Last Sunday, my pastor spoke about prayer and quote the book of James, in particular chapter 5, as the reference point for his sermon.
In the sermon, my pastor asked the question on why Elijah was chosen by James when he wrote about prayer. My pastor went on expound that the reason was James wanted the readers to know that God can use ordinary people to pray and perform great things. He quoted the phrase that "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours,". This showed that he was just like any other ordinary man.
But I differed from his view. I thought that the key to understand this was the verse prior. "16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."
I believe James was keen to point out that though Elijah was a human being subjected to the fluctuations of emotions just like us when he caved in (I think most of us would) after being threatened by Jezebel. He was perhaps expecting a rest, some form of recognition and acceptance (speculating by projecting how I would react).
But I think the point was this. He did great things in prayer because he was considered a righteous man in the sight of God. This I believe was what James was stressing on. The prayer of a righteous man avails much. In the previous verse, we are encouraged to confess our sins to one another and be forgiven and healed. In other words, be justified and declared righteous to lead a holy life. This led to the summation that when a righteous man prays, the Lord will act because he prays according to His will being inspired by the Spirit of the Lord.
So, I would beg to differ from my pastor. James was not stressing that God will work mightily when ordinary people prays. He was stressing that God will work mightily when the righteous prays.
In the sermon, my pastor asked the question on why Elijah was chosen by James when he wrote about prayer. My pastor went on expound that the reason was James wanted the readers to know that God can use ordinary people to pray and perform great things. He quoted the phrase that "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours,". This showed that he was just like any other ordinary man.
But I differed from his view. I thought that the key to understand this was the verse prior. "16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."
I believe James was keen to point out that though Elijah was a human being subjected to the fluctuations of emotions just like us when he caved in (I think most of us would) after being threatened by Jezebel. He was perhaps expecting a rest, some form of recognition and acceptance (speculating by projecting how I would react).
But I think the point was this. He did great things in prayer because he was considered a righteous man in the sight of God. This I believe was what James was stressing on. The prayer of a righteous man avails much. In the previous verse, we are encouraged to confess our sins to one another and be forgiven and healed. In other words, be justified and declared righteous to lead a holy life. This led to the summation that when a righteous man prays, the Lord will act because he prays according to His will being inspired by the Spirit of the Lord.
So, I would beg to differ from my pastor. James was not stressing that God will work mightily when ordinary people prays. He was stressing that God will work mightily when the righteous prays.
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