K Karpen: "The Joy of James: The Practice of Prayer" (Sermon from September 29, 2024)

"Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of prayer and praise." James 5:13 

We have reached the fifth and last part of our sermon series on the Joy of James, and find, in this final chapter of James, that the answer to everything is - wait for it - prayer!! 

Are you sick or suffering? Pray!  Are you happy, full of joy? Pray! 

This might strike us as weird, since, in the whole rest of the letter, the writer of James has been moving us to action. 'Faith without works is dead!' and 'You must be doers of the Word, and not just hearers!'  James is about putting love into action. What's prayer got to do with it?

The answer, of course, is everything. For James, prayer is the ultimate action, since prayer seeks to put our will in alignment with the will of God. Without that, our actions are meaningless.

So come on Sunday, and let's pray!

K