Sermon Tone Analysis

“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.”[1]

James is drawing his brief, pointed missive to a conclusion.

Throughout the letter, James has confronted the ubiquitous tendency among Christians to seek accommodation with the world.

James is writing to people who have experienced life in all its rawness.

They have suffered, and they have experienced joy.

They have been deprived, and they have found the richness of the Lord.

Through all their trials, the Lord is still their God.

They have proved the veracity of Paul’s declaration, “if we are faithless, He remains faithful” [2 TIMOTHY 2:13].

Nevertheless, James is encouraging his readers to pray.

In fact, James’ concluding remarks consistently take the reader back to the need to pray.

When suffering, pray.

When cheerful, pray.

When sick, pray.

The first thing we should do is frequently the last thing we do.

James’ concern is that life happens, and when life happens, the brother of our Lord wants to ensure that we respond by turning to the Master, drawing close to Him.

The message today introduces the subject of prayer—a topic that will occupy our attention during several messages planned for the weeks to follow.

In this particular study, I am seeking to lay the groundwork for prayer as a lifestyle among the people of God.

I understand that I cannot persuade anyone to pray, but I do trust that the Spirit of God, working through the Word of God and working powerfully in each life, will encourage us to become men and women of prayer.

*Cultivating a Life of Prayer* — “Is anyone among you suffering?

Let him pray.

Is anyone cheerful?

Let him sing praise.”

Whatever circumstances the believer may find himself or herself in, they are to live with a prayerful attitude.

James gives two extremes—whether one is suffering, or whether one is cheerful.

After this, he names a special situation—illness.

We shall focus on the special situation of illness in a moment, but first we need to think about what James is actually saying in this thirteenth verse.

In keeping with other letters of the New Testament, James’ final remarks urge his readers to adopt a life marked by prayer.

Listen to some of the instances found throughout other letters.

Drawing his letter to Roman Christians to a conclusion, the Apostle Paul pleaded for them to join him in prayer.

“I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company” [*Romans 15:30-32*].

Paul knew that he walked by faith and not by sight, and he further knew that he faced many powerful enemies.

Hostile religious zealots in Jerusalem were intent on ridding their world of the Apostle, and he sought to complete the work God had assigned him, especially serving saints suffering in that particular city.

Accordingly, he asked the Christians in Rome to become partners through prayer as he travelled to Jerusalem and then to Rome.

The concluding remarks Paul drafted in his Ephesian encyclical are well known to every saint who has engaged the enemy in prayer.

The plea has a militaristic air, in keeping with the battle we face to be godly in the midst of a dark world as we withstand evil.

“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak” [*Ephesians 6:16-20*].

Excellent encouragement is offered to all believers in the words the Apostle wrote to the beloved Philippian Christians.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” [*Philippians 4:6*].

To the Christians in Colossae, the Apostle to the Gentiles wrote, “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak” [*Colossians 4:2-4*].

He understood his greatest need was for opportunity to declare Christ, and he wanted the Colossians to share in the advance of the Gospel, which they would do as they joined him in praying for God to work powerfully and effectively.

In his first letter to Thessalonian Christians, Paul issued the justly famous command, “Pray without ceasing” [*1 Thessalonians 5:17*].

Then, understanding the enormity of the task he and his fellow missionaries faced, he commanded, “Brothers, pray for us [*1 Thessalonians 5:25*].

Because he has been instructing the Thessalonians to stand firm in the face of opposition throughout this first letter, it would have been understood that he was asking that they pray especially that he and the other missionaries would be bold and courageous in the face of the trials they faced as they pushed into unevangelised territories.

He makes a similar plea as he concludes the second letter to these same Thessalonian Christians, with the difference that he is specific as to what he seeks through their prayers.

“Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honoured, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men.

For not all have faith” [*2 Thessalonians 3:1, 2*].

The Thessalonians are being asked to seek the salvation of other Gentiles as the missionaries work to advance the knowledge of Christ—a prayer worthy of greatness to this day.

Permit me to give you a final example of a plea to pray that is found in the letter to Hebrew Christians.

The author of that letter draws the missive to a close with this powerful plea, “Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honourably in all things.

I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner” [*Hebrews 13:18, 19*].

I doubt that any Christian will argue against praying.

However, it is interesting that the Apostles and other writers of Scripture were compelled to encourage their readers to pray.

The reason for this is that praying is hard work.

When times are good, we don’t feel the need to pray; when times are rough, we first try to work through the challenge with the wisdom God gave us.

Most of us who are Christians are convinced of the verse found in the Book of Hesitations that teaches that “God helps those who help themselves.”

So, we don’t want to bother God by asking for His help, until we have exhausted ourselves in attempting to work out the solution ourselves.

James covers the broadest possible situations in urging a life of prayer.

First, he reviews the situation when one is suffering.

The verb that James uses is not a common one in the New Testament.

In fact, the verb occurs only here and in Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy, although the noun form of the word is used by James earlier in verse ten.

Let’s review the uses of the verb in Paul’s second letter to Timothy in order to understand what James is saying.

In the first instance to which I direct attention, Paul is encouraging Timothy, who appears to be somewhat timid, to stand firm in teaching the Word of God.

Look at the context in order to grasp what is being said.

“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.

An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.

Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything” [*2 Timothy 2:1-7*].

Focus in particular on verse 3: “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”

Clearly, Paul is urging Timothy to anticipate attacks because he is serving as a soldier of Christ the Lord.

He continues in that train of thought in the next several verses.

“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal.

But the word of God is not bound!

Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” [*2 Timothy 2:8-10*].

When the Apostle says that he is suffering, he identifies the particular suffering as being “bound with chains as a criminal.”

Paul is drawing the letter to a close, and he is giving final instructions to the young theologue.

He presents a charge to him—a charge that will demand endurance and courage.

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” [*2 Timothy 4:1-5*].

From this brief review of usage, it is apparent that the verb James chooses describes a broad range of situations.

It speaks of suffering in difficult circumstances; it describes any experience of hardship.

His earlier use of the noun form of the word in *James 5:10*, supports this understanding.

There, he encouraged his readers to consider the life of the prophets, writing, “As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the Name of the Lord.”

Clearly, he did not have in mind any illnesses that the prophets might have experienced, but rather the opposition they faced and the hardships that arose because of their courageous stand for the cause of the Lord.

His words anticipate what a later writer would say concerning these same prophets.

“Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.

Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.

They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword.

They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth” [*Hebrews** 11:35b-38*].

Here, it is as if James has said, “I mentioned the suffering of the prophets.

Well, suffering will come your way as well, and you need to know how to respond when it comes.”