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Availing Prayer (CCTroy)
Lindsey Gardner on November 20, 2024
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Trials and Temptations

Lindsey Gardner on

SERMON TEXT

James 1:12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

INTRODUCTION

Many churches struggle to rightly emphasize practical help in living the Christian life and theological depth in understanding the character and works of God. Some churches major on practical help in living the Christian life and minimize theological depth. Other churches major on theological depth and minimize practical, how-to Christian living.

If we were to place James in one of these categories, I suspect we’d put him in the practical category. The book has over 50 imperatives in 108 verses. James is constantly telling us what to do and not do. But one of my aims this morning is to show you how James brings together the practical bent with complex explanations of God and his relation to the world and to us.

 

FROM TRIALS TO TEMPTATIONS

In chapter 1, James teaches that Christians should expect trials and own their pain while counting them all joy (1:2), and that God does his most important work in us through trials. Trials test our faith and produce steadfastness, leading to maturity (1:3-4). God grows us up into full and complete people through various trials, and promises a reward—a crown of life—if we endure through trials (1:12). We believe that God uses trials, even that God ordains trials for good and wise purposes, and promises to compensate us in the next life for the suffering and hardship that we endure in this one. The Westminster Confession testifies to this big God theology:

God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; (Westminster)

“Whatsoever comes to pass.” All things, including trials, hardships, sufferings, are ordained by God for his glory and our joy. But this creates a danger, a potential deception, namely, that if we believe that God ordains trials, we must believe that God tempts us to evil.

This misunderstanding is enhanced by the fact that in Greek, the word for trial and for temptation is the same (1:2, 1:12, 1:13-14). James is telling us that this is not simple. Yes, God sends trials to test our faith and mature us. No, God does not tempt you to do evil. We need new categories; otherwise, we’ll be deceived.

So what are these new categories? I find one key in comparing 1:13 to 1:17. The key for James here is that, while all things are from God, all things are not from God in the same way. We could say it like this: Good things are from God directly. Bad things, hard things, evil things (like trials and temptations) are from him indirectly. Or, God is the source, origin, and author of good things, because he is good; he is not the source, origin, and author of evil things in the same way, because he’s not evil or tempted to evil.

We can grasp this better by thinking about the phrase “Father of lights.” Think with me about sun. Both light and darkness are “from the sun.” But they are not from the sun in the same way. The sun causes light by its presence; light comes from it directly. The sun causes darkness by its absence; darkness comes from it indirectly.

So also with God as the source of good things and hard things. Light and darkness, well-being and calamity (or evil) come from God. God sends both good things, and he sends hardships and trials. But he is not the source of them in the same way. God gives good things directly; he sends trials indirectly. And this is important to James, lest we be deceived, and in our deception, be unable to endure trials faithfully and receive gifts gladly.

 

PRACTICAL HELP IN OUR VISION OF GOD

How does that clarity—that avoidance of deception and error—help us to live? What happens if you flatten out those distinctions or deny one side of the truth? You might deny that God sends trials to produce maturity in us. You might say that he doesn’t have anything to do with hardships, pains, sufferings. And so you face them believing that they are ultimately meaningless, that your pain is pointless, that God is powerless to help you. And so in the midst of trials, you despair.

But let’s say that you believe that God sends trials, but you flatten out that distinction. On the one hand, you’ll try to deceive yourself into thinking that hard, painful things are good in themselves. You think that faithfulness means pretending hard things aren’t hard. Another possibility is that in the trial, you’ll start to blame God. You’ll say, “God has sent this trial to test my faith. Therefore, if I fail, he is to blame.”

Another possibility is that you’ll view God as a cruel sadist, as someone who delights in your pain. And therefore, you won’t run to him in your pain. You won’t rely on his strength and compassion to endure the trial; you’ll try to rely on your own (because that’s all you have) and you won’t make it for long.

But this deception won’t simply affect your experience of hardships. It will affect the good things in your life as well. God is kind and blesses you. But because you believe that he sends trials, you can’t really enjoy the goodness, because you’re terrified that “Behind a smiling providence, he hides a malicious face.” The goodness you have now is just God fattening you for the slaughter. This is what the gods of the ancient religions were like. As one person said, “We are their bubbles. They blow us big before they prick us.”

