James Part 10: The Prayer of Faith

Every time we close out a book of the Bible, I start to get a little sad. We go through it, dig into it, and then it comes to an end. However, I also have a lot of excitement about next week and starting Galatians the following week. I’m excited about today and about closing out the Book of James.

Just to let you in on where I’m at, I’m a little nervous, and I’ll tell you why. New Testament scholars are pretty much unanimous that this is one of the most difficult passages in the New Testament. It’s not an easy set of verses, and as you listened to Garrett read, you probably noticed that — some of it may have sounded strange or unfamiliar. As we start to explain and go through it, I want to do so in a way that honors the meaning of the text.

We had a great conversation as elders, going back and forth for over an hour about what it means, what it doesn’t mean, where we take it, and where we don’t. We discussed these verses in the context of the Book of James and scripture itself. So, with all that said, here we go.

The title of the sermon is “The Prayer of Faith,” and that’s because the central phrase of this passage is where the difficulty lies. What is the prayer of faith? It’s the only time in the Bible this phrase is used — right here in this passage. That was a big part of our conversation as elders: what does that mean? What is the prayer of faith?

Here’s what I want to open with. God’s greatest movements have always come in response to normal people praying. God’s greatest movements throughout recorded history have always come in response to normal people praying. That’s how I would summarize this section of verses.

Now, I’m going to reread verses 13–16, and then we’re going to tackle them:

“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 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.”

So many questions! Are you with me? Anyone else have questions? What is going on here?

Question number one: What’s the prayer of faith? There seems to be some certainty around what it does, and if we misunderstand that certainty, it can take us to some harmful places. We want to talk about what it means and what it doesn’t mean. One thing I realized is that context is important. When we interpret scripture, we always do so in the context of scripture.

So, where do we look to find the meaning of the prayer of faith? First, we look in the Book of James, right? That’s the most obvious place. If we go back to chapter 1 of James, he talks about prayer. What does he say will happen if we doubt? He says, “Let him pray without doubting; let him pray in faith.” So, we have a clue about what James is referring to when he talks about the prayer of faith. It’s connected to something he mentioned earlier. Then, we can expand that idea into the rest of scripture to get a picture of what a prayer of faith looks like. It’s a prayer of faith in God, not just faith in a particular outcome.

Now, some people think the prayer of faith means praying with absolute certainty that what they are asking for will happen. For example, if I pray for a shoulder injury to be healed with absolute certainty, is that the prayer of faith? No, it’s not. Our faith is not in the outcome. Jen Wilkin puts it this way: “The prayer of faith is faith not in a particular outcome, but in the God of all outcomes.” We are praying with absolute, unwavering faith that God is able. Our faith is in God, not in the result we’re asking for.

You can see this idea throughout scripture. In chapter 4 of James, he says, “You don’t have because you don’t ask,” but then adds, “You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives.” He’s pointing out that sometimes we’re praying for our own convenience, rather than submitting to God’s will. So, the prayer of faith is not certainty in the outcome; it’s certainty in the God we’re praying to.

Second question: Does the prayer of faith promise healing? At face value, it seems like it does. Verse 15 says, “The prayer of faith will save the sick.” But again, we have to be careful not to think this guarantees the outcome we’re asking for. Scripture shows us times when people with strong faith asked for things they didn’t receive. Paul, for example, left Trophimus sick in Miletus. Paul also told Timothy to take wine for his stomach issues instead of simply praying for healing. And Paul himself had a thorn in the flesh, which he asked the Lord to remove three times, but the Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you.”

So, the prayer of faith is not a prayer that guarantees healing. It’s not a lack of faith on Paul’s part; it’s a lack of perfect knowledge. We may have faith, but we lack the ability to see beyond what we can see. Jesus himself, in Matthew 24, said he didn’t know the day or hour of his return, showing that even in perfect faith, there was limitation in vision.

The point is this: Paul’s unanswered prayer wasn’t due to a lack of faith; it was because God had a different plan. As Tim Keller put it, if God gave us everything we asked for in faith, we’d eventually stop praying because we often don’t know what’s best for us. We can all look back and see times when we’re thankful God didn’t answer our prayers as we had hoped.

If verse 15 isn’t a guarantee of physical healing, why does James say “the prayer of faith will save the sick”? The word “save” in this verse is often used in reference to salvation, not just physical healing. James is pointing to something deeper: spiritual healing. He’s connecting the physical and spiritual, showing that while miraculous healing can happen, the focus is on the wholeness of the person.

Lastly, James mentions confessing sins in verse 16, tying it to healing. He’s not saying that all sickness is caused by sin, but he’s reminding us that spiritual health affects our physical well-being. David, in Psalm 32, speaks of physical suffering connected to unconfessed sin. While we should never assume that someone’s illness is due to sin, James encourages us to examine our hearts and bring everything before God in prayer.

What does my sinning have to do with not being able to see? There seems to be a connection that Jesus is making. Now we see James doing the same thing. He's taking these two different ideas and bringing them together. He says to this guy, "I see you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse might happen to you." For real, there seems to be a connection between these two things.

This makes sense if we take a half step back and look at the context of the Book of James. He’s kind of been scolding them all along, telling them, "You need to stop behaving this way. You need to connect your faith with your works. Let's not just say we're going to do it, but let's actually live out the things we say we believe." He’s talking to them about being double-minded in their prayers. It all fits and makes total sense.

