þ The Internet (information highway) changed business and
communication – the way we receive information – for good.
þ Political upheaval – We have seen the fall of communism. We’ve seen Bush-to-Clinton-to-Bush-to
Obama-to Trump; Wow! Just, WOW!
þ The AIDS and Ebola viruses – stem cell
research, and other assorted medical/ethical dilemmas make one wonder if the
term medical
advance is somewhat over-rated.
þ The ECONOMY is on a roller coaster ride.
þ There’s nothing left to eat that’s
safe, except liver and okra!
(OK…okra’s never been safe on my list!)
Are we doomed? Is there an answer?
þ Some would say, “No – just hang tough, get what you can, get a
tattoo, and be yourself; you’ll get by.”
þ Some would say, “Of course there’s an answer; just send me $500 –
I’ll send you a prayer cloth, and soon you’ll be rich.”
þ Some would say, Here, drink/snort/vape this and you
won’t worry about all that!
What does God say about all that?
The conclusion to our study of the Book of James gives us real solutions
for those questions. James tells us that
the answers to those, and many more (in fact, all) of life’s
nagging questions is found in prayer; specifically, true prayer – without
a net…
In every phrase James has practical instruction for us as
individuals, and a church body…praying without a net.
Several years ago I stood at the Grand Canyon…and got a little
dizzy. It is quite awesome to stand,
looking out over that incredible hole in the ground.
My mind wandered to the old story of the famous acrobat, who
attracted a huge crowd to watch him walk a tightrope across Niagara Falls. He nimbly and skillfully passed over the
waters below, suspended by a thin line – and, without a safety net!
“Bravo” yelled the crowd.
The performer spoke to the onlookers, “How many believe I could do this
carrying someone on my shoulders?” All
hands shot up; “We believe, we believe.”
“Who would like to be first?”
The crowd went home!
Shouting Bravo when you have no intention of
climbing on the man’s back is what I call “praying with a net.” It is
saying, “OK, I’ll pray about this, but if I get uncomfortable in this process,
I’m gonna bail…I’ll go with something I can see.” That something you can see is the safety net. It is trusting in yourself as the one who can
handle the problems if God won’t.
That is not the kind of prayer God wants to hear. He wants to hear prayers offered by people
who have no safety net – just faith in God.
But, preacher, that’s kind of like saying we should eat an
elephant…that’s a really big job. How do
you do that? All together now, class…one
bite at a time!
What does it look like when a church family is ready to pray
without a net? What “marks” can you
notice in a prayer ministry that is netless? See James’ advice:
WE ARE TO PRAY CONSTANTLY –
Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. James 5:13 (NLT)
James includes both ends of the human spectrum – in hardship or in
happiness. That takes in just about all
of it, bad times or good. A dear friend,
Donna Smith, once told me, “I never say Amen I always have so much to pray
about.” That’s probably good advice; after
all, when you’ve got God on the line, you wouldn’t want to hang up the phone,
would you?
Praying constantly involves intentionality. There must be something of a decision to
organize your life around the things of God.
There must be a readiness to respond to the leading of God. If not, you’re operating with a net.
Without intentionally linking yourself to God, you’re at the mercy
of the happenstance of life. Actually,
you have no net; it just seems like you have one.
Take a Styrofoam cup, place it on the centerline of a highway; the
first car that passes will cause it to jump in that direction. As another car passes on the opposite side,
it will be snapped-back the other way. If
two cars pass at the same time it will not know which way to jump. James knew this principle:
But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. James 1:6-8(NLT)
Intentional praying is when you link yourself to God constantly,
allowing Him to determine the outcome of things. It means you relinquish control. It is like
taking that Styrofoam cup off the centerline on the road and placing it in
God’s truck. You’ve made a decision
about your direction – you’re going with God.
That’s hard, isn’t it? Doing things God’s way is hard, isn’t
it? But, in the long run, that is the
easiest way, because (as Jesus said) it’s God’s way, and His yoke is easy, His
burden light.[2]
Constant prayer – without a net – is no burden…it is the joy of
being close to the Lord. He is the
source of beauty, love, health and joy.
What’s burdensome about being near THAT all the time?
WE ARE TO PRAY FOR HEALING
Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. James 5:13-20(NLT)
Pray for the sick – well, we’ve got that one down. I recently saw a cartoon where an elderly
woman is standing at the church door talking to the pastor. Her remark, as she hands a thick manila
folder to him: My doctor copied my chart,
complete with medicines and prognosis…just copy it into the prayer list,
please.
We pray for the sick constantly here – and God has at times responded
with healings! But, while we’re praying
that our loved ones get better physically, we should not
forget the other needs, emotional healing, spiritual healing, and
relationships.
