James 5:13-20
Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 14 Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up, and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a human like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months, it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth yielded its harvest. 19 My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, 20 you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
Jeremiah 32:1-25
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. 2 At that time, the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah, 3 where King Zedekiah of Judah had confined him. Zedekiah had said, “Why do you prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord: I am going to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it; 4 King Zedekiah of Judah shall not escape out of the hands of the Chaldeans but shall surely be given into the hands of the king of Babylon and shall speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye, 5 and he shall take Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall remain until I attend to him, says the Lord; though you fight against the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed?”
6 Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me: 7 Hanamel son of your uncle Shallum is going to come to you and say, ‘Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.’ ” 8 Then my cousin Hanamel came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.” Then, I knew that this was the word of the Lord.
9 And I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out the silver to him, seventeen shekels of silver.10 I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the silver on scales. 11 Then I took the sealed deed of purchase containing the terms and conditions and the open copy, 12 and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in the court of the guard. 13 In their presence I charged Baruch, saying, 14 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, in order that they may last for a long time. 15 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.”
16 After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch, son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying: 17 “Ah Lord God! It is you who made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you. 18 You show steadfast love to the thousandth generation but repay the guilt of parents into the laps of their children after them, O great and mighty God whose name is the Lord of hosts, 19 great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of mortals, rewarding all according to their ways and according to the fruit of their doings. 20 You showed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt and to this day in Israel and among all humankind and have made yourself a name that continues to this very day. 21 You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and outstretched arm, and with great terror, 22 and you gave them this land, which you swore to their ancestors to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey, 23 and they entered and took possession of it. But they did not obey your voice or follow your laws; of all you commanded them to do, they did nothing. Therefore, you have made all these disasters come upon them. 24 See, the siege ramps have been cast up against the city to take it, and the city, faced with sword, famine, and pestilence, has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you spoke has happened, as you yourself can see. 25 Yet you, O Lord God, have said to me, ‘Buy the field for silver and get witnesses,’ though the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans.”
The prophet Jerimiah is a fascinating character in the Old Testament. Known by many as the weeping prophet, his story unfolds in both the book that bears his name and the Book of Lamentations. He was a priest by profession but was called by God to be a prophet in 626 BC to proclaim the coming destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. The northern kingdom had already fallen because they had worshiped idols of Baal and sacrificed their children, and now the southern kingdom of Judah will fall for the same things. (Jeremiah 1-10, 19:4-5) God would plead with Israel through Jerimiah, but the people would not listen. They even brought charges against Jeremiah to try and shut him up. He would eventually be held prisoner by King Zedekiah.
Jeremiah’s message from God was not popular, and indeed, he suffered for his obedience to God. But the strange thing is what happened while he was imprisoned. His cousin came to him and offered the “right of possession” for a piece of land. The problem was that this land was already in the hands of the Chaldeans, but God told Jeremiah to purchase the land from his cousin anyway. If you think you have ever received conflicting words from God, think about poor Jeremiah buying land that has been captured by the people who he has prophesied will destroy the city he is currently in and deport the king who has him held captive—no wonder he is known for his weeping.
In the middle of this conflicting storyline, he buys the land and then does something that we all could learn from: he prays for understanding from God. Jeremiah was not crazy, nor was he confused in his understanding of what God had asked; he was obedient to God. Imagine if more of us did what God asked of us before we understood the reason. I wonder how many of God’s children would be taken care of in this world, how many wars would be avoided, and how many lives might be saved. But far too often, we want to understand what God has asked of us. We second-guess our role in God’s plan to make sure our time is well spent, our dollar goes farther, our reputations are not soiled, or our understanding of the way we think the world should work is not compromised. This is what Israel did when Jeremiah pointed out that their ways were not God’s way. They said the seven deadliest words a congregation can ever say, “We have always done it this way.” And they continued to worship the idols in high places.
Jeremiah’s use of prayer amid turmoil, confusion, and war is an example of his reliance on God to discern God’s will within his life. His prayer shows his belief that God is all-powerful; “Ah Lord God! It is you who made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.” (v.17). His prayer also shows us that God is gracious, but firm in his anger against all sin; “You show steadfast love to the thousandth generation but repay the guilt of parents into the laps of their children after them…” (v.18) Jeremiah, despite the entire world telling him that his convictions set upon him by God were wrong, stayed faithful and true to God. He did so by continuously practicing discerning prayer.
Jeremiah’s prayer is a supplication prayer for understanding. Our centering prayer in the worship bulletin or the prayer for illumination before the sermon is similar. We ask God to give us wisdom, insight, and discernment to understand His will in our lives. Of course, there are the prayers of confession, consecration, thanksgiving, adoration, and faith. Individuals can say each, or when we recite them together, they are known as prayers of agreement. Prayer is so essential that there are over 650 prayers in the Bible, 25 of which are by Jesus. Jeremiah showed his faith by praying to God. That’s the thread that runs through the prophets; they all spend an inordinate amount of time in prayer.
All Judeo-Christian religions emphasize prayer. Muslims are obligated to pray five times a day. The Jewish Rabbinic tradition has many stories that are centered around prayer. One story from the Jewish Talmud concerns the prophet Elijah; it goes like this:
Elijah used to visit the Bet/Midrash Study house of Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi's. There, he would study with the Rabbi. One day, Rabbi Yehudah expected Elijah to come on the new moon, but Elijah didn't show up. The next day, Rabbi Yehudah asked Elijah why he was a day late. Elijah explained that he had to awaken Abraham, help him wash his hands, wait for him to pray, and then put him back to rest, and he did the same for Isaac and Jacob. Rabbi Yehudah asked why he didn't wake them up together, and Elijah replied that he feared they would become too powerful in prayer and bring the Messiah before his time. (Rabbi Steven G./Yisrael Sager n.d.)
