James Nisbet Commentary - James 5:16 - 5:16

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James Nisbet Commentary - James 5:16 - 5:16


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INTERCESSORY PRAYER

‘Pray one for another.’

Jam_5:16

Christianity brought with it a new phenomenon in the spiritual world, if such an expression be permitted, and that phenomenon was the sudden and extraordinary development of intercessory prayer.

There was little of this in the old world among Jews or pagans. Prayer was individual; each man asked of God what he felt himself to be in great need of.

I. The great and amazing verity, that all men are equally precious in the sight of God, Who expended the same care in the creation of each, Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond and free; Who extends His protection to all alike; and for the redemption of each, of whatever race he came, to whatever class he belonged, whatever his cultural level might be, Christ shed His blood—this great and amazing doctrine first astonished men, and then they realised it, and acted on it. It was something so true, so obvious, that all men were the sons of God, and therefore brethren, that Christians wondered it had never been thought of before, and filled with the fervour of conviction that it was a great fundamental verity, they carried out their conviction, by eagerly preaching the Word everywhere, by showing kindness to, and care for all who were in need and sorrow, whether they belonged to the household of faith or not, and especially by the practice of intercessory prayer.

II. If there is one point which differentiates all Christian liturgies from the prayer-book of the Jew, and from the devotions of the heathen, it is the fact that intercessory prayer forms the very marrow of the former. What is most remarkable is, that the further back we go, and the nearer to the beginning we get, in the very earliest Christian liturgies that have been handed down to us, this element of intercession for the whole world, not for the Church only, but for the whole world, comes into more and more prominence. It is as though the heart of the early Church was so full of this great revelation, that it could not act upon it sufficiently. In the service for the Lord’s Day, again and again, and once again was poured forth the great volume of prayer for the whole world, for all men in it, for the emperor, for his armies, for the magistrates, for the persecutors, for the whole Church, and for every office and administration therein; for the rich, the poor, the captives, those working in the mines, those at sea, for widows and orphans, for all little children, for heretics, for all in opposition to the truth through ignorance, error or malice, for fruitful seasons, for the regulation of the temperature and the guidance of the winds. Now if this had occurred but once, it would have characterised a new epoch in prayer, but the same is repeated, only slightly varied, from three to five times, and the revision which went on in the Divine Service of the Church after the fourth century was chiefly the curtailment of these lengthly and redundant intercessions. But what a revelation that was to the world of the love of God!

III. In this bustling, eager age, when we are all trying to rectify abuses and remedy ills, how much is done on the knees? How much of intercessory prayer goes on? We are, in too many cases, endeavouring to better the world without seeking God’s help and God’s guidance. What would you say of the man or woman who prayed for the sick and the poor and the afflicted, yet never visited those in need of relief or sympathy, and never put hand into pocket to help those in difficulty and distress? You would say that such a person was a very imperfect Christian. It is of such as these that St. James writes with biting satire. But the opposite side of the picture is one that deserves looking upon nowadays; and that represents the man or woman who is zealous, or affects zeal in good works, in charity, in doing good, but who has so little faith, so little idea that the assistance of God is essential to the work being blessed and brought to a good end, that he or she never prays for that assistance, never entreats for those to whom he or she is extending assistance, much less for those in distress who are out of reach.

—
Rev. S. Baring-Gould.

Illustration

‘Our collect for Good Friday, that God would have mercy on Jews, Turks, infidels, and heretics, is the condensation of an old litany that was said daily. One may be ready to put down half a crown, or even half a sovereign for the Society for the Conversion of the Jews, or for a missionary association for carrying the Gospel to Turks and infidels, but how much do we pray for Jews, Turks, and infidels? How much and how earnestly do we pray for heretics, that they may be brought into unity? Is there any fervour in our intercessory prayer? Is there any conviction of its necessity? Has not that first enthusiasm which animated the early Church, an enthusiasm of brotherly love, evaporated in philanthropic talk and small subscriptions? Is there any of it found in our prayers? What a man really feels and really desires, that he will pray for. If he really desires the advance of Christ’s kingdom, really wishes that God’s will may be done on earth as it is in heaven, he will pray for it, and pray for it often, and with fervour.’



PRAYER AND LIFE

‘The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.’

Jam_5:16

Prayer is at all times a subject of supreme importance—such importance that it is quite impossible to overstate its value. It is at once man’s highest duty and his greatest blessing. It follows almost naturally from our belief in a living God. Prayer is a duty laid upon all. By prayer we are to bring down blessings from heaven for ourselves, by prayer we are to secure health to the sick, strength to the weak, succour to the tempted, recovery to the fallen. How, then, dare we cease to pray when there is so much depending on our prayers? Yet it is plain that we often ask in vain. The answer is also plain. ‘Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss.’ We do not fulfil the conditions of effectual prayer, and so our prayers avail but little. What, then, may we do in order that the promises made to prayer may be fulfilled?

