How God Uses Prayer
Hillcrest is a praying church.
I know that from personal experience. Over this past year, Anna and I asked our church family to pray as we walked through our struggles with infertility. Many of you prayed faithfully, fervently, and consistently. And two weeks ago, the answer to many of those prayers was realized when our precious Eliza was born.
Thank you for your prayers.
The Lord used those prayers not only to bless our family, but to knit our hearts closer together through a shared hope. That is one of the beautiful things about prayer. God uses it. He uses prayer in ways we can see, and He uses prayer in ways we may not understand until much later.
James 5:13-18 helps us see how God uses prayer in the life of His people.
God does not need anything. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere at all times, and sovereign over all things. But He allows those He has redeemed to serve Him as He works through their efforts.
Jesus uses our efforts when we share the gospel. He uses our efforts when we read the Bible. And He uses our efforts when we pray.
So why should we pray?
Because God hears the prayers of His people, and He does something about them.
God Uses Prayer to Comfort Our Suffering
James 5:13 says, “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.”
If you are suffering today, one of the best things you can do is pray.
Suffering may come through grief, job loss, mistreatment, financial trouble, broken relationships, sickness, or the ordinary pains of living in a fallen world. Whatever the trouble may be, God invites His people to call upon Him.
Prayer is calling on God to come through on His promises.
Psalm 50:15 says, “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
God promises to be with His people in trouble. He promises to hear. He promises to deliver. He promises to glorify Himself as He cares for His people.
If you want to be comforted in your suffering, call on the Lord in prayer.
God Uses Prayer to Celebrate Our Savior
James also says, “Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.”
If things go wrong, pray. If things go right, pray.
Prayer is not only for requests. Prayer is also praise. When we sing to the Lord, we are praying with music. We are giving voice to our faith in God.
If you are a born-again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you have every reason to rejoice. Jesus has saved your eternal soul from death, hell, and the grave. He has given you abundant life now and eternal life to come.
That is good news.
Some of us only pray when something is wrong. No wonder we get worn down. God uses prayer to celebrate our Savior. So sing His praises. Give voice to your faith. Take heart. Be encouraged.
Whether you are suffering or celebrating, pray.
God Uses Prayer to Conquer Our Sicknesses
James 5 also says that if anyone is sick, he should call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
The power is not in the oil. The power is in the name of Jesus, and that power is applied through prayer.
This passage is not telling us to stop going to the doctor or stop taking medicine. We believe God can heal by medicine, miracle, or both. But we should not neglect prayer.
When someone is seriously sick, the church should pray. Pastors should pray. Brothers and sisters in Christ should pray.
The Bible tells us to pray in faith for healing, so we want to do that. It is our job to ask. It is God’s job to answer.
We may not always understand how prayer works. But we know this: Jesus knows what He is doing. He is the Lord who heals.
God Uses Prayer to Cleanse Our Sins
James also says, “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”
Not all sickness is the result of personal sin. We should never assume that someone is sick because they have secret sin in their life. That kind of assumption can turn people who claim to believe the Bible into terrible friends.
But there are times when sin needs to be confessed.
God’s desire is to forgive. If you have unconfessed sin in your life, do not hide it. Confess it to the Lord. Agree with Him about it. Repent from it. And then, when needed, confess it to a trusted brother or sister in Christ who can pray for you and help you walk forward in accountability.
God can forgive anyone. That includes you.
Prayer is one of the ways God applies the cleansing mercy of Christ to the hearts of His people. So humble yourself, confess your sins, and cry out to God.
God Uses Prayer to Change Our Society
James says, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”
Prayer changes things.
When God’s people pray, it changes specific people. Over time, it changes the church. And that change begins to flood over into our homes, our workplaces, and our community.
What would happen if “Can I pray for you?” became an expected question each and every week?
What would happen if we prayed for people at home, at church, at work, at the altar, in the pew, in private, and in public?
God uses prayer to change our society. If we want to see spiritual change in our homes, our church, and our community, we must pray.
So Pray
You will not know how God uses your prayers unless you pray.
Do you want to be comforted in your suffering? Pray.
Do you want to celebrate your Savior? Pray.
Do you have sickness that needs to be conquered? Pray.
Do you have sin that needs to be cleansed? Pray.
Do you want to see cultural and spiritual change in our society? Pray.
Pray in the good times and the bad. Pray at the altar or in the pew. Pray over your food, your friends, your spouse, and your children. Pray to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
The only wrong way to pray is not to pray.
Christians are called to be a praying people. We cry out to God through prayer because God uses prayer—and prayer changes things.
You can watch this sermon in its entirety on our YouTube page.
Note: This sermon was based upon a sermon of the same name preached by Dr. Steve Gaines at Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, TN.