I have a lesson this morning
that I believe will be of great interest to everyone here. I
titled it Prayer that Avails Much. At the end of verse 16
in James chapter 5, look what James says. He says, the effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. And we would
all like our prayers to avail much. We like our prayers to
be full of power. You know, the first thing that
we think of when we think of a righteous man praying is our
Lord Jesus Christ. He is the righteous man, isn't
he? And if Christ is praying for
us, that avails much. All is well. All is well if Christ
is praying for us because his prayer avails much. His prayer
of intercession for his people avails much. His prayer brings
his people salvation. It brings them the forgiveness
of sins. It brings them acceptance with
God and eternal life. But that's not what James is
talking about here. James is talking about the prayers
of God's people, of us who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Every
one of those people is a righteous man or a righteous woman because
Christ has made them righteous. And James says that their prayers
avail much. Their prayers have much power. Now I read that this week, and
I thought about my prayers. My prayers so often feel weak
and ineffectual, feel like they don't avail anything at all.
There's just no power to them at all. And I'd like for that
to be different. Wouldn't you? Would you like
that to be different in your prayers? I want to give us this morning
seven ways that our text shows us how our prayers will avail
much, how they will have much power with God. And number one
is this, prayer that avails much. is a prayer of dependence upon
God. Now look back at verse 13 of
James 5. We looked at this last week. We'll just touch on this
briefly, or as briefly as I can anyway. Is any among you afflicted? James says, let him pray. Now
you know the only things we pray about. You know this is true.
The only things we pray about are things that we know we're
not in control of. Isn't that right? We're not in
control of it, but God is. That's why we bring these things
to him in prayer. We only ask God to give us things that we
feel like we can't get our own selves. Well, when we're sick,
we can't heal ourselves. So we pray. We ask God to heal
us. And that prayer shows dependence
upon God for him to do something for us that we cannot do for
ourselves. And our prayers would always
avail much if we would pray in complete and utter dependence
upon God. When we pray dependence upon
God, we're confessing the proper relationship that we have with
God, that we're helpless, that we can't do anything for ourselves,
and God is the Almighty. And if you look back at Mark
chapter 10, this is one of the best examples of this that I
can think of, this prayer of dependence. Mark chapter 10 is
blind Bartimaeus. Mark 10 verse 46. And they came
to Jericho, and as he went out of Jericho, and don't you find
that interesting? He just went in and went out. He just passed through Jericho,
passed by everybody in Jericho. He came to Jericho, and he went
out of Jericho with his disciples. And a great number of people
were with him. And blind Bartimaeus, the son
of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. And when he heard
that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say,
Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged
him that he should hold his peace, but he cried the more a great
deal. Thou son of David have mercy on me. And Jesus stood
still and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind
man saying unto him, be of good comfort. Rise, he calleth thee. And he casting away his garment,
rose and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, what wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said
unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. Jesus said
unto him, go thy way. Thy faith hath made thee whole.
And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus in the
way. Now the way, blind Bartimaeus
answered our Lord. Our Lord said, what will you?
What is it you desire that I should do unto you? And he said, Lord,
that I might receive my sight. Saying, Lord, that I would receive
my sight is showing I am completely passive in this matter of seeing. I'm helpless in it. The only
way I'll see is if you give it to me, that I might receive it.
That's a prayer of dependence upon God. And that prayer, that
dependent beggar availed much, didn't it? Availed much. All
right, number two, prayer that avails much is a prayer of thanksgiving.
James says, is any merry, let him sing psalms. Now every prayer
of ours ought to include thanksgiving. And really, more of our prayers
ought to include nothing but Thanksgiving. They really should.
It's wrong not to say thank you. You know, every time we have
a party for one of our children, you know, we always get thank
you notes, either delivered to us here or in the mail or something.
You know, you mothers teach your children to say thank you, because
it's wrong not to say thank you. Well, we just can't expect our
prayers to avail much if we're always asking for stuff. and
never thanking the Lord for the countless many blessings He's
already given us. And if you look in Luke chapter
17, here's a very, very good example of that. A prayer of
thanksgiving that availed much. Luke 17, beginning in verse 11. And it came to pass as he went
to Jerusalem that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee
And as he entered into a certain village, there met him 10 men,
which were lepers, which stood afar off and lifted up their
voices and said, Jesus master, have mercy on us. And when he
saw them, he said unto them, go show yourselves unto the priest. And it came to pass that as they
went, they were cleansed. And you think what a miracle
that they were cleansed. They were delivered from a sure
death sentence. They were cleansed. And one of
them, When he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with
a loud voice glorified God. Now, 10 men prayed, didn't they? 10 men prayed. One gave thanks. One gave thanks. He fell down
on his face at his feet, giving him thanks, and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, were
there not 10 cleansed? But where are the nine? There
are not found that return to give glory to God save this stranger.