I would but mention three things which will help us towards more successful prayer.

I. We must give time to prayer.—How often are we told of hurried prayers, and shortened prayers, and sometimes of forgotten prayers! Prayer so often is crowded out of our life in the hurry and bustle of the day. Prayer is the very recognition of God in our life, and a prayerless life must needs be a Godless life. It is no excuse to say, ‘I am not fit to pray.’ Even to go through the form of prayer is better, surely, than nothing. It keeps alive, at any rate, a habit which, by the grace of God, may some day take fresh life again. Have, then, fixed times for prayer day by day, and keep to them.

II. We must take trouble over our prayers.—Prayer is not an easy thing. Of all mental exercises, it has been said, prayer is the most severe. It requires the exercise of all the faculties that we possess. Prayer will never reach up to the throne of God if it is offered without effort and pains and care. We have to wrestle strenuously with the temptations and distractions that await us and hamper us in our prayers. There must be a concentration of the will. A discipline of the mind has to be brought to this exercise of prayer, together with a determination that we will at all costs break through the obstacles which oppose the utterance of our prayers, that they may reach up to the Throne of Grace. How many a one has abandoned prayer in despair just for the lack of effort, just for the want of realising this great truth, that trouble and pains are needed if prayer is to be effectual! There is nothing in life that can be carried on without effort. The prayer of a righteous man, to avail much, must be fervent.

III. The life must correspond to the exercise of prayer.—Who is this righteous man in His most perfect form? Our Lord Himself; and if our prayer is to be united with His great intercession, it must be the prayer of a righteous man. Our life must prepare us for our prayers, just as much as our prayers will prepare us for our life. Worldliness, carelessness, selfishness, sin, shut out the sight of God and prevent our prayers reaching up to God, and so prevent the answer, and bring failure. To pray to God out of a sinful heart is only to beat against a fast-closed door which nothing but penitence will open.

—
Rev. A. G. Deedes.

Illustration

‘Let us try to use the Rogation days for setting our life of prayer more in order, renewing the earnestness of it. Let us see that it has its own allotted time day by day set apart as a sacred engagement, that nothing must interfere with. Let us see that we do not leave our prayers to take their chance in our hurried life. Let us look to it also that we take pains with our prayers. Do not let us be content to bring a weary body and a fagged brain to the service of God in prayer. And let us see to it, above all, that our life is true and sincere and holy. So only may we hope that our prayers may be the prayers of a righteous man, and merit the promise that attaches to them that they shall avail much for ourselves and those for whom we pray. So only may we be certain in claiming the promise which the Lord has given us—“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” ’

(SECOND OUTLINE)

THE RIGHTEOUS MAN’S PRAYER

A ‘righteous man’ means a justified man. And here is the comfort: the humblest believer may go and plead the promise, and may go in the simple confidence that Christ has justified him; and though both he and his prayer be utterly vile, still its unworthiness does not destroy its worthiness or destroy its claim, for God hath written it, and He cannot deny it, ‘The effectual fervent prayer of a justified man availeth much.’

I. The power of prevailing with God in anything is the Christ that is in it.—‘Where two or three are gathered together in My name.’ ‘Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name.’ It is the ‘My name’ which is the determining point. For the real force of every prayer lies in its concluding words, therefore always make them the most emphatic words in your prayer; say them very slowly, very honouringly, very believingly, ‘Through Jesus Christ our Lord.’

II. But it must be ‘effectual fervent.’—There is some difficulty in arriving at an accurate definition of the meaning of these words, for in the original the words are but one, and the first and closest signification is, wrought in; the wrought-in prayer, ‘the prayer wrought in the soul of a justified man availeth much.’ Therefore the primary idea is that the prayer that ‘avails much’ is a prayer that is wrought into a man’s soul by the Holy Spirit.

III. This strong power God has put into our hands.—Can you require more? Take it downstairs with you after well using it in your own room; use it in the family—take it out with you when you go to your business—and do not separate from it when you enter upon your pleasures. Bring it back again to your room. Bring it up with you here. It is the real strength of everything in this world. Many people go on well for a time. But if you feel this, I am quite sure that the success, and the power, and the satisfaction of everything in the world depends upon the measure of the prayer that you put into it. As a man’s prayer is, so is the man.