Tuesday, Nov. 20

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James 5:13-16

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Years ago I led a Bible Study for high school students that met on Wednesday nights. I would always end the meeting by asking the students for any prayer requests they might have – then I would pray and close the meeting. On one particular night a student who was very new to the group raised his hand. When I asked him what he would like me to pray for, he said, “Pray that I won’t get grounded.”

That sounded like a bigger story to me so I followed up, “Do you mind me asking why you are worried about being grounded?”

He went on to describe how he had gone out to a movie the night before and that one thing had led to another and that he never went home. In fact, he had not been home yet and he feared that when he finally arrived home after Bible Study his parents would be upset and would ground him for punishment.

As gently as I could I told him that I couldn’t pray for him not to be grounded because, frankly, that was his parent’s job! But I said I could pray that he would have the courage to be honest with his parents; to apologize to them for staying out all night; and to accept any punishment that they saw fit.

While that young man struggled to understand the concept of accountability, he did get one thing right! James says,

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray.

The “prayer of trouble” is probably the most common form of prayer. This is the “fox hole” prayer. It seems to be human instinct to pray when we find ourselves in trouble. I have read that something like 80% of people who call themselves atheists pray from time to time. My guess is that people who don’t even believe in God tend to pray to the God they don’t believe in when they are in trouble! 

It seems to me there are at least three ways to pray when we face trouble.

The first is to ask God to get us out of trouble! We see this kind of prayer in the Psalms:

Psalm 59:1

Deliver me from my enemies, O God…

Psalm 70:1

Hasten, O God, to save me; O Lord come quickly to help me.

These are the prayers we cry out when we lose a job or when a loved one is struggling with addiction. We need God’s intervention and we ask for it. James is inviting us to pray this kind of prayer.

The second way to pray when in trouble is to ask God to teach us something important through the troublesome experience or situation. This is actually how James begins his letter to young believers who were facing persecution.

James 1:2

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

This kind of prayer both requires and produces spiritual maturity. This kind of prayer recognizes God’s presence and purpose transcend our pain and can work through our troubles to produce maturity in our lives.

The third way to pray when in trouble is to ask God to use us to bear witness to him in the situation. I think we can see this kind of prayer reflected in the Apostle Paul’s words written from a prison cell in Rome:

Philippians 1:12-13

Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear to the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.

Paul could have asked for God to deliver him from his circumstances, and he may have indeed done so in his private moments, but here he recognizes that God has chosen to use his imprisonment to advance the gospel.

I have sometimes seen this kind of prayer when I have visited people in the hospital. There have been occasions when I have offered to pray for a person struggling with a very grave illness, but instead, the sick person asks me to pray that he or she might be an encouraging witness for Christ to the doctors and nurses.

Jesus said,

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33

I think James remembered those words. I think he wanted his readers to know that God is greater than our trouble and that through prayer we have access to the power, presence and help of God.

Brian Coffey