JAMES 5
PATIENT
ENDURANCE and PRAYER
The last
chapter in James covers many topics related to Christian living for the
believers scattered all over the world. First it starts with a warning to the
rich and unreasonable, secondly it teaches about suffering and faithful
endurance, leading into the power and importance of prayer and lasty
restoration of those who are astray and lost.
Warning
to the rich
V1-6 is almost and echo of the first part
of James 4 where he talks about unanswered prayers due to man’s wicked and
selfish desires. Here he points to the rich who are exploiting workers, not
giving a fair wage for the work they have done. He warns the rich that to live
only for satisfying their own needs, living in luxury, give them fat hearts and
make them ready for slaughter. This will not go unnoticed by God and He sees
those who are being treated unfairly.
Patient
endurance
V7-12 exhorts us to patiently endure in
our walk on earth while we wait for Jesus to return. James compares it to a farmer
who sows his seed while eagerly waiting for the early rains, working the fields
while patiently waiting for the latter rain and the harvest to ripen. In the
same way we should also be patient, but not idle.
The Bible
has many examples of prophets and people who had to patiently endure, while
they waited on God. For example, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Job, David, Hannah. When
we don’t see the end yet, in our suffering and endurance we must keep our eyes
focused on El Roi, the God who sees. God is faithful, he will bring the
harvest, the reward for those who endures in their faith in Him.
Power of
prayer
I love how
James’s letter flow from one topic into the next. In the waiting, how to we
endure? Here, a topic also preached by Paul and Peter, James points to the most
important aspect of a Christian’s life: PRAYER. James gives us four out
of many reasons (maybe you can search the others for yourself) mentioned
throughout the New Testament to pray:
· When you are suffering – keep on
PRAYing about it,
· When you have reason to be thankful
(which is in everything, every day really) – continually sing praises, PRAY to
God,
· Are you sick – GO to the elders of
the church and ask them to PRAY over you. Let them anoint you with oil in the
name of the LORD.
· In v15 God promises that the prayer
offered in faith will heal the sick, the LORD will make them well, and… anyone
who has committed sins will be forgiven. This shows us the BEAUTIFUL heart of
our LORD and Saviour.
· In v16 James encourages believers to
confess their sins and to PRAY for each other. WHY? So that we might be healed and
again just as in v15, James repeats that the earnest PRAYER of a
righteous person has great power and wonderful results. He continues to illustrate
this importance in v17–18 by giving the example of Elijah who prayed and God
stopped sending rain for 3 1/2 years and when Elijah
prayed again, God sent the rain.
Restoration
of those who are wondering and lost
As the body
of Christ, it is our duty to bring back, in love and with compassion, those who
are being lead astray from the truth. It does not say judge, or blame, or point
fingers… BUT (v19-20) bring them back from the wrong way so that their sins
might be forgiven and that their souls be saved from eternal death.
Let us
reflect:
· Do we treat those who are placed
under our supervision and care fairly?
· Are we enduring patiently, in the
waiting season?
· Do we make an effort to PRAY, with
faith in the LORD, about everything?
· What is our attitude toward the lost
or the wandering sheep, do we blame and point fingers or do we PRAY for their
souls and ask the guidance of the Lord to bring them back into the sheepfold?
PRAYER
Lord we
pray and ask that you help us to treat those given under our care fairly, that
we persist in prayer in every season, in every situation, giving thanks to you
in all things. Keep our hearts humble and steadfast and pure. In Jesus Name.
Amen.
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PASTORA HESMA
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