This story is not biblical, but it declares the power of prayer when done with conviction. However, unlike the dedication of Jeremiah, Rabbi Yehudah tries to manipulate circumstances via prayer. The rest of the story goes like this:
Upon hearing what Elijah had told him, Rabbi Yehudah came up with a plan. He asked Elijah if there was a group like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob alive in the world, and Elijah mentioned a man named Rabbi Hiyyah and two of his sons. Rabbi Yehudah then declared a fast, and Rabbi Hiyyah and his two sons were asked to lead the prayers. As Rabbi Hiyyah chanted the Amidah prayer (a prayer at the core of every Jewish worship service[1]) with his sons chanting on either side of him, the wind blew when he said, "God causes the wind to blow." The rain descended when he continued and sang, "God causes the rain to descend." When he was about to say, “God revives the dead," the universe began to tremble, and in heaven, it was asked who had revealed this secret to the world, to which the angels replied, "Elijah." As a result, Elijah was brought and punished with sixty flaming lashes. Subsequently, he disguised himself as a fiery bear, entered among Rabbi Hiyyah and his sons, and scattered them. (Rabbi Steven G./Yisrael Sager n.d.)
This story warns that prayer is powerful, but when misused, it can become a thing of destruction, undermining God's divine will. Fortunately for those in this story, Elijah was able to fix his mistake before it was too late. How often do we use prayer like this? We say, “Oh God, if you will just get me out of this mess, I promise I’ll be in church on Sunday!” “If you will just get me that raise, I’ll tithe my ten percent!” If you do this, Lord, I’ll do that.” We treat prayer like some wishing magic trick, and if it works, we say, “Oh yeah! Thank you, Jesus!” Then, we continue to live as we always did. When it doesn’t work, we say, “Why doesn’t God love me?”
Prayer and worship are intrinsically linked. Engaging in worship helps us direct our attention to the greatness of God, while prayer provides an opportunity for us to connect with that greatness on an individual level. Both activities involve our emotions and thoughts, bringing us closer to God and aligning our intentions with His. This is why Christian worship is so prayer-centered, and your pastor keeps encouraging you to pray and discern God’s will for your life.
James writes, “The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up, and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.” (v.15-16) The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. The story in Jeremiah is the story of a virtuous man, a prophet who, although saddened, never lost faith in God or the mission, the path God had set him on. The message of Jeremiah is to be faithful in all that we do. By contrast, the story of Rabbi Yehudah is the story of a man whose conviction was not righteous or virtuous enough to alter anything in his life via prayer. Therefore, he had to resort to tricking someone more righteous into praying.
As I contemplated these two stories, I began to consider how we use prayer versus God’s purpose for prayer. Prayer is our first line of communication with God. The more we practice it, the better we do it, the more comfortable we are talking with God. Today, I want you to ask yourself these questions about your prayer life. How do you perceive prayer? Is it a spiritual practice or something to use only when you are in a bind? How often do you pray? How sincere are you when you pray? Do you give thanks during prayer? Do you seek to know God’s will, or do you ask for favors and wishes? Is your first thought when you hear about a friend who is sick to raise them in prayer or to say, “Well, that sucks for you!”
[Side note: While I sat and typed out this manuscript, God offered me ample opportunity to pray. I received alerts about the hurricane, broken and downed trees, and calls from those in need of prayer and immediate help. This made me get farther into the study and rewrite the manuscript.]
How we act in our prayer life reflects how we see God’s work in our lives. Do you want more babies in church? Pray for more babies. Do you want more people to come and for our congregation to grow? Actively pray for God to send new folks to us. But take it one step further, ask God how we can make such a thing happen. Ask God to place a plan, an opportunity, an idea in your mind, a simple seed that gets people talking. We will never become the church that God wants us to be if we do not pray with conviction about the things that need to happen to grow God’s church. We cannot ask someone else to do the praying. We cannot say, “Oh, he will make it happen,” or “She will get something started,” or my favorite, “The preacher will get things done.” I have never seen a church thrive that did not have prayer as the center of its theology.
I charge you to consider this divine tool, prayer, and to ask yourself if you are willing to seek God’s will in prayer. Are you willing to worship God as an individual? I can only lift you in my prayer, but I cannot pray your prayers for you. The Session can lift you in prayer, but they cannot pray your prayers for you. You and Your prayer life will reflect in the life and the well-being of those around you. It will reflect in the life of your church, but only if you heed the example of those like Jeremiah and pray faithfully. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. AMEN.
Footnotes:
[1] The Amidah is the central prayer in every Jewish worship service, also known as HaTefillah. Amidah, which means "standing" in Hebrew, consists of a series of blessings recited while standing. According to the Rabbis, the worshipper should approach the prayer like a servant coming before their master: first with words of praise, then with petitions, and finally with words of thanks. Each Amidah prayer is divided into three main sections: praise, petitions, and thanks. It is recited silently by all members of the congregation and then repeated aloud by the prayer leader or cantor in communal settings, with the congregation responding "Amen" to each blessing. (Kohn n.d.)
Works Cited
Kohn, Rabbi Daniel. myjewishlearning.com. n.d. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-amidah/ (accessed September 27, 2024).
"NRSVue ." NRSVue Holy Bible with Deuterocanonical/Apocryphal Books of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2022.
Rabbi Steven G./Yisrael Sager. Stories of Elijah the Prophet from Talmud and Midrash. n.d. http://www.betheldurham.org/docs/Elijah_stories.pdf (accessed September 27, 2024).
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