THERE IS A COMMISSION “…that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain,…” (John 15:16b) What is meant be “bearing Fruit”? By abiding in Christ, we live a life that produces the beautiful fruit of the Spirit described in Galatians 5:22-23. Like the strawberry plant that has runners, we extend ourselves, showing the fruit of the Christian life, and in so doing we bring new souls to Christ. A few years ago, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago had a fascinating display. 1. It showed a checkerboard with 1 grain of wheat on the first square, 2 on the second, 4 on the third, then 8, 16, 32, 64, and so on until they could no longer fit the seeds on the square. 2. Then it asked the question, “At this rate of doubling each successive square, how much would you have on the checkerboard by the 64th square?” 3. You could punch a button at the bottom of the display to find out. The answer? “Nine sextillion—enough grain to cover the entire subcontinent of India 50 feet deep.” Incredible!
THERE IS A CONVERSATION “….That whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.” (John 15:16c)
1. The person who abides in Christ—who becomes one with the Son as the Son is one with the Father—becomes so attuned to the will of God that God will give that person whatever he or she asks in Christ’s name.
2. So it is with the person who serves whole-heartedly in the appointment to which Christ has appointed him or her (v. 16).
3. The conversation we should have: Lord, How can I bring that certain person to you? How can you use me?
Practicing Prayer (James 5:16-18)
A teacher asked a little boy, “Johnny, tell me frankly, do you say your prayers before you eat?” Johnny replied, “I don't have to, my mom is a good cook!”
Why should we practice Prayer?
There is no way to overstate the importance of prayer.
1. Andrew Murray stated that it is in prayer that we change our natural strength for the supernatural strength of God.
2. It has been said that when we depend upon prayer, we get what God can do.
3. What this world needs is not what education or organization can do, but what God can do.
a) Our homes need what God can do.
b) Our churches need what God can do.
4. We do not have a need in our lives but what earnest, persistent, believing prayer can supply the answer for that need.
Theme: A recurring theme in the book of James is the power of prevailing prayer. James is speaking in these verses about prayers of intercession; not just getting our needs met (as he spoke of in James 4), but helping our friends to have their needs met.
What must we do to practice prayer!
THE CONFESSION WE MUST MAKE (James 5:16)
We want to conceal our faults rather than confess them.
Once a week, a truck moves slowly down our street, pausing at every house.
1. Full and sometimes overflowing garbage containers are picked up, emptied into the truck, and returned to each house. During the next week, as the rubbish accumulates and the odor increases, we become eager for the return of the garbage truck.
2. More repulsive than this is the personal trash that accumulates in our hearts and minds. Some of our garbage— hatred, gossip, bitterness, lust— obviously foul. But even what looks like good deeds or upright behavior can reek like garbage if contaminated by our selfish pride.
3. The Bible calls our inner garbage “sin.” In 1 John 1:9, God’s disposal system is outlined: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
4. Confession means calling our sins what God calls them.
5. We needn’t fear revealing them to Him, for He already knows them.
When we confess our sins to one another, we confess to one another in confidentiality.
1. There is a caution in a desire for openness.
2. There are those in the church who struggle with the problem of gossip. There is a great hurt when one finds out the one they confessed their sins to, made it public knowledge.
3. Confidentiality is key to a rock solid relationship.
THE COMMAND WE MUST MIND (James 5:16)
God commands us to pray for one another.
1. When we pray for others, we become partners with God in His work of salvation, healing, comfort, and justice.
2. God can accomplish those things without us, but in His plan He gives us the privilege of being involved with Him through prayer.
3. When we intercede for a grandson in trouble, a mother having surgery, a neighbor who needs Christ, or a pastor who needs strength, we are asking God to provide for that person what we can’t provide.
4. We are acting as go-betweens, asking God to direct His power in a specific direction.
When Dr. Richard Halverson was the U.S. Senate chaplain, he spoke before a group of evangelicals who had expressed their anger about Congress’ inactivity on the subject of school prayer.
1. They were irritated that congress had not acted with a strong initiative to restore prayer in schools.
2. To these who were seeking greater initiative from the government, Dr. Halverson asked, “How many of you have prayed with your children this month, outside of church?” Nobody raised their hand.
3. Spiritual initiative starts in the home, not on Capitol Hill.
THE CHARACTER WE MUST MANIFEST (James 5:16)
The righteousness that James references is both positional and practical righteousness.
1. There is positional righteousness.
a) Have you been saved? Is Jesus Christ your personal Savior? There is no possible way we can be righteous apart from Jesus Christ.
2. There is practical righteousness.
a) Are you obeying God’s commandments?
b) Are you living day by day quoting His promises?
c) Are you living a pure, clean life? Psalm 66:18
d) How foolish we are to not relinquish our sins so that we might have the blessings of God upon our lives.
Napoleon made a mistake when he said that God is on the side of the strongest battalion. This statement has been proven wrong many times in the Bible and throughout history.
1. Abraham took 318 men and defeated 4 kings and their armies.
2. Gideon with his 300 dedicated men defeated an army of thousands.
3. David, a shepherd lad, untrained for war and armed with only a sling, killed a giant nine feet tall.
I believe that God is on the side of those who do right. God will fight the battles of those who determine to be in His will. Righteousness is still the greatest weapon.
Something happens when we pray,
Powers of evil lose their sway,
We gain strength and fear gives way—
Therefore, let us pray. —Anon.