There is more spiritual virus affecting
this world than any heart or liver diseases, or strains of
AIDS
or Ebola. If we are going to pray without a net in
today’s spiritual warfare of morals, worldview and culture, we will have to
take a stand.
It’s never hard to get people to agree to pray for someone
battling against cancer, or a heart attack.
But these are minor, incredibly minor,
compared to the spiritual diseases of abortion, sexual perversion, cruelty and
oppression. The apostle Paul showed us
the bullseye. He said:
For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6.12(NLT)
The reason Paul said to put on the whole armor of God is
because you need it when you pray for healing against the real sicknesses that
can hurt people – the kind that can kill the spirit, and consign the soul to
hell.
WE ARE TO PRAY WITH REPENTANCE
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. James 5:16(NLT)
Repenting means, in a literal sense, turning around. It means a complete change of attitude
towards sin…and a complete change of actions.
Heart and lifestyle change!
Do you know how quickly the net is removed when we confess our
sins to each other, seeking each other’s forgiveness? That’s when we get help – real
help – when we drop the fences, the walls. To repent is to ask God to clean our slate –
and then offer that clean slate back to Him, so He can begin to write our new
future.
The earnest prayer of a righteous person could be restated…The one who has a clean slate and goes to
work praying… If you want to be part
of a net-less
prayer ministry, cleaning the slate is a daily reality. God uses cleaned vessels.
WE ARE TO INTERCEDE AS WE PRAY
Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops. My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back from wandering will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins. James 5:17-20(NLT)
Intercession and reconciliation – that’s the ministry of the body
of Christ. Abraham was the beginning of
the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people.
They were to intercede, bring God’s message to the world.
The church is the “new Israel,” and our calling is the same; we
are to present the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world. That’s not easy!
Intercession is standing in the gap – for the lost, the sick, the
needy. When you stand in a gap between
God and the people God has told you to help….there is no net!
Intercessory prayer hands the net to God. It is when you do what William Carey[3] the father of modern missions said:
Attempt great things
for God;
expect great things from God
It is like a small child turning over his security blankey
to Dad, trusting that Dad won’t hurt him.
That Charlotte, NC farmer in 1934 had spent a good deal of time
battling a stubborn farm during the Great Depression. Raising a family was tough work then…as it is
now – only in a different way. Still
tough!
The Depression had spread spiritual apathy in the city. But, when asked, the farmer lent out one of
his pasture fields to some business leaders for a day of prayer. A man named Vernon Patterson lead the prayer: “O
Lord, raise up from Charlotte someone to preach the gospel to the ends of the
earth.”
Those businessmen erected a “tabernacle” of pine beams in the
city. For the next eleven weeks an
evangelist by the name of Mordecai Ham shattered the complacency of church-going
Charlotte.
The farmer who lent his pasture for the original prayer meeting
was named Franklin Graham. During the
revival, Franklin’s young son, Billy, responded to Christ, and committed his
life.
These days we call him Dr. Graham.
Only eternity will reveal how many souls were touched for Christ
beginning with one farmer willing to let go of a field for a while, and one
businessman willing to pray without a net for the sake of the gospel.
How can I get rid of the net?
Preacher, I want to trust God that way. I really want to pray without a net. How do I do that? Answer:
You just do it. Really!
Do you remember what happened when Mrs. Job looked
her man in the eyes and said, “You’ve lost it all, children, possessions,
reputation and even your health – why don’t you just curse God and die?” He said, “Though he slay me I’ll worship
him.” That was Job, handing God the net.
Do you remember Naaman the Leper? God’s prophet said, “Go dip in the Jordan
river seven times to be healed.” Naaman
grumbled, but he went. Each time he
bobbed up in the water, it was Naaman saying, “Here, God of Elisha, take my
net.”
Do you remember how an angel told an unmarried 13-year-old girl
she was going to have a baby? And Mary,
the virgin mother of our Lord, said, “I have no net. Let God rule in my life.”
The big fisherman, Peter, knew something about
nets. Outside Pilate’s house the night
Jesus was tried, then crucified, he protected his identity – “I don’t know
Jesus” – a net! After the crucifixion,
he went home to do some fishing – back to the nets. What happened? He had a meeting with Jesus, the resurrected
Lord of the universe. And Peter found
out he was forgiven. All that cowardice
and backpedaling…forgiven. Peter just gave
up his nets.
Later we find Peter and the apostles had a great healing ministry,
but it disturbed the status quo amongst the religious leaders. They had the apostles thrown in prison, but an
angel freed them. The religious leaders
tried to shut them up from preaching Jesus – Peter and the others said, “We
ought to obey God rather than men.”[4]
That was Peter burning his nets behind him!
Most pictures I’ve ever seen of Jesus have his hands extended,
palms up. I’ve been told it is to show
us his nail prints. I’ve been told it
means, “Come unto me…”
Today, for us, it should mean, Give me your nets…
