8/3/09 Leader's Guide

Uncertainty

James 5:13-20

The Week of August 3, 2009

Getting Started

1) Augustine once said, "The same fire that causes gold to glow brightly causes chaff to smoke." How do you reflexively respond to fiery crises: Do you glow with faith or smoke with anxiety? Do you pray fervently or feverishly panic? Do you get on your knees before you get to work, or get to work before you get on your knees?

Digging Deeper

2) What do you suppose the difference is between those who are “in trouble” in verse 13 and those who are “sick” in verse 14? How do different kinds of hardship present unique challenges to prayer? Are there particular challenges in your life that you find especially difficult to pray about?

It appears that “trouble” refers to the environmental hardship of persecution (cf. 1:2-4; 5:1-11), and that sickness refers to bodily ailments. They both present different challenges to prayer. For example, someone suffering from cancer may find it more difficult to pray than someone persecuted in India. The latter looks to have some purpose behind it, the former is far tougher to figure out (Romans 8:26).

3) In verse 13, a person who is suffering “must pray?” This prayer could either be “remove me from this trouble” or “preserve me in this trouble.” Do you think that God is more interested in changing you or your circumstances? How does your answer inform how you should pray? Give examples from the Bible and your life in which God used good and bad circumstances to sharpen your character?

God seems more interested in establishing heaven in our heart than on earth (cf. 1 Peter 1:3-9). God certainly does use good circumstances to cultivate virtues like gratitude and humility. Yet, he also uses bad circumstances to do the same. Perhaps you can discuss various ways that a bad environment can reveal a bad character, as well as how bad environments may be used by God in creating good character. For example, patience seems to be a virtue that can only be forged on this side of heaven. Patience then assumes a less than congenial environment. Can you think of other examples? All of this implies that prayer is sometimes more about changing us than it is about changing God or circumstances.

4) In verse 13, those who are cheerful are instructed to praise God. Is there a difference between praise and prayer? If so, what is it? What does James’ instruction to praise God tell us about how we tend to respond when there is little or no trouble in our lives? How can we cultivate the activity of praising God in our lives?

Praise seems to be a certain kind of prayer. For instance, prayer can consist of petition (asking God for something), confession (admitting fault), and proclamation (declaring God’s greatness or promises.) Praise seems to be an activity in which we thank God for who He is in light of blessings we are experiencing. James’ instruction suggests the ease with which we forget about God when circumstances are good (Proverbs 30:8-9).

5) Verse 14 encourages people who are sick to “call the elders of the church.” Do you think it’s okay for fellow members to pray for each other when sick, or should only elders pray for sick people? Do you think God uses the prayers of the elders in a special way?

There seems to be certain people through which God chooses to dispense healing more than others (1 Cor. 12:9&10; James 5:14). With that said, these people are not the sole channels of healing, as we are all encouraged to pray for one another (vs.16). Error to avoid: making too much between the clergy and laity.

6) Verse 15 makes a statement, “the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well”. Does that mean if a person isn’t healed, the person praying lacked faith? What is the connection between answered prayer and faith?

There can be a relationship between answered prayer and one’s level of faith. Elijah is given as an example of a man who earnestly prayed and stopped up the heavens (vss. 16-18). We also have examples of people who prayed faithless prayers that accomplished nothing (Matthew 17:14-21). At this point, you could discuss some tactics for elevating the quality of one’s prayers: recognizing the power and kindness of the God we are praying to (Matt. 6:9), praying consistently (Matt 7:7-9), praying expectantly (Mark 11:24), and praying biblically (Matt. 6:10).

With that said, unanswered prayer isn’t always (or even mostly) due to a one’s faith level; it is sometimes due to God saying “no” to the request. All prayers must be prayed with a submission to God’s will. Jesus prayed that the cup of suffering would pass from him (Luke 22:42), but submitted to the will of God to take the cup. Paul prayed that a “thorn in the flesh” (possibly some illness) would be removed, and yet God said “no” to the request (2 Cor. 12:7-10). Remember that James curbs any presumption that we might have about the future by reminding us that all of our plans and prayers should be submitted to the will of God (James 4:15).

7) Verse 15 talks about praying for someone who is sick, and then it adds “if he has sinned, he will be forgiven”. What is the connection in this passage between sickness and sin? Can sin and sickness be connected? Can the prayer of another person cause your sins to be forgiven?

There is always a relationship between sin and sickness, but we want to avoid the error of ascribing all or most sickness to particular sins in a person’s life. There are clear cases of personal sin being linked to one’s sickness (1 Cor. 11:29-32). Yet, sickness seems to be due to the general condition of sin that everybody is in (Gen. 3:19; Romans 8:22; 1 Cor. 15:22).

8) Verse 16 says, “Confess your sins to each other.” In what way can “confessing” sins to another human be difficult? What is the value in confessing our sins to another person, as opposed to just confessing them to God?

9) Verse 16 says that a prayer of a “righteous” man is powerful and effective. How “righteous” does a person have to be in order to have their prayers answered? What is the connection between the spiritual conditions of our hearts, and the spiritual effectiveness of our prayers?

Cf. 1 Peter 3:7; Job 42:8; Matt. 5:23-24.

10) Verse 17 tells us to remember that if we wander from the truth and someone turns us back to the truth, they have saved us from death and covered a multitude of sins. What does it mean to “wander from truth?” What are the consequences of departing from the truth? How does remembering the consequences of straying help you with staying in the truth?

Putting into Practice

11) Spend some time praying that God might change your circumstance, enhance your character, and use you to reach others.