What Does the Way You Pray Say About Your Relationship With God?
Who do you text when something happens? Good news, bad news, you're upset, you're happy, who do you go to? The content of those conversations tells you a lot about your relationship with that person. I've got a group text for random funny stuff. I've got the deacons for serious prayer requests. I've got my discipleship group for when I sin and need to be called out. You could look at my texts and know exactly who I'm close to and why.
So, here's the question: if that's true of your texts, what does the way you pray say about your relationship with God? If I could read your texts with him, would I be able to tell that you know him?
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We're in James 5, starting in verse 13.
When You're Suffering
"Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray."
This is a general word for anything bad going on, not one specific kind of hardship. Bad things happen, you pray. That part's obvious. But ask yourself how bad things have to get before you actually go to God. Is he your first move or your last resort? Here's the gospel: God made us, we rebelled against him, and the penalty for sin is death. But Jesus lived the perfect life we couldn't, died in our place, and rose again so that anyone who calls out to him for rescue is forgiven and given eternal life. If you believe that gospel, going to God first when things are bad is the natural response, because you actually believe he's powerful, he loves you, and he wants to help.
When You're Cheerful
"Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise."
James switches words here, from pray to praise, and I think it's on purpose. Singing praise is still prayer, it's just prayer that tells everyone else what God has done at the same time. When you don't have the words to praise God, borrow the Psalms, that's what they're for. So, ask yourself: when things go well, do you praise God like someone who knows him, or does he only get your complaints and requests? If you spent a month praying about a problem, how long did you spend thanking him once it was solved? Do you thank Him as long as you asked Him? Do you thank Him for an hour? A minute? What does the way your thank Him say about what you think of Him?
When You're Sick
"Is anyone among you sick? 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 will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed."
Sick here covers physical sickness and spiritual sickness. First, pray. If that's not enough, bring in reinforcements, spiritually mature people who are close to God, not just whoever holds a title. And notice, the instruction to call for help belongs to the person who's sick, not to me chasing people down.
None of this guarantees instant physical healing. Paul asked God three times to remove his thorn in the flesh and was told no. But it does guarantee that confessed sin is forgiven. And confessing to each other, not just to God privately, matters, because sin thrives in the dark and shrivels in the light. Trying to beat it alone doesn't work.
The Power of Prayer
"The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit."
Elijah wasn't magic, and neither is your prayer. Prayer is powerful because God is powerful, and prayer is just talking to him. If he could stop and start the rain through Elijah's prayers, he can handle whatever you're suffering over, celebrating, sick over, or confessing.
What Your Prayers Reveal
Four questions, one for each test in this passage:
When something bad happens, is God your first call?
When something good happens, does he get your praise, not just your requests?
When you're sick or wrestling with sin, do you actually bring in people who are close to God to pray with you?
Does your track record of thanking God match your track record of asking him for things?
If you wouldn't want anyone reading your texts with God because of what they say about your relationship with Him, then what does that say about you and what you believe?
If You've Never Trusted Jesus
Maybe none of this connects because you've never actually believed the gospel. You come to church because that's what your family does, but there's a disconnect. If that's you, the fix James points to is the same one available to everyone: confess your need for a savior and call out to Jesus for rescue. You don't need me in the room for that, though I'm glad to pray with you if you want.
If You Know Him But Aren't Praying Like It
You're not close to God for the same reason you're not close to anybody you don't talk to: you don't spend time with him. James 4 says if you draw near to God, he will draw near to you. That's on you to start, not on him to chase you down.
I can't undo how I've prayed in the past. But I can change how I pray going forward, and so can you. Whatever your honest answer to these questions was, don't leave it there. Start now.
More from this series:
Other related sermons:
The Prophet (on Elijah and 1 Kings 18)
James - Week 3 - Wisdom (the one prayer God always answers yes to)
