Worship and Prayer: The Quest: Day 16.0

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 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. 15 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. 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. 17 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. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

James 5:13-18

Worship and prayer

Obviously James’ examples are not exhaustive, but his point is all-inclusive. I believe he is encouraging us to prayer and worship at all times. There is no contingency. The way I read it, James is not saying pray or worship because of your situation. He exhorts us to prayer and worship despite whatever our situation may be. Paul sums it up this way:

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

How do you respond to tragedy?

In many ways, how we respond to suffering, loss, and terrible tragedies reveals our true character. What does yours look like? Do you worship and go to God in prayer?

In the verses we covered yesterday (Day 15.0) James pointed out the steadfastness through suffering of the men of faith of old. Job he pointed out in particular. I quoted Job 1:20. What did Job do when he found out all of his children died in an accident? Well, he didn’t rejoice. He was not an unfeeling psychopath. He mourned. Like anyone would? You ask.

Well, not exactly. Like one might hope one would. It’s worth quoting again here.

18 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19 and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Job 1:18-22

Worship is our proper response

Job responded to the annihilation of his family by worshiping God. He grieved. That’s clear. He didn’t tear his clothes like a WWF wrestler. This is abject sorrow. But, in that sorrow, he worshiped God. Job knew God was sovereign. When the sovereign God moves in mysterious (to us) and momentous – even terrible – (again, to us) ways, the proper response is worship.

James tells the sick to go to the elders, and the elders are to respond in prayer. He says we should confess our sins to one another and pray for one another. Both prayer and healing come from prayers of faith offered up by righteous men. James previously warned us, in James 1:6-8, that prayers offered doubtfully – that is, in the absence of faith – produce net zero results. We are to pray in faith. But, what if we think we might believe in the prayer? What if we hope to get a little tidbit of favor from a God we usually ignore? After all, we don’t deserve to be sick. Do we?

Though He slay me, I will hope in Him

Job has the answer once more.

13 “Let me have silence, and I will speak,
    and let come on me what may.
14 Why should I take my flesh in my teeth
    and put my life in my hand?
15 Though he slay me, I will hope in him;
    yet I will argue my ways to his face.
16 This will be my salvation,
    that the godless shall not come before him.

Job 13:13-16

Job is not a modern humanist. He acknowledges that it is foolish to take life into our own hands. There is a picture here of someone rending their own flesh with their own teeth. Job is not going to tear out his own throat. He places his life in God’s hands. Or, say it better, he acknowledges his life is, and ever is, in God’s hands.

Prayer of a righteous man

Though he slay me, I will hope in him. Regardless of God’s decrees, regardless of whatever calamity comes upon Job, his hope remains in God.

Yet I will argue my ways to his face. Job will plead his case to the Lord. How? In prayer.

This will be my salvation, that the godless shall not come before him. Job knows that his life of faith enables him to go to God in prayer. A faithless man cannot – will not – turn to God in either prayer or worship. It is not possible. Interestingly, faithless men will often curse God or grumble against God, but they will not turn and be healed. Why?

To do so requires humility. Without humility and recognition – even worship – of God as sovereign, we are blind to the truth.

If your heart has grown dull

Jesus, when explaining why he spoke in parables used a quote from Isaiah 6. I think it is most applicable here.

13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

“‘“You will indeed hear but never understand,
    and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull,
    and with their ears they can barely hear,
    and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
    and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
    and turn, and I would heal them.’

16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

Matthew 13:13-17

A dreadful equation

I pray that whoever reads this will recognize and worship God. He is the Creator who is not bounded by, but separated – set apart – from His creation. God is holy. He is sovereign, speaking into existence everything that was, is, and will be. You cannot come to Christ, if you cannot first humble yourself, recognize that pretending to be the master and commander of your own life is folly, and that God is sovereign.

Have you chosen wisdom your entire life, lived without error and above reproach at all times? Are you truly beyond need of God or savior? If you believe so, I pity you. I think God might pity you, maybe. But, He will not pardon you. Not because His love is without end, but because his Goodness and Justice are real. They are not malleable and stretchable like our modern day perversions of truth, goodness, and justice.

Since they are real, and there is no entering His presence lest you are clothed in Christ, God cannot pardon you. In many ways, it is akin to an equation. There is one simple, elegant solution. Do not be too proud to seek out its proofs.

A first step

James addressed the first step in chapter four verse ten: Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. I pray you and I will humble ourselves and go before the Lord in worship and prayer.

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