Faith Wears Kneepads

Service Outline

• Call to Worship — Isaiah 33:17-22
• Hymn — To God I Will Forever Bless Your Name (#145b, stanzas 1-4 and 12)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Heidelberg Catechism Reading — Lord's Day 43, Question 112 (Exodus 20:16)
• Hymn — Remember Not, O God (Psalm 79B, stanzas 1-3 a cappella, and final verse)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Scripture Reading — James 5:13-18
• Sermon — Faith Wears Kneepads
• Hymn of Dedication — Come, My Soul, with Every Care (#518)
• Benediction — 2 Peter 3:14 (reference to Christ's promised return and grace)

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Sermon: Faith Wears Kneepads

Text: James 5:13-18

I. Call to Prayer in All Circumstances (vv. 13-14)

A. Prayer as the Response to Every Condition

1. Three rapid-fire questions and answers form a call to prayer (Luke 18:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Philippians 4:6)
2. James echoes Jesus's teaching that believers ought always to pray and not lose heart
3. The Christian life comes in many flavors; persistent prayers should fit every circumstance

B. Prayer in Suffering (v. 13a)

1. Broadly applicable suffering — trials of faith, loss of security, temptations to love money, relational strains, doubts, fears
2. Jesus's example — repeatedly broke away from crowds to pray to the Father; prayed in Gethsemane before the cross three times
3. Jesus needed the strength of His Father and longed for communion with Him; His people are called to do likewise (Matthew Henry)
4. Times of affliction should be praying times

C. Prayer in Cheerfulness and Prosperity (v. 13b)

1. Singing praise — prayer mixed with delight and thankfulness
2. The danger in good times: believers are very likely to forget God
3. Call to set forth God's goodness in praise as an antidote to spiritual forgetfulness
4. Question: Are you quick to praise when hardships go?

D. Prayer for the Severely Sick (v. 14)

1. Context — severe bodily sickness or possible spiritual affliction that separates a believer from the church body
2. Call for elders — undersheperds called to watch over the flock (Hebrews 13)
3. Membership in Christ's church gives believers the right to the particular prayer care of the body
4. Anointing with oil — tangible symbol of setting apart a person for God's special attention and care (Mark 6:13)
5. Prayer must be done in the name of the Lord — directly to God, not to intermediaries or saints; Christ is the mediator (Hebrews 7:25; John 14:6)

II. Confidence for Prayer (vv. 15-18)

A. The Prayer of Faith (v. 15)

1. Definition — a prayer that believes God's promise; it believes what God has promised
2. Not about mustering enough faith — standing on the solid footing of God's perfect wisdom and power, not on human belief
3. Core belief — God is sovereign, has decreed all things, and will accomplish all His holy will for His own glory and the good of His people (Romans 8:28)
4. Even when healing doesn't come — God has answered the prayer according to His will; example: Paul's thorn in the flesh and God's response, "My grace is sufficient for you"
5. The prayer of faith joins itself to God's will, not to human demand

B. Sin and Forgiveness in the Context of Healing (vv. 15b-16)

1. The early church assumption — sickness as result of sin (John 9:1-3)
2. Jesus's clarification — not always the case; sometimes God displays His works through affliction
3. However, sin can have physical consequences — 1 Corinthians 11:30 (Corinthians weak and ill for not discerning the body); Psalm 32 (David's experience before confession)
4. Application — use times of trial to examine ourselves for any grievous way (Psalm 139:23-24)
5. Confession and prayer — confession of sins to one another and prayer for one another brings healing
6. God graciously forgives the person who by faith in Christ confesses sin

C. Elijah as Example of the Righteous Person (vv. 17-18)

1. Elijah's fervent prayers answered — prayers for famine (1 Kings 17-18) and restoration of rain
2. No super-saint — "a man with a nature like ours" — but a righteous person because he believed God and trusted in Him
3. Purpose — to increase believers' confidence to pray likewise
4. The same God who heard Elijah hears the prayers of believers today

D. Access to Prayer Through Christ's Work (implications)

1. Believers can pray the prayer of faith only by believing in Christ who went before us
2. Christ prayed for strength from the Father; He overcame trials and was heard (Hebrews 5:7-10)
3. His work—death, resurrection, ascension—procured for believers the Holy Spirit to enable prayer
4. Believers have access to God in prayer because Christ went before and prayed, trusting in the Father
5. The same Holy Spirit who empowered Jesus's prayer empowers the prayers of believers

III. The Nature of Faith and Prayer

A. Faith and Prayer as Integral to Christian Life

1. Across James — faith is demonstrated in works, bearing fruit in love, a tamed tongue, contentment, and patience
2. Here in James 5 — faith bears fruit in prayer
3. Core insight: Faith prays. Faith is not dormant belief but active reliance on God
4. Prayer is the "very natural breath of faith" (William Gurnall)

B. The Audacity of Prayer

1. After Genesis 3 and mankind's fall, the garden was barred by a flaming sword
2. Yet God's grace is such that He condescends to hear the prayers of sinful men and women
3. Examples throughout Scripture — Abraham intercedes for Sodom; Abraham prays for Abimelech (Genesis 20:7); God responds to prayer
4. Jesus's invitation — "Our Father in heaven" (Matthew 6:9) — an audacious privilege for worms to call upon their Maker
5. John Calvin's insight: "There is not a time in which God does not invite us to Himself"

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Summary Theme: Faith wears kneepads. The believer's faith is demonstrated through persistent, faithful prayer in all circumstances — in suffering, in cheerfulness, in severe affliction — with confidence that God hears, answers according to His will, and accomplishes His holy purposes.