere, that one can be restored to health if it pleases the Lord. There will always be that even if clause. The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away. Jesus said in the Garden of Gethsemane, Lord, take this cup away from me. Not my own will, nevertheless, let thine own will be done. The Book of Proverbs says the plans of man may vary, but the purpose of the Lord prevail. The Book of Proverbs, again, also says that the horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory belongs to the Lord. Even if, even if this sickness isn't taken away from me, even if this situation does not change, even if this illness is still ridden in my bones, even if I'm unable, oh Lord, to get what I want, you will still be glorified, you're still Lord and Saviour over my life. I refuse to give none other. Even God says he won't share his glory with any other, but it's a beautiful thing when believers believe that. And also say, no, Lord, I'm not sharing my devotion to you with any other. You are sovereign when times are good, and you are sovereign when times are not so good. You are sovereign in good will, marriage vows, in good health, for better, for worse, for sicker, for poorer, richer, for poorer, right? Both good and in bad, God is sovereign. Verse 15, again, and the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. That is so crucial that that verse is there. So as not to allow the error which we see today of people getting carried away with a physical healing only. Or, you know, physical health. The Lord will restore my physical health only. Well, no. probably very incorrect. If the person has sinned, he will be forgiven. Now why is that crucial? It means that when we are praying for or being prayed for by elders, it's a beautiful thing When we are seeking for a particular physical health situation to be better, it's a wonderful thing when sins are confessed. It's a wonderful thing when faults are confessed. It's beautiful. It's repentance. Now verse 16 goes to say, therefore confess your sins to each other, but we'll just stay here. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. I think it's in the book of Proverbs that also says, whoever hides his transgressions will not prosper. but he who renounces them and forsakes them will obtain mercy. The one that has been forgiven much, Luke chapter seven verse 47, loveth much, but the one that has been forgiven little, loveth little. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. It is so important that we as Christians know how much we have been forgiven. If you call yourself a Christian and you believe that the work, the wonderful work that God has done for you at the cross is little, your ability to love will be little. But if you understand that you are forgiven much, that goodness means much was my sin, much is my depravity, much is my deadness before this living God, you will love much. You will love much. Moving on. Verse 16, which is now point number three. So we said praying for self. Point number two, having the elders to pray over the sick. Point number three, praying for each other. Again, yes, it is Proverbs 28 verse 13, whoever conceals his sins or whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper but he who confesses them and forsakes them will obtain mercy. Confession of sins, as mentioned earlier, in conjunction with prayer is an important means of restoration to health. I mean now this is very general, when it says in verse 16, therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed, just stopping there temporarily, this can apply to all sorts of circumstances. This can be a prayer meeting, this can be a private prayer at home for a friend, this can mean sort of teams of people praying for others, either in their presence or at a distance. The key thing here is confessing sins to each other and praying for each other so that you may be healed. It's a beautiful thing, by the way, when a group of Christians can gather together and confess sins to each other. It's a wonderful thing. and praying for each other. So it's not just a mere confession. We've got to be careful. We don't want to enter. Let's not go to one extreme where it's purely about renouncing and splurring out all of the things, bad things, not so good things, icky things, sticky things, weird and wonderful, crazy, sinful, predominantly, things that we've done. We must pray for each other. James is considering a spiritual work and healing but not removing physical possibilities. We should pray expecting God to heal but leaving the matter to God's hands. So when it says that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective, it's so important that we understand the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. We must be fervent for the things that God is fervent for. We can't ask God to be passionate about something that we ourselves care very little about. We must be fervent for these things. Look at what it says. This is in Acts chapter 7 verse 60. It says this, falling on his knees, He cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not hold this sin against him. And when he said this, he fell asleep. This is Stephen as he's being, well, he's being stoned to death, right? Again, just sort of reemphasizing that last bit in verse 15. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. It is so important that we understand that the greatest need in prayer for sick people is still the pardon of their sin and not merely the situation or the external situation that they are in. It is impossible, according to these scriptures, for a Christian to be passionately engaged with wanting to pray and wanting to really hope that a person is physically healed of a situation, it is impossible for that person to pray for such a person without mentioning the pardoning of sin. The pardoning of sin and asking for sins to be forgiven is super important. That's why when Stephen was being martyred, he said, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. That's incredible. Look at what Blind Bartimaeus, this was a blind beggar on the roadside, said in Mark chapters 10. This is someone who has been ridiculed, marginalized. You would think he would say something like, Lord have mercy upon these guys, come on Lord, come to my aid, help my physical situation. We also don't know that this might have also been a guy that probably had a few undiagnosed physical diseases upon him. Look at what he says. