Praying about our Problems

How to Pray about Problems
January 16, 2011

James 5:13-15

Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up.

Here’s a little story about prayer ... (from the Hampshire Gazette).

Travelers along the eastbound stretch of the Massachusetts Turnpike between Palmer and Sturbridge may have seen a shrine that stands watch from a wooded glen. When it is illuminated at night, it appears in a clearing as if coming out of nowhere.

The statue attracts a lot of attention. Travelers will call the police, or a local church, to inquire about it. Some have been known to even stop on the turnpike to leave prayer notes, flowers or Catholic rosaries.

The little shine is known to some as “the Madonna of the Turnpike,” or “the Lady of the Highway.” It’s a two-foot statue of the Virgin Mary on a pedestal of field stones. It has stood there for 47 years since Alfred Brodeur erected it.

It was Alfred’s mission to give glory to God that his wife, Eldora, diagnosed with breast cancer, and had recovered in part, he believes, because of their faith and their prayers.

As Alfred’s daughter, Diane, says, “[My Dad] was just a little old farmer man who loved and believed in God very much. He put the statue here to thank [God] for my mother’s [recovery] and to inspire faith and prayer in others who drove by. They would think of Jesus and to think of God.”

I have no doubt that God answers prayers. I have no doubt the prayer impacts the outcome of illness. I have no doubt that God can and does suspend the ordinary to present the extraordinary.

But I also know that what we want, or what we expect from our prayers is not necessarily what God does. And here is where I find the thoughts of James particularly helpful.

James mentions two specific times when we really need to pray:
1.Prayer when I’m in trouble (maybe sick, emotionally or physically, spiritually hurting)-
2.Prayer when I’m happy

The two go hand-in-hand just as life is loaded with the vicissitudes between ups and downs, health and illness, prosperity and austerity, joy and sorrow.

You may also notice that James mentions praying when you are sick. This might be a third category, but he is using this more as an illustration of the first two categories (trouble and happiness) than as a third category.

Here’s why... It seems that by the time we get to the New Testament (and we have been brought into a one-on-one relationship with God), the word we have come to translate as “sick,” or “ill,” carries a connotation of “weakness.” The word literally means literally, “to be without strength,” ... when you are totally wasted, fatigued, bedridden, unable to work. It's the word describing Lazarus in John 11. It is the word to describing Dorcas in Act 9. It is the same word describing the man at the pool of Bethesda in John 5, who sat there for years and years without enough energy to get up and get into the pool.

This is key, for to assume that we don’t get sick and die is irrational. My mother was sick. My sister had cancer. My uncle suffered with polio. I battled Gianne Barre. We are not immune from getting sick, nor from death.

But to recognize that in our sicknesses and grief and sorrow and pain and death that there is a deeper issue of “weakness”... ... this is keen.

I sense that James is reminding us that when we are in trouble, the big concern is our spiritual health.

Scan down to verse 15. James notes that the affects of prayer are not necessarily physical health (although physical health is never beyond the power of God), but – catch this word – to rise!

“And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person [ or the weak person, or the person without any strength] well; the Lord will ... raise them up!”

What is this “raise them up” associated with in the New Testament? Resurrection!

Connect this verse from James with Paul’s discussion of “rising” that he conveys in his letter to the Christians in the Greek port city of Corinth. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul writes,
The body that is sown is perishable,
[but] it is raised imperishable;
it is sown in dishonor,
[but] it is raised in glory;
it is sown in weakness,
[but] it is raised in power;
it is sown a natural body,
[but] it is raised a spiritual body.

The hope of the Gospel is not only the power of God to heal our infirmities, but – more importantly – to raise our souls to glory in their weakness. Spiritual wholeness!

How do we pray about our problems? For health? Okay, ... but not on the presumption that prayer is a magic bullet to manipulate the laws of nature. But... prayer for health and recovery of our weakened soul in the midst of trouble! That’s the key. And that makes us happy.

My mother took ill, and died. My sister was stricken with cancer, and died. My uncle fought the residual effects of polio, and died. But, I know that by prayer, their weakness did not overcome them.

By prayer, they were strong. In fact, they were, dare I say, they were happy: They could still give God the glory. They could still smile.

Did you realize that "Praise" is used 550 times in the Bible. It is a lifestyle of the Christian: to be joyful. So in the ICU, I give thanks for the nurses. I give thanks for the hospital. I give thanks for the morphine. And yes, I pray for to recovery. So, when the family is falling apart, I give thanks for my wife. I give thanks for my kids. I give thanks for the honesty. And yes, I pray for reconciliation. So when there are more bills than income, I give thank that the house is still warm. I give thanks that for the love between the family. And yes, I pray for wisdom to handle the deficit.

I continue to be touched by Carrie Ten Boom, held by the Nazi’s for harboring Jews. Affectingly, her life was over, and yet her soul soared.

Even in the lice infected barracks of Ravensbrück (through which an estimated 90,000 women and children died), Carrie Ten Boom sang hymns, recited the Psalms and gave thanks to God.

Why? Because, and as James pointed out, in her weakness, God constantly raised her up her soul to a greater glory.