The result is that your view of God is constantly distorted. In hard times, he is a cruel sadist. In good times, he is a trickster waiting to spring his trap. It’s impossible to live the Christian life under such distortions and deceptions. And so James is adamant that good gifts come down from a loving Father, and there is no shadow of turning with him. He’s not playing a trick on you. Good gifts are from him and designed to lead you back to him, and hard painful things are not from him directly but are instead designed to produce steadfast faith and maturity.

 

PRACTICAL HELP IN RESISTING TEMPTATION AND FIGHTING SIN

So if temptation doesn’t come from God directly, where does it come from? James describes the process of sin and temptation in terms of four stages.

Stage 1: God gives good gifts, which we desire to enjoy. Stage 2: Those desires go astray, and we begin to want things at times or in ways or in degrees that God has forbidden. Desire is now enticing and luring us away from God and toward evil. Stage 3: Desire conceives and gives birth to Sin. We pass from temptation to concrete, deliberate, willful disobedience to God. Stage 4: That willful disobedience grows and becomes stronger until it gives birth to spiritual death. We have hardened our hearts.

Desire and Temptation are not the same. Temptation and sin are not the same. Sin and death are not the same. These distinctions have practical, real-world effects.

Here’s one: this process of temptation and sin shows us the danger of little sins. We want to play with the lures, dabble in fantasies, nurse small grievances. We think, because the sins seem so small in comparison to some, that it’s no big deal. Until it is a big deal.

Here’s another: if we fail to distinguish godly desire for God’s gifts from enticing desire and allurement, then we’ll treat the gifts of God like idol traps. He gives us good things, and we view them with suspicion and hostility because he’s dangling temptations in front of us. Or we feel guilt because we want something other than God.

Here’s another: if we fail to distinguish temptation from deliberate sin, then every experience of temptation brings the full weight of condemnation down on our head. We develop a hypersensitive and false conscience.

Here’s another: if we fail to distinguish deliberate sin from its consequences in spiritual death, then we won’t believe that the gospel is for us. If we knowingly and willfully disobey God, we’ll think that we’ve gone too far, we’ve out-sinned his grace, and we’re doomed. But the reality is that in this life, we’re never doomed. There’s always a way back. The gospel is always good news. You may have been a prodigal. You may have willfully despised your Father and spent the good and perfect inheritance that he gave you on your own sinful pleasures. But it’s never wrong to be the prodigal coming home. You can still come home.

 

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Availing Prayer (King’s Cross)

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THE TEXT

16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit (James 5:16–18). 

WHAT KIND OF PRAYER AVAILS MUCH?

  1. Effective, fervent
  2. Righteous

WHY THE EXAMPLE OF ELIJAH? (1 KINGS 17–18)

  1. He was a righteous man, “with a nature like ours”
  2. He prayed earnestly

CONCLUDING APPLICATIONS

  1. Be encouraged to pray, not discouraged. If you are seeking to live a godly life through the power of the Holy Spirit, then you have God’s attention. 
  2. Recognize where you pray already, and do so earnestly and with renewed faith.
  3. Take practical steps to cultivate additional times of focused prayer—because God is faithful and kind.

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Fervent Prayer (Troy)

Christ Church on

INTRODUCTION

Prayer is a tricky thing. You know that God is sovereign, that He has predestined all things, and knows the words that you will speak even before you speak them. In light of this truth, you may develop an attitude that thinks prayer is irrelevant. Then, when a trial arises and you begin to fear, and prayer will become an exercise in worrying before God. Both of these attitudes are disobedient and result in disobedience because they flow from doubt and unbelief. The reality is that believing, fervent prayer is potent and necessary for obedience. It is a wonderful privilege. 

TEXT 

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like 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. (James 5:16-18 KJV).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

A wooden translation of the beginning of verse 16 would be, “confess to one another the trespasses.” Which trespasses? The sense here is to confess to your brother the specific trespasses which you committed against him. The second thing we are to do, is pray for each other, so that we might be healed or cured. Prayer can do that? Yes, a righteous man’s effective prayer makes great things happen (v. 16). For example, Elijah, who had fingers, toes, and a human nature just like you, prayed earnestly, and his prayer changed the weather: it stopped the rain for three and a half years (v. 17). Then he prayed again, and rain and crops returned (v. 18).

A NATURE LIKE OURS

James knows that it is difficult to believe that prayer can accomplish things like healing, so he uses Elijah as example to increase your faith. Elijah was special. He did a variety of miracles which you have only ever seen repeated on a flannel board. He was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire. And yet, James cites Elijah as an example you can and must imitate when it comes to prayer. Elijah was righteous in Christ, you are righteous in Christ. Elijah was human, and you are just as human. Elijah’s prayers caused things to happen that are impossible for us to do on our own, and James’ says you have that same privilege with God. If you have God’s ear just as Elijah did—and he changed the weather—is God able and willing to answer your prayers?