And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way, thy faith hath made
thee whole. The prayer of thanksgiving availed
much, didn't it? Not only was his physical disease
cleansed, his soul was cleansed. His faith had made him whole.
The prayer of thanksgiving availed much. Right back in our text,
James 5, here's the third thing. Prayer that avails much is a
prayer of faith. Verse 14, James 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. And if he have committed
sins, they should be forgiven him. Now we looked at these verses
last week. I told you that I'm convinced
that these two verses are not talking about the healing of
the physical sick. Those people are in verse 13,
those who are afflicted. Sick, afflicted with anything.
If you're afflicted with sickness, let him pray. Verses 14 and 15
are talking about those whose souls are sick. This is talking
about spiritual healing. Now, without a doubt, we should
do whatever it is that we can do to comfort our suffering brethren
while we pray for them. But verse 15 doesn't say that
the prayer of faith will heal the sick, does it? No, it says
save them. It'll save them. This is talking
about salvation. So this is the prayer of faith.
The prayer of faith knows, confesses, I am so sinful, the only hope
of salvation I have is in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the
prayer of faith. The prayer of faith believes, confesses, that
all it takes to save me is Christ. The prayer of faith confesses
belief in God's word. God's Word says the Lord Jesus
Christ shall come and save their people, His people, from their
sins. Faith believes that. If I don't be saved, He's the
one that's going to do it. The prayer of faith is saying
and meaning that I believe salvation is sure and certain in the Lord
Jesus Christ. No matter how sinful I am, He's
able to save me. He's able to cleanse me. That's
the prayer of faith. and that prayer avails much. James says, people who pray this
prayer of faith, not that they'll be healed if the Lord will. Now
he's talking about something that's a certainty here. Those
who pray the prayer of faith, their sins shall be forgiven. Shall be, the Lord will raise
them up. The prayer of faith avails much. Look back at Romans
chapter 10. See, this prayer of faith is
a powerful prayer. Because it brings salvation from
the Lord. Romans chapter 10, verse 12. For there's no difference between
the Jew and the Greek. For the same Lord over all is
rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now that's a powerful
prayer. I don't care who you are, I don't
care what your background is, what you've done, what you haven't
done. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord in this
prayer of faith shall be saved. That's a powerful prayer that
avails much, isn't it? All right, here's the fourth
thing. James says here, talking about the prayer that avails
much, is a prayer for Christ's sake. He says in verse 14, 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. In the name of the Lord, for
Christ's sake. Now, praying for Christ's sake is a whole lot
more than using the phrase, for Christ's sake, at the end. That's
the way we close a prayer, for Christ's sake. We're saying,
in Jesus' name I pray. No, to pray for Christ's sake
is to pray for the sake of, for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's, Lord, save me for Christ's
sake. Save me because of who Christ
is and what Christ has done, not because of who I am and what
I've done. but for Christ's sake. Look at me in Christ. Save me
for His sake, what He has done. Lord, forgive me for Christ's
sake. Forgive my sin because Christ
shed His blood to put away the sin of His people. Lord, You
said the blood of Your Son cleanses us from all sin. Well, forgive
me because of the blood of Christ for His sake, not because of
what I am, not because I'm not that bad, not because I want
You to overlook my sin or ignore it. Lord, forgive my sin for
Christ's sake. for the sake of His blood that
cleanses me from all sin. To pray for Christ's sake is
also to pray for the glory of Christ. Lord, save me for Christ's
sake so that Christ gets all the glory in saving someone as
lost and sinful as I am. Let Him get the glory in this.
Lord, bless Your Word to my heart for Christ's sake. So I see more
of His glory, so I can trust Him more, so I can worship Him
more, so I can praise Him more. And look back at John chapter
14. Now this prayer for Christ's sake avails much. Our Lord tells
us there is no limit to its power, praying for Christ's sake. John
14 verse 13. And whatsoever ye shall ask in
my name, That will I do, that the Father may be glorified in
the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it. That's a powerful prayer. You
ask anything in his name for his glory, he says, I'll do it. That prayer avails much. All
right, here's the fifth thing. Prayer that avails much is prayer
that is honestly confesses that I'm a sinner. in need of a Savior.
