Does It Pay to Pray? Lessons from James on Power-Filled, Persevering Prayer

James wrote to the early church as a man who knew prayer firsthand. He was nicknamed "camel's knees" because he spent so much time kneeling before God. As he closes his letter, James shows us that living faith is praying faith: prayer in trouble and in joy, prayer for the sick, prayer that confesses sin, and prayer that keeps going when the answers are slow.

Is Prayer Really Worth It?

A businessman once brought a blunt question to his pastor. His church had a group that met every morning at 7:00 to pray, and for a while the answers poured in. One week they counted 49 answered prayers. Then it seemed like God turned off the faucet. People who were sick got sicker. Struggling marriages ended in divorce. So he asked the question a businessman would ask: "Is it worth it? Does it pay to pray?"

The pastor answered with a question of his own. Does it pay to talk to your spouse? To your children? To your friends? Of course it does, but not because of what we get out of it. We talk to the people we love because we love them.

Prayer works the same way. We can never turn prayer into a mechanical program or a laundry list to get through. Prayer is the conversational part of our love relationship with God. The God who holds the universe in His hands and governs billions of stars is interested in your life. He wants to hear from you.

Why Should We Pray in Every Season of Life?

"Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise." - James 5:13 New International Version (NIV)

James does not save prayer for emergencies. God invites us to come to Him when we are in trouble and when life is good. He wants to keep in touch, not occasionally but all the time. A private place of prayer matters, but Scripture also calls us to unceasing prayer, living each day aware that God is with us and delights to hear from us. None of us would tell our spouse, "I'm too busy to talk with you." We shouldn't say it to God either.

Do You Have to Be a Spiritual Giant to Pray?

"The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are." - James 5:16-17 New International Version (NIV)

When we hear "the prayer of a righteous person," many of us quietly disqualify ourselves. I'm not Elijah. I've blown it too many times. But James reminds us that Elijah was an ordinary person. He showed great courage, and he also ran for his life in despair. The power was never in Elijah. It was in the God he prayed to.

Where Does Our Righteousness Come From?

The Heidelberg Catechism teaches that we pray from the heart to the one true God, we honestly acknowledge our need, and we rest on this unshakable foundation: even though we do not deserve it, God will surely listen to our prayer because of Christ our Lord.

Our righteousness does not come from a good week or a clean record. The perfect righteousness of Jesus has been credited to our account. On the days we don't measure up, Jesus has measured up for us. So failure is not a reason to stay away from God. It is exactly the time to come.

What Does It Mean to Pray with Confidence?

Earlier in his letter, James warns against coming to God double-minded, like "a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind." We come with confidence, not in ourselves or in our words, but in the God who has promised to hear. It is not so much the prayer as the power behind the prayer.

Why Should We Keep Praying When the Answers Don't Come?

"Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up." - Luke 18:1 New International Version (NIV)

We live in an instant-gratification culture, and sometimes we quit too soon. Elijah's prayer for rain was not answered the moment he prayed. He sent his servant to look at the sky seven times before a cloud the size of a man's hand appeared. Then the heavens opened.

Sometimes God says, "Wait, it's on the way." Sometimes He answers in ways we didn't expect. And sometimes, at a hospital bedside, the healing we pray for comes as a loved one goes home to be with Christ. Disappointment is real, but God still hears. George Müller, who cared for thousands of orphans by depending on God each day, said one of the church's great problems is a lack of persevering prayer. Keep on praying.

How Can We Pray God's Word for Others?

If your prayers feel stuck in a rut, pray Scripture. E. M. Bounds wrote that the Word of God is the fulcrum on which the lever of prayer is placed. When we pray God's promises back to Him, we ask for what He has already said He delights to give.

Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends can take Paul's prayer in Colossians 1 and put a loved one's name in it: that God would fill them with the knowledge of His will, that they would live a life worthy of the Lord, bear fruit in every good work, be strengthened with His power, and joyfully give thanks to the Father. We can also pray that they will:

• Know Christ: Wholly devoted to Him (Romans 12)
• Hate what is evil: Turning from sin (Psalm 97)
• Be protected: Kept safe from the evil one (John 17)
• Be responsible: Respecting authority and loving others well (Romans 13)
• Choose good friends: Walking with the wise (Proverbs 1)
• Be kept pure: Honoring God with their bodies (1 Corinthians 6)
• Submit to God: Drawing near to Him (James 4)
• Bear fruit: Growing in the fruit of the Spirit every day (Galatians 5)

We are not consumers in God's kingdom but participants. We pray for our church's ministries, staff, and council, for our mission partners around the world, and for our country and its leaders. When the news frustrates us, we can turn it into prayer.

Why Does James Tell Us to Confess Our Sins to Each Other?

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." - James 5:16 New International Version (NIV)

James invites us to let trusted people into our lives, to call the elders to pray over us when we are sick, and to be honest about our sin. Richard Foster describes confession as the moment we quit the deal-making, sidestepping, and mask-wearing and get honest with God by being honest with another person.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer asked why we often find it easier to confess to a holy God than to a brother or sister. Perhaps it is because we are quietly granting ourselves our own forgiveness. Living on self-forgiveness leaves us prone to relapse and weak obedience.

Have You Done Your Business with God?

King David carried the weight of adultery and murder until God sent Nathan to confront him. When David confessed, God forgave him and lifted that weight. We need Nathans in our lives too. During a revival in the New Hebrides, young people prayed through Psalm 24, "Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart," and began confessing to one another. Friends would stop each other on the street and ask, "Have you done your business with God?"

Unhealthy relationships and unconfessed sin can hinder our prayers. Prayer is more than asking. It is worship, submission, and obedience, and through it the Spirit revives us and gives us strength to go on.

What Are the Benefits of Persevering Prayer?

Persevering prayer does something in us:

• Prayer gives perspective: Asaph envied the wicked until he entered the sanctuary of God and saw clearly that riches fade but a relationship with God lasts
• Prayer nourishes our souls: God feeds us through prayer, giving strength, direction, and harmony to every area of life
• Prayer provides confident hope: Jesus invites us to keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking
• Prayer expresses our faith: The whole book of James is about faith that is exercised, and prayer is one of the main ways we exercise it

"Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." - Psalm 73:25-26 New International Version (NIV)

So does it pay to pray? Absolutely. Not because prayer is a transaction, but because it strengthens our relationship with the God who loves us.

Life Application

This week, choose one person to pray for every day using Paul's prayer in Colossians 1:9-12. Then write down one long-standing request you have stopped bringing to God, and pick it up again. As we prepare for the Lord's Supper next Sunday, take time to examine your faith, your hope, and your love for God and others. If something is weighing on you, share it with a trusted friend or an elder and ask them to pray with you.

Keep asking. Keep seeking. Keep knocking.

Ask yourself these questions as you reflect:

• Do I pray more in times of trouble or in times of joy, and what does that say about my relationship with God?
• What keeps me from coming to God with confidence? Am I resting on my own record or on Christ's righteousness?
• What prayer have I given up on, and what would it look like to persevere?
• Who has God placed on my heart to pray for, and how could I pray Scripture over them?
• Is there anything I need to confess, to God and to a trusted brother or sister, so that I can experience healing?