This is all very exciting, except that what James says may not match your experience. Perhaps you have tried the whole Elijah thing, and you have decided that it was just one of those interesting Bible times phenomena. If this is the case, consider a more modern example. Many know George Müller as the orphanage guy, but actually, one of the chief reasons Müller started the orphanage was to encourage men to trust in God. So often, believers would hesitate to be obedient because they were afraid of the consequences, and they didn’t believe their prayers availed much. In an effort, strengthen their faith and trust in God, Müller started an orphanage which grew to an immense size and neither he nor his staff ever asked for even so much as a penny from anyone except God. God faithfully provided for the orphanage year after year, decade after decade. He heard the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man. 

In the upper room discourse on the night before Jesus died, Jesus says that prayer is the means by which we will bring glory to the Father, bear lasting fruit, and have our joy made full (John 14:13, 15:16, 16:24). Jesus doesn’t just give instruction on the blessing and privilege of prayer, Jesus commands His disciples to ask. You are commanded to pray and to trust; this privilege is God’s gift to you.

EFFECTIVE PRAYER

What does an effective, earnest, fervent prayer look like? Effective means it really changes things, earnest means serious, and fervent means burning.  Prayers that would not fit into this category are prayers forgotten the moment the words leave your lips, or spoken without your mind engaged; prayers made with a doubting heart; and prayers offered up along with unrepentant sin.

No, an effective and burning prayer seeks God’s glory and as such it is directly connected to obedience. Elijah’s prayer for a drought showed that YHWH’s power was greater than that of Baal, the storm god. When Elijah told Ahab the rain was going to come, he was showing that YHWH is the God who brings rain and fruitfulness. 

Ernest prayer is persistent, and overflows from a lifestyle of prayer.  Elijah prayed three times to raise the widow’s son, and he prayed seven times for the rain to start and each time, he checked for the answer with expectation. (1 Kings 17:21, 18:43). This isn’t vain repetition—this is fervency—this is waiting for God like the watchman waits for the morning. Elijah prayed one short simple prayer when God answered with fire from heaven on the sacrifice (1 Kings 18:36). 

Effective and fervent prayer also includes risk and moves to action. Elijah’s prayers were specific and put both his and God’s reputation on the line. Elijah’s obedience was tied directly to his prayers. He poured water on the sacrifice and predicted the rain before he prayed. He had skin in the game.

OBEDIENT PRAYER

You have been given the gift of prayer. You have a general understanding of what it should look like. But how do you get started? What if you mess it up? What if God still says no? Imagine for a moment that God just gives you what you ask like the wishes given by a genie. This by itself could be a really scary thing. Thankfully, God knows that you might ask for bad things, and He loves you enough not to give it to you. So, don’t worry if you pray badly. God will say no. Then you learn something! At least what not to ask for, and what to ask for next time. 

Practically, start by praying specifically, do what is in your power to further your request, check your motives, ask God to show you any sin that needs to be confessed and forsaken, and then look with expectant hope for the answer. For example, we are commanded to love our enemies and pray for them (Matt 5:44). It is wildly easier to love someone you are bitter toward if you have been praying for him. 

 

Ask for things you have been promised in the Scriptures. Look for what God would have in a specific situation and pray that. If there is a Scriptural promise (like the prayer for wisdom in James 1) pray it with confidence. Pray the Psalms. Pray the Lord’s Prayer. Once you start looking, you will find that there are so many wonderful things that you are given to pray. Know that you will have what you asked for. Praying the Scriptures is so helpful as you get started because they include the most important things to pray for. But what about things that are not in the Scriptures? Like recovery from a grievous illness? In this case, pray for things that are both consistent with God’s character and which He has put on your heart—for things He has given you the faith to ask for. Here it is especially important to pray specifically so that you can actually tell if they were answered. This is part of learning to pray.

Prayer is like any other spiritual discipline in that it takes practice to do it well. Babies are limited in their abilities to give thanks well. Grow up in the discipline of prayer that you may thank and praise your God better each day. Don’t be discouraged or give up. James used the example of Elijah to inspire you. God does not tell us when or how He will answer, but trust that you have His ear. Trust that He has commanded you to ask, and that He is faithful. If you ever tempted to doubt God’s power to be able to perform your prayer, remember that He raised Jesus from the dead. If you are ever tempted to doubt His willingness, remember that He sent Jesus to die for your sins. “…they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.” (Ps 34:10). 