Verse 16, James 5, confess your faults one to another. Now, people have taken that and
run as far off into left field as they can get by no stretch
of the imagination. Does this mean that we're supposed
to publicly confess all of our sins or that when we commit particularly
heinous, vile sin that we're supposed to confess those just
particularly horrible ones to the whole congregation. Don't
ever do that. That is one bad idea. That's a bad idea. Number one,
that's a bad idea. Because if that's what we were
just going to confess our sins to one another, we wouldn't have
time to do anything else. We wouldn't have time to preach.
We wouldn't have time to pray. We wouldn't have time to sing
or praise. If all we're doing is confessing our sins, that's
going to take a long time. And second, if we did that, if
we confessed our sins, all right, well, we're not going to confess
what we think are ordinary, run-of-the-mill sins. Sin is sin to God. We are the ones that categorize
sin. Let's say we're just going to confess our very worst sins
to one another, because somehow this is good for us. That's a
bad idea. That's a bad idea. If we did
that, we wouldn't be able to stand one another. I mean, we
would despise one another. And people who want to do this,
all it is, is self-righteousness. They just want to make themselves
feel better about themselves, thinking, oh, listen, this so-and-so
confessed their sins. Well, that makes me feel better
about myself because I'd never do that. Don't fool yourself.
Don't fool yourself. That's a bad idea. And that's
not what scripture is teaching us. I tell you what this is teaching
us. That we are to confess that all
we are is sin. That we have a sin nature that
can produce nothing but sin. and confessing, living like,
really believing in total depravity, and not in your total depravity,
in my total depravity. Believing in my total depravity
will make me totally dependent on God to save me. See, we can't
be saved because of any good in us, can we? Because there
isn't any. No. If we would be saved, we must
be saved because God is good. We must be saved because God
saves sinners. God saves sinners. then I want
to confess, I'm a sinner. I need him to save me. And praying
that way, confessing who and what we are, that we're sinners,
completely dependent on Christ to save us, that our prayers,
I am totally sinful and I'm like blind Bartimaeus, I'm begging
for mercy. That prayer is a powerful prayer
that will avail much. God always, always answers that
kind of prayer. You take your Bible sometime
and you go through it from front to back, first page to the last
page, and you will not one time find a sinner begging for mercy
that got turned away. That kind of prayer fails much.
And I'll tell you the second thing about this confessing that
all we are is sin, that our nature is a nature of sin. That attitude
will make it easier for us to pray for others. It really will.
It'll make it easier for us to forgive others. If I know how
sinful I am and how dependent that I am upon the Lord, that's
going to make it a whole lot easier for me to forgive you
and pray for you that the Lord helps you, that the Lord will
forgive you because I know I'm totally dependent on him. Well,
you are too. Then it'll make me easier to pray for you. And
that brings me to the sixth thing. Prayer that avails much is to
pray for others. It's not to pray selfishly. Prayer
that avails much is prayer that prays for others. Verse 16 says,
confess your faults one to another and pray for one another that
you may be healed. Now, believers are taught to
love one another. That's the mark of discipleship,
that you love one another. Well, if we love one another,
we will naturally pray for one another. We'll naturally care
for one another, naturally pray for one another. The Lord is
just not going to bless a selfish attitude when we pray just always
asking for things for our own self. The Lord's not going to
give us things that we're just going to waste upon ourselves.
Remember that in James chapter four, verse three, he says, you
ask and receive not because you ask amiss that you may consume
it upon your lust. The Lord's not going to give
us things that we can consume on our own lust. And if you look
back at first Timothy chapter two, Here's what we're instructed
to do, to pray for one another, to pray for other people. 1 Timothy
chapter two, verse one. I exhort therefore
that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving
of thanks be made for all men. Now see here, we're commanded
here to pray for others. And you know what? It's good
for us to do that. It's good for us to pray for
others. Cause look what Paul says next. Verse two, you pray
for Kings and for all that are in authority. Here's why it's
good for you that you do that, that we may lead a quiet and
peaceable life in all godliness and honesty for this is good
and acceptable in the sight of God, our savior. It's good and
acceptable in the sight of God, our savior to pray for one another.
Now look at Job chapter 42. Saw this this week, I was so
excited about this. This is a wonderful example of
what James is talking about here, to pray for one another. Now
you know the story of Job, his suffering, his trials, his three
friends that came and just spent all that time with him, making
matters worse, forced Job to defend himself. Then God came
and he spoke with Job and said, Where were you when I did this?
