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James 5:16b–18
“The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 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. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.”
As we have seen, James 5 focuses on the trials we face as Christians and how to respond to them appropriately by not grumbling against one another but with patience, confession of sin, and prayer (vv. 1–16a). Certainly, these are not passive responses. They are also not immediate “fixes,” as it were, for our trials; thus, it can be easy to think that they are not effective methods for dealing with tribulation. Human beings, after all, like solutions that “work” right away, and we often look for our own practical efforts to solve our problems. In light of this, it makes sense that James would stress the power of prayer in today’s passage (vv. 16b–18). Prayer is not an ineffectual response in our suffering; rather, “the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”
Believers must take James’ words to heart. Prayer is not a futile exercise, a mere expression of our wishes to the ether. Instead, prayer is our living connection to the Lord God Almighty, the One who has the power to bring whatever He wills into existence (Rom. 4:17; Heb. 11:3). Nothing is too difficult for Him (Jer. 32:17). Prayer is powerful not in itself but because it calls on the all-powerful Creator of all things. Furthermore, it is not just the prayers of any person that have great power but the prayers of a righteous person. James does not mean that we must be perfect or that our own obedience makes prayers effective. John Calvin explains that James “names expressly the prayer of a righteous or just [person]; because God does not hear the ungodly; nor is access to God open, except through a good conscience: not that our prayers are founded on our own worthiness, but because the heart must be cleansed by faith before we can present ourselves before God. Then James testifies that the righteous or the faithful pray for us beneficially and not without fruit.”
To illustrate the power of prayer, James turns to the Old Testament and the example of the prophet Elijah, whose prayers initiated and brought to an end a severe drought in ancient Israel (1 Kings 17:1–7; 18:41–46). James stresses that Elijah is “a man with a nature like ours” to help us understand that his prophetic office did not make his prayers more powerful than ours. Although we are not prophets, our prayers are as effective as those of Elijah—a believer like us—when offered according to God’s will from hearts that know the Lord Jesus. Again, this is because the power of our prayers comes from the One to whom they are addressed: our omnipotent Creator.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Elijah’s story shows us also the importance of persevering in prayer, for he had to pray repeatedly for the drought to end in ancient Israel (1 Kings 18:41–46). Sometimes we do not see the power of prayer because we pray once or twice and then give up. Yet effectual prayer sometimes involves not only praying according to God’s will but also persevering in prayer over time. Let us not grow weary in praying until we get an answer.
For further study
- Proverbs 15:29
- Luke 18:1–8
The bible in a year
- Joshua 20–22
- Luke 6:27–49
- Joshua 23–Judges 3
- Luke 7:1–8:3