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, Jesus, son of David, have mercy upon me. He's still asking and seeking primarily for the forgiveness of his sins, even though his physical situation is deteriorating. Whether praying for self or praying for others, we must ask for the pardon of sin. Luke chapter 18 verse 13, but the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling to even lift up his head to the heavens. He beat his chest and said, Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner. The great thing that we should beg for ourselves and others in time of sickness is the pardon of sin. Very, very, very, very important. Verse 16 and concluding, therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. The prayer of a righteous man. We've been going through this in the last couple of weeks. with regards to what are the marks and traits of being a true believer, being a Christian. And one of them is, well, I'm just literally repeating my notes from some of the previous sermons. The prayer of a righteous man. What is a righteous man? A righteous man is somebody who understands that the origin of their righteousness is in nothing what they are, or in what they have done, but in what Christ has finished, what Christ has done at the cross. Then it goes into verse 17. Elijah was a man just like us. So that puts to shame and that puts to death all of the false teaching that arises from this verse 17 that says, oh, you know, Elijah was not like us. When James has made it very clear, no, Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed and the heavens gave rain and the earth produced its crops. Sometimes you will meet a group of Christians that have a problem with what is titled specific prayer. It's like they are so concerned about God's reputation that maybe God's reputation might be on the line if they sort of pray for something and it's not given that they sort of shrivel away into their shell and You know, yeah, outwardly they might just say, yeah, by your will, by, you know, let God's will be done. But, you know, they use that as an excuse not to pray for specific things. We've got to be very careful here. There's nothing wrong with praying specifically for someone to be healed. There's nothing wrong with a Christian that may have a particular illness and you're praying specifically, Lord, I don't want this. Take this away from me. Particularly amongst the independent Baptists, Reformed, you know, specific prayer seems to be a bit of a sticky point as well. And that's not what the Word is saying. As Christians, no problem, go for it. Pray about what? Pray about everything. Pray for what? Pray for everything. Specifics, details, very, very detailed, very specific prayer points, render them onto the Lord. Elijah did so. Elijah did so. Praise God it happened. But remember, even if, even if Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, even if God doesn't save us, we still won't bow down to your idols. There has to be an even if. There has to be Lord let your will be done. I want this Lord. You won't put a full stop on it. and say, Lord, I want this to be done, in Jesus' name, amen. Which is unfortunately some of the error on the other side of those that say, oh, you are lacking faith. You're lacking faith because of your inability. to pray specifically about something that shows that you're weak, you're weak-willed, you don't have enough faith in God. Why do you keep saying, if God's will be done? I don't like that type of prayer. No, it's lacking of faith. No, it's not. It's total submission to God. It means that that person sees God as so sovereign that there is nothing that may come their way, by God's grace of course, that they will not see God as sovereign. We must submit to God, both in good times and in not so good times. And also we must have specific prayer requests. We must seek earnestly the face of God. So remember point number one is simply James chapter 5 verse 13. If any one of you is in trouble, he should pray. You should run to God. You must seek God's face. Point number two, verse 14. If is any one of you sick, you should call the elders to the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. It's a beautiful thing. It's a humble thing. to ask for help. Some of us, I mean, you know, this part of the world is accused for, you know, everyone's sort of, you know, stiff upper lip. I think that's what the old English saying is, right? Just keep it in, botch it in. But, you know, many doctors will tell you part of a problem of many. I think I was actually reading something last year that you'd be surprised, obviously I know we're living in a social distance time now, but one of the, I think it was the number one cause of deaths in British restaurants is people choking on their food in the toilet. Right? Because obviously they might be having a meal and they're choking. And rather than sort of cry out for help, because of maybe an embarrassment or a stigma they sort of go and lock themselves away, right, in the toilet and just go. So I'm saying that because we meet some Christians who refuse. Maybe out of past experience, I'm speaking personally as well, it's something that I struggle with in terms of maybe sharing problems, sharing maybe some experiences or tough trials that I'm going through. But same way a doctor will tell you, you knew about these symptoms from five, six years ago. Why didn't you say? Same thing spiritually. The Bible's implying here that there is a blessing, that there is a great blessing to be attained, to partake of when we have elders, when we have others praying for us. Whether at a friend-to-friend level, as we see in point number three, pray for each other, or at a sort of a church level, where we can get elders praying for us. Still, now, again on the other side, it's not a command. It doesn't mean that those that haven't done so, you're going to hell. No. To go to heaven is to believe in the Lord Jesus, and to go to hell is to disbelieve in the Lord Jesus. So we've got to remember that. But at the same time, it's important that we understand that, well, that