Where were you when I did this? Job, I'm God Almighty and you're
nothing but a speck of dust. Well, look here. Now this is
when the whole thing is wrapping up. Job 42 verse 7. After the
Lord spoke to Job, look what he said in verse 7. Job 42. And
it was so that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job,
The Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, my wrath is kindled
against thee and against thy two friends. For you've not spoken
of me, the thing that is right as my servant Job hath. Therefore
take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams and go to my servant
Job and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering. And my servant
Job shall pray for you. For him will I accept, lest I
deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of
me the thing which is right, like my servant Job. So life
as the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuite, and so far the Naamathite,
went and did, according as the Lord commanded them. The Lord
also accepted Job. Now look here at verse 10. And
the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his
friends. When Job prayed for his friends,
also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. The Lord blessed Job when he
prayed for his friends. This prayer of praying for somebody
else is a powerful prayer that avails much. All right, and here's
the last thing back in our text, James 5. Prayer that avails much
is prayer that is according to God's will. At the end of verse
16, James says, the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous
man availeth much. And the example that he uses
of effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man is Elijah, verse
17. Now 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. Now that is a powerful, powerful prayer. From a man,
Elijah. Who's a man just like us? You
know, we tend to think of the Old Testament prophets, Abraham
and all these prophets. You know, we tend to think of
them as men who are on a higher spiritual plane than we are,
don't we? We tend to think of them as like super Christians
or something. But you know, they weren't. They were cut from the
exact same cloth you and I are. Elijah had the same passions,
the same emotions, the same sins, the same weaknesses that every
one of us have. You know the story of Elijah.
There were times that man was so bold. He took on all of Israel. One man took on all of Israel.
He was so bold. You know why he was bold? Because
he was confident in the Lord. He was confident in the sacrifice.
And then In the same day, maybe. There were times Elijah was so
full of fear. He was just, he was so afraid.
He was afraid of the smallest things. And he was afraid, because
it sure looks like he'd forgotten how powerful and sovereign God
is. Elijah became so afraid of that woman, Jezebel. He got so
depressed, he went off pouting and saying, well, what's the
use of me keeping going on? What's the use of me keeping
on preaching? I'm the only believer left in the world. I'm the only
one left preaching the gospel. And the Lord had to him, now
you just wait one minute. I've reserved unto myself 7,000 men
that haven't bowed to me to bail. Don't be thinking of yourself
higher than you ought to. Just like God said. Yet Elijah,
this man of passions, weaknesses seen, just like we are, faith,
just like we are, is the example of effectual, earnest prayer
of a righteous man that availed much. And there's something very
interesting here. Verse 17 says, Elias was a man
subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly.
And that phrase praying earnestly means this, that he prayed in
his prayer. He prayed in his prayer. While
he was praying, he began to really pray. He began to really pray. While he was praying, the spirit
enabled him to pray according to God's will. Look at Romans
chapter eight. I thought this was so interesting.
While he was praying, he began to pray. Romans eight verse 26. You know, if we would like to, uh, while
we're praying, begin to pray, here's how it happens. Likewise,
the spirit also help with our infirmities. For we know not
what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself
maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."
Now, we often don't know what to ask for in a specific situation,
do we? We don't know what the best thing
to do is. But the Holy Spirit helps us,
causes us. While we're praying, he causes
us to pray according to God's will. The Spirit makes intercession
for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. Now, he's not gonna
come audibly, tell us, whisper in our ear, what it is, how we
should pray for, what we should ask God for, but he will move
the hearts of God's people to truly pray. Pray for God's will. Now, there's power in that prayer.
If we're praying for God's will, there's got to be power in that
prayer, doesn't there? Because God's will is always done. Now, the Lord God's a God of
means. God uses prayer to accomplish
His will. Every time the Lord's getting
ready to do something, He puts it in the hearts of His people
to pray for it. And then He does it. And then
He does it. Job, he knew it was God's will
to pray for those three sorry friends. He knew it was, because
God told him. And his prayer availed much.
Now look back at 1 Kings chapter 17. The same thing is true of
Elijah's prayer. He knew what God's will was.
And when he prayed for it, it happened. It's a powerful prayer. 1 Kings chapter 17. Now we've not met this man, Elijah,
up till this point in God's word. And he just suddenly appears.
Or was he before this? I don't know. He just suddenly
appeared. And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of
Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before
whom I stand, there should not be dew nor rain these years,
but according to my word. Now, I don't know what went on
before this, but the Lord must have told Elijah to pray that
it not rain, because he said, it's not going to rain according
to my word, and it's not going to rain again until my word,
until I pray for it. God told Elijah, Elijah you prayed
that it not rain. And he did, he prayed according
to God's will. And that prayer availed much.