Another place in the New Testament, which for me hits a little bit closer to home, is 1 Corinthians 11. Paul is talking about the Corinthian Church and the chaos that existed in it. If we're going to talk about grace and the confidence we can have in the grace of God, look at 1 Corinthians. This church was an absolute mess, yet he still refers to them as brothers and sisters. In chapter 11:30, he talks about the manner in which they're taking the Lord's Supper, which we're going to do later today. We're not going to go into the details of all the ways they were sinning, but Paul simply says, "This is why some of you are sick and dying." He says it plainly. They are gathering, coming to the table to take the Lord's Supper, with massive amounts of unconfessed sin in their hearts. He says, "This is why you're sick and dying." He's bringing these two ideas together.

We conveniently avoid a lot of these texts because they cause discomfort, but let's gather our thoughts. The power of prayer is real. We pray in absolute faith to the one who can do anything. But it seems like the way we live our lives can stand in the way, right? That's the summary of where we're at so far. The way we live our lives can stand in the way.

Then James brings up Elijah. He says, "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours." Why does he say that? He says it for two reasons. First, Elijah was a religious national hero. There was only one other figure held in higher esteem than Elijah, and that was Moses. Invoking the name of Elijah was powerful. Yet, James brings Elijah down to earth—he’s a man just like us. Elijah prayed, and it didn't rain for three and a half years. Then he prayed again, and it rained.

Let's go back to the Old Testament and recap the story. Elijah was sent to the nation of Israel during the reign of one of its most wicked kings, Ahab. Elijah constantly spoke out against Ahab and his wife Jezebel. The nation of Israel wouldn’t repent, so Elijah comes to Ahab and says, "It’s not going to rain. The Lord is going to dry it up. You’ve got to repent." Ahab dismisses him, so Elijah prays, and it stops raining. This goes on for three and a half years—no rain, not one drop. You can imagine the type of famine and suffering the kingdom endured because of this.

So, we think, "Elijah, why wouldn't you just pray for suffering on behalf of the king instead of the whole nation?" Elijah knew the promises of God. In the book of Deuteronomy, God had specifically told Israel, "If you do this, this will happen." Elijah knew this and prayed for what God had already promised. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed, and it didn't rain for three and a half years.

Three and a half years go by, and Ahab calls for Elijah, saying, "Pray for rain." Elijah responds, "Repent." Ahab says, "Whatever," which leads to the famous showdown between Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. The prophets of Baal go through their entire ritual all day long while Elijah mocks them: "Pray louder; maybe your god is on the toilet or taking a nap." After their ceremony, Elijah builds an altar with twelve stones, kills a bull, and places it on the altar with wood. He digs a trench around it and has his servants bring massive amounts of water to soak the offering, the wood, and the stones, filling the trench with water. He makes sure it won't burn. Then Elijah says the simplest prayer: "Lord, do your thing." Fire comes from heaven, consumes everything—the offering, the wood, the stones, and even the water in the trench. The nation of Israel repents, executes the prophets of Baal, and tells Elijah, "We’re sorry, we have forsaken our God. We repent."

Elijah goes back up the mountain to pray. It says he prays seven times. Do I believe he literally prayed seven times? Yes, but the number seven in scripture often symbolizes completion. So, Elijah prayed fervently until the prayer was complete. Each time, he sent his servant to look for signs of rain. On the seventh time, his servant finally saw a cloud. Do I believe Elijah would have prayed a thousand times if necessary? Absolutely, because he knew the promises of God. God said, "If my people walk away, I'll withhold rain. If they repent, I'll bring it back." Elijah held God to His word in faith, knowing that what God promised, He would do.

James says, "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours." There was nothing special about Elijah’s nature. The faith we're talking about is available to us just as it was to Elijah. Our prayers have the ability to accomplish unbelievably supernatural things, just like Elijah’s did. But there might be things standing in the way.

Verse 16 says, "The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." Elijah prayed fervently, and it didn't rain for three and a half years. Then he prayed again, and the heavens gave rain. James is telling us that faith, like Elijah's, is not about being a superhero. It's about having ultimate faith in the one who can, and knowing His promises.

James gives two requirements. First, the prayer of a righteous person. That seems to exclude all of us, right? What makes us righteous? Psalm 66: "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." If we have unconfessed sin, our prayers won’t be heard. 1 Peter 3:7 tells husbands to live with their wives in an understanding way so that their prayers aren’t hindered. There are ways we can live that hinder our prayers, even if those prayers could otherwise change the world. But 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." That makes us righteous.

The second requirement: Elijah prayed fervently. Fervent prayer means persistent prayer. It’s not about feeling something deeply; it's about knowing what God promised and refusing to stop praying until He answers. The problem is we often don't know God's promises because we don’t know our Bibles. We pray for things we want, but if we truly knew the promises of God, we could hold Him to His word with confidence. Fervent prayer is knowing God, knowing His word, and persisting in prayer until He acts.

James closes his book by driving home the importance of faith. It's about letting faith shape the way we live and pray. If you're convicted today of unrighteousness in your heart, go to Him and confess. As we close, we’re going to respond—through song, through prayer requests, through giving, and through the Lord’s Supper. If you have something to confess, find someone, and get it done. Let's lay everything aside and present ourselves to God as living sacrifices.