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You Get What You Pray For (Troy)

Christ Church on

Sermon Text – James 4:2-3

INTRODUCTION

One of the hallmarks of Christianity which bolsters it as the one true religion is its penchant for balance. Religions derived by men are hard nosed and they will categorically define certain actions as forbidden. From Sahih al-Bukhari, Muhammed says, “Allah has cursed wine, its drinker, its server, its seller, its buyer, its presser, the one for whom it is pressed, the one who conveys it, and the one to whom it is conveyed.” Joseph Smith says in Doctrine and Covenants Section 89, “Tobacco is not for the body, neither for the belly, and is not good for man…And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly.” But when the Bible speaks about behaviors that are verboten, it will often do so by contextualizing the prohibition. Drinking alcohol in and of itself is not evil, but drinking it to the point of drunkenness is evil. Sex is not inherently evil, but it quickly can become evil if it is not framed within the covenant of marriage. Similarly, raw desire cannot be flagged as good or evil without context. And this too, requires biblical balance to rightly discern it. This morning’s sermon will be about prayer, but since our text this morning is addressing the particular issue of covetousness, let’s take a moment in the introduction to discuss the concept of desire. 

THE NURTURE OF PRAYER

Those who have walked with God for a time, times, and half time know that prayer has an exponential quality to it. You come to God in faith, expressing your agreement with the name of God, that He exists, and you ask Him for something specific, and you receive an answer which emboldens your faith even more, which drives you back to your knees to petition Him once again. And the cycle continues until  you find yourself in line with the commandment of scripture, to pray without ceasing. It is this ever present communion with God that defines what it means to be walking in the Spirit.

Prayer reminds us that this world is fallen. In this world homes burn to ashes, metal rusts, and moths destroy. And it reminds us that one day, one glorious day, we will enter our father’s mansion where there are many rooms and every tear will be wiped away and death will be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. This is the comfort prayer can bring. This is the hope we have in God.

THE METHODOLOGY OF PRAYER

The Lord’s Prayer has seven aspects. One, acknowledge who He is and where He is. Two, bestow reverence on His name, which we covered earlier. His name is “I Exist” so you agree with that statement and extol His name in faith. Three, you ask God for change. At the moment, there is a rift between heaven and earth. And you are praying that a restoration will occur. You are praying that Revelation 22 will be fulfilled, “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.” Number 4, you ask God for daily bread, to be sustained physically with earthly bread, and to be sustained spiritually with the heavenly manna. Five, you ask God to initiate the cycle of forgiveness that starts from Him to you and then from you to others. Six, you ask for guidance and protection from evil, and lastly number 7, you recognize that He has the power, it is his kingdom, and he is to receive glory as long as forever is forever. 

THE IMPLICATIONS OF PRAYER

John 14 says, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” The cardinal verse of the health and wealth, name and claim it gospel has led many astray and many have been deceived by it. If the verse does grant us carte blanche, and the only thing that’s preventing us from having whatever we want is that we haven’t asked yet, then there is a contradiction in scripture. Because our text this morning explicitly states “you do not receive because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” So which one is it? Our choices are, there’s a contradiction in scripture or we do the hard work of harmonizing the two verses and deriving our interpretation in a way that accords with the whole counsel of God. To rightly interpret this verse let us get some help from Jesus. In Luke 11, he says, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

CONCLUSION

 When we submit to the Father’s will, as Jesus did, it gives us direction. When Jesus stands up after the third prayer, having received a no from the Father, and having accepted the answer fully in his heart, you will notice that there is a line of demarcation. From this moment on, the Lord Jesus will wipe the sweat off his brow, dust himself off, gird up his loins, and display the greatest example of manliness the world has ever seen. He’s done defending himself. His actions and teachings and miracles over the last 3 years have spoken plainly as to who he is. He will say very little over the next 17 hours and he will display meekness on a scale that is incomprehensible. This is the power of prayer. It is prayer that gave Jesus the strength to endure his passion. And when the veil in the temple tore from top to bottom, he forever opened the channel by which we can commune with the Father. The Holy of Holies is opened to you saints. Your God is listening. So pray to Him and expect good gifts.



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