It was so powerful. It did not rain for three and
a half years. I mean, you think of the power
of that prayer. It didn't rain for three and
a half years. All right, now look over at 1
Kings 18. And it came to pass after many
days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year,
saying, Go show thyself unto Ahab, and I will send rain upon
the earth. Well, now Elijah knows it's God's
will to send rain again on the earth. He knows that. That's
what God told him. Now let me remind us, the Lord's not going
to speak audibly to us like he did to Elijah. You know better
than I. But it's the Spirit that will move our heart to pray for
God's will, just like Elijah did here. Elijah knew this was
God's will, and he prayed for it. Well, the Spirit will move
our hearts from time to time to pray for God's will, and then
God's going to do it. Because that prayer avails much. Now, you know the story here,
how Elijah went to Ahab and he called all the prophets of Baal
together and they cried and prayed and cut themselves and danced
around, shouted and jumped around. And no matter how much commotion
that they made, nothing happened to them. Nothing happened. Because
they are praying to a God that doesn't exist. They're praying
to an idol. And after they'd exhausted themselves,
Elijah told everybody, come here, gather here. And before he prayed,
we see the foundation of his prayer. This is the foundation
of a prayer that avails much. It's the blood sacrifice. Look
at verse 30, first Kings 18. And Elijah said unto all the
people, come near unto me. And all the people came near
unto him and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken
down. And Elijah took 12 stones according to the number of the
tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord
came. saying Israel shall be thy name. Now, Elijah rebuilt
the altar. There wasn't the altar falling
down. There was no altar to God. He rebuilt the altar. And what's
the purpose of an altar? It's to offer a blood sacrifice.
Well, who is the blood sacrifice offered for? A specific elect
people. He used 12 stones, according
to the 12 tribes of Israel. This sacrifice is offered for
an elect people, for spiritual Israel. That prayer of the blood
sacrifice for God's elect will always be answered, always. It's a powerful prayer. And the
second foundation of Elijah's prayer is the power of God, verse
32. And with the stones, he built
an altar in the name of the Lord, and he made a trench about the
altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed, And he
put the wood in order and cut the bullock in pieces and laid
him on the wood and said, fill four barrels with water and poured
on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood. And he said, do it
the second time. And they did it the second time.
And he said, do it the third time. And they did it the third
time. And the water ran round about the altar and filled the
trench also with water. Now, Elijah had them do this
to demonstrate the power of God. This sacrifice has been flooded
with water. It's been soaked. That trench
is filled with water. If this sacrifice is going to
be burnt up, the only way that can happen is the power of God
in it. He did this to show the power of God. And that's the
foundation of the prayer that avails much. It's the prayer
based upon the blood sacrifice for God's people and the power
of God to save. All right, now here's his actual
prayer. prayer that have failed much,
verse 36. And it came to pass at the time of the offering of
the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near and said,
Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and of Israel, let it be known this
day that thou art God in Israel and that I am thy servant and
that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord,
hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God
and that thou has turned their heart back Now, this is a prayer
that avails much. It's a prayer of dependence upon
God. God, you've got to do this. Show
yourself, God. This is for Christ's sake. Do
this for your sake, that your glory may be seen. This is a
prayer for others. Lord, do this that the people
may know you're God and worship you, come to you. This is a prayer
of faith. God, I know you can do this.
And only you can. All my hope is in you. Let people
know there's a God in Israel, so they'll believe you. Now that
is the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man, and it availed
much. Powerful, verse 38. 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 God. The Lord Jehovah, He is God. Now this prayer of Elijah's was
so powerful, fire fell from heaven and consumed everything in its
path. It consumed the sacrifice. It
consumed the wood, which fire normally does. It also consumed
the stones of the altar. It consumed the water. It even
consumed the dust around it. It consumed everything. So it was all gone. You know
what that's a picture of? That's a picture of the sacrifice
of Christ. The fire of God's wrath fell
upon His Son in justice. When Christ was made sin, the
fire of God's wrath fell upon Him, and that fire consumed everything. So there's no sin left. No sin
left. And when the people saw it, they
quit their idolatry, and they believed God. Now remember, Elijah
prayed according to God's will. It didn't rain for three and
a half years. Then he prayed again, according to God's will,
and it rained. Verse 45. And it came to pass in the meanwhile
that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was
a great rain. See, Elijah prayed according
to God's will and mighty things happened, didn't they? Well,
our prayers will do the same thing. Our prayers will avail
much and have much power if we pray. according to God's will. That is the prayer that avails
us. All right, Lord bless you.