James 5 verse 13 is true. If anyone of you is in trouble, he should pray. James 5 verse 14 is true. If anyone of you is sick, you should call for the elders to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. May our minds not forget the story of the paralyzed man who, you know, friends were so concerned about his plight, they went on a roof, dug out a hole and lowered him to the feet of Jesus Christ. It's a beautiful thing when we have people praying for us. And point number three, verse 16, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other. It's a beautiful thing when friends can pray for each other. Beautiful thing. I come from a culture, well not a culture, a country, a continent, whatever, but it happens all over the world, God forbid. We have this sort of God forbid culture that I reject it back to sender. But you know what's funny is that if many of us Christians were really open and started opening up about some of the things that we are going through in our lives, someone sitting right next to us will be like, oh, if that happens to me, God forbid. But isn't that funny? What you're saying God forbid to is happening in the lives of other Christians. And to the glory of God, the Lord is still their shepherd. They're not wanting. That old hymn verse, not for ease or worldly pleasure, nor for fame my prayer shall be. Gladly will I toil and suffer. Savior, let me walk with thee. It's a beautiful thing when we can say that the Lord is our shepherd. It's a very radical thing. Some Christians will find that very uncomfortable. They will find Daniel 3 verse 18 very, very uncomfortable. Even if the Lord doesn't save us, he's still sovereign. They will find some of them old hymns, very, very uncomfortable. Not for ease or worldly pleasure, nor for fame, my prayer shall be, gladly will I toil and suffer. But Savior, let me walk with thee. The joy of walking with the Lord, as the saying goes, if you don't have the one thing, then everything else matters. But if you have the one thing, nothing matters, or everything else is secondary. And the one thing is this, the Lord. And the presence of the Lord that abides with us makes us endure and able to endure whatever challenges may come our way. We must pray for each other. We must, if we are in trouble, if we are in trouble, we must pray. If we are sick, it's a beautiful thing to have elders to pray over you or pray over the person that we're concerned about. And we must not rub other Christians of the blessing that one can receive and ourselves of being prayed for, praying for each other. So the conclusion of this is simply to encourage us to pray. Remember that the book of James is speaking about practical ways of how we can be practically righteous in a day-to-day life. And one of them is prayer. We must not be bored in prayer. We must pray the Bible. If we can't pray about anything, if nothing comes to mind, open the book of Psalms and go through it verse by verse. You could start praying from there. God will give you millions of ways to say the same old praise in different ways, colorful ways, creative ways, wonderful ways that expands our mind. Let's pray. Father Lord we thank you for this wonderful time that we have had to go through your word. We thank you Lord that indeed according to your word in James chapter 5 that part of living with the rights before you is to have a vibrant prayer life. Oh Lord and not just to be concerned about ourselves but to be concerned about others. Again, it's in the book of Proverbs that he who closes his ears to the cry of the poor will one day cry out and not be heard. We pray, Lord, that you will hear our cry to you, O Lord. We thank you for these wonderful verses in the scripture that show us that there are people who are in great, great depths of depression and misery and anxiety and poverty and turmoil and trial and temptation. As it says in Psalm 130 verse 1, out of the depths I cried out to you, O Lord. We thank you, Father, that we can cry out to you. We know that that is manifested also, Lord, that if any one of us is in trouble, we should pray. If any one of us is happy, we should sing praises to the Lord. If we know someone, or if we are that person who is desperately bedridden and weak, we should have Christians, we should have ministers of God to pray over us and pray for us. And also, it's a beautiful thing in Christian friendship when we're able to pray for each other. Lord, widen our understanding of your love for us in Christ. Widen our understanding of our need to be prayed for and our need to pray for others. And Lord, we thank you for what it says at the end of that word, the prayer of a righteous man. It's powerful and effective. We know that to be righteous before you means to rest not on ourselves but in the finished work of Jesus Christ at the cross. We thank you for the privilege that we as Christians have in that and we pray for those who are not believers here or listening that if they don't know that they are called. not to be independent, but to be dependent upon you, O Lord, that you will show them, you will open their eyes, O Lord, open their hearts, they will know what the Spirit of God is saying, open their ears that they will hear, open their eyes that they will see, Father. So we pray for those who are not believers as well. that may be listening to us, they may be amongst us, that you will show them the way and draw them nearer to you. Have your way upon our lives. Thank you for the wonderful privilege of prayer and we pray that it will manifest in our lives in biblical ways, Heavenly Father. but in multiple ways and in creative ways, that we will be dependent upon you and joyfully dependent upon you. Thank you for your word in the Beatitudes that says, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. Thank you, Lord, that to be poor in spirit is to simply be profoundly dependent upon Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord, for your grace and your power. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay, I think the final hymn we're going to sing is, I think it's What a Friend We Have in Jesus. It's in the church, Blue Bibles. Not too sure which number it is. My last guess was 614, but I just need that double checked. Just double checked that.