Last week we had a guest speaker, CJ Dematatis, from the Brainerd Institute so there is no recording for April 17, 2026.

Today’s sermon audio can be found on Castbox at 159 “The Prayer of a Righteous Person” James 5:13-18.

Our primary text for April 26 was James 5:13-18. For our first reading we read 1 Kings 19:1-8. We read from 1 Kings to remind ourselves that Elijah was in fact a person with a nature like ours. This week we started with the second sentence in James 5:16 (The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.). This sentence could be construed to mean that only the prayers of super-spiritual believers (like Elijah) exhibit great power. However, James, in the very next sentence, writes that Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. The point is that the prayers of any true believer can exhibit great power.

Of course we should pay attention to all that the Bible has to say about prayer. James tells us not to be double-minded when we pray (1:5-8). He also tells us to practice humility in all that we do and say (4:6-10). Humility is the best spiritual posture to receive the grace of God.

We also looked at the following questions we had raised two weeks ago.

  • What does James mean by the word “elders” (14)?
  • What is the significance of the phrase “anointing him with oil” (14)?
  • Does the phrase “the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick” mean that we should expect always to be healed if we pray (15)?
  • How does James know that Elijah prayed (17, 18) [and why did James pick this example]?

Crucially, we should not expect to always be healed.

We concluded with a repetition of the call to always pray that we derived from verse 13 two weeks ago. That is a great privilege and responsibility of all true believers. The prayers of such people can exhibit great power. Remember, the real source of the power is God Himself. If we are born again we can pray such prayers.

Who is born again? All those who savingly believe in Christ Jesus. Saving faith Knows the truth, Agrees with God about the truth, and Trusts God to apply the truth to us. We use the acronym KAT to remember this old Protestant definition of true, saving faith. The truth includes the Law and the Gospel. Paul summarizes the core of the Gospel at 1 Corinthians 15:1-8.

See also The Gospel Paul Preached (1 Corinthians 15:1-13).

"The Prayer of a Righteous Person" James 5:13-18

  1. A Righteous Person (5:16B-18)
  2. Is Any among You Sick? (5:14-15A)
  3. If He Has Committed Sins (5:15B-16A)
  4. Pray (5:13)

Scripture References: 1 Kings 19:1-8; James 5:13-18; Romans 4:1-5; James 1:5-8; James 4:6-10; 2 Corinthians 12:7-9; Hebrews 9:27; 1 Corinthians 11:27-32; 1 John 1:9;