I remember going to church as an adult right? For the first time when I started going to church and I would walk in and the pastor was like, he said, I want you to pray with your neighbor and I'm like my neighbor. Don't go to this church. I don't know. You want me to call my neighbor on the phone. That's creepy. I ain't gonna do that. Right. Then they explained to me, right, your neighbor is the person sitting next to you. Listen, I'm brand new at this christian stuff. I don't, no, I didn't even know you're supposed to pray out loud. Let alone with this lady. I don't even know this lady what I'm supposed to pray about. Lord help these bumps go down on this lady's face. I don't know what you can pray about. Mhm I don't know. I'm supposed to pray about. Right. She went first. She was praying all good and she must have been john the baptist little sister or some praying. She was like dear heavenly father. You said in your word in the sixth chapter, The 3rd, 3rd verse of the book of Matthew the 601st word on page 1248 Lord you said, but seek assistance. Search isn't everywhere. He is an excellent case in kingdom. You're the alpha. Niecy Jehovah Gira, Jehovah rafa. I'm thinking man, she even know his nicknames. Thank you. Now it's my turn to pray right? But I don't got the spiritual vocabulary to just, but I'm not gonna let her out pray me. So I'm like, okay God, first of all you are good people, you know, you were good Lord, you were good, you were good to the last drop Lord. Um because Lord, I just gotta obey my thirst Lord, you know, because choosy moms choose jesus, so because you know as the record is the rockets red glare. Lord gave proof to the night Lord, I believe I can fly amen. Uh well good morning church. We wanna, we wanna talk this morning about the value of prayer and you know when it comes to prayer. Prayer is is something that I find that a lot of people say they do. Um but not as many people understand what it means to actually do it. And the title of this morning's message is choose your weapon because I'm reminded growing up, enjoyed playing various uh video games and things there to where maybe it was like Mario kart or smash brothers or maybe you had different like kind of fighting shooting games kind of thing. And well, one of the big question marks, when you would actually play with your friends is okay, when you go to battle, what's, what weapon do you have and if you have the better weapon that you're gonna win the battle and if you have the best weapon most likely you can win that battle. And so when you have the option, you always go with the best weapon? Well I find that when it comes to prayer that too often um christians and people in general, including myself that we use prayer as the last resort. You know what I'm talking about? Have you ever been in that spot where you find yourself thinking or saying out loud? I got nowhere else to turn. Okay, so oh God, I'm going to pray and and I want to try to challenge that notion this morning that prayer should not be your last line of defense, but your first and main weapon of attack. Spiritually speaking, Prayer should be not maybe it's not the only thing we do, but it should be the first thing we do because prayer aligns us with the heart of God. If you have your bibles open up to James chapter five we are in a series entitled Faith Works, talking about how saving faith is. You know, it connects us to God and last week we talked about how it's less about getting you into heaven and more about getting heaven into you because when you go to heaven, you actually don't need faith. Faith is assurance and of things really in conviction of things not seen. Well, when you're in heaven, you're face to face with jesus, you actually don't need faith because there's gonna be no more questions. No more tears, No more pain, no more mourning and if you have a question it's actually you can actually just ask, jesus directly face to face, face to face, meaning that the faith that we have, the faith that's talked about in scripture does save us. Just connect us to the heart of God. But also is the very thing that we need to have spiritual victories in our lives. And so this idea of faith works has been walking through the book of James and we post the videos online and you can actually go to Youtube and actually catch up on all um all eight messages through this series, walking through verse by verse and we've seen this continued theme and the theme verse really comes out of James chapter one where it talks about how I'm writing these things so that you will be made whole or made perfect or made complete because life as we know it is fractured and we live as fractured, broken people. But if we trust in jesus and we live out our faith with our actions that ultimately we become whole, we become full and we become connected to the very heart of God. So, we've talked about things about facing trials. We've talked about how it's not just about hearing the word of God, but about doing the word of God. We talked about changing how we speak and how we speak, shapes the relationships that we are in. And then last week we talked about just the power of understanding what is life and why are we here? And so as we wrap up, I think it's no coincidence that is James wraps up his letter. He's going to focus in on the most important weapon. We have to gain spiritual victory in our lives. And it's talking about prayer, We're going to pick it up in James Chapter five verse 13, but right before that and this is important to understand this. Right before that, in those previous verses, he actually says, he actually says in there to um to be patient and suffering and then one of my favorite verses there and actually that's not on the screen. Chapter five verse eight, it says, you also be patient, establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand. And I love that phrase of establishing your heart. So this is a setup for our passage. So now let's jump into verse 13, Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray, is anyone cheerful? Let him sing, praise, is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. I want a positive for just a moment because he says, and the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up. This idea is that the Lord doesn't save everybody in terms of healing. You actually see that in the life of jesus, he performed miracles in every city to which he went, he preached, but and he preached to somebody didn't preach to all, he healed somebody didn't heal all. And so we're left with this question okay, But I've prayed, I've been sick, I've prayed to God but he didn't heal me well the fact is that God does heal and then also provides an ultimate healing through faith in him. And so I I remember and I've shared this with some of you that one of the most emotional experiences early on in my ministry career um when I was just out of college, I was a youth pastor and um, and one of my students, his name was Seth young and he was just so kind and he was just a homeschool kid that loved monopoly and like and love playing board games and so I go over and visit his house while he had a um, he had cancer and he had it ballooned up to volleyball size in his back. So literally when um they removed it had a hole straight to stay there in the hospital. I remember praying and praying and praying removed the cancer, removed the cancer, removed the cancer 27 surgeries later and we're praying praying and then ultimately at just 19.5 years old went on to be with the Lord and I remember asking, I was like God we prayed for you to heal him and what happened, he didn't deserve this. But then it struck me just a simple thought of where do you think Seth is right now? And there he was was that face to face with jesus now standing pain free, cancer free, completely healed. And while we were praying for an immediate outcome, jesus delivered the ultimate experience. And so that even in suffering, even in difficult times, we can persevere through prayer because he provides salvation so we can trust this, that the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, so it's not just a physical condition, but a spiritual one and it saves them, but notice here it says that if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven clarifying that. Back in that day, People thought that if you were sick it was because you sinned. And so if someone had an illness, they would say, well he must have done something to tick off God because he has or his parents sinned. Even the disciples had a miracle where a lame man was healed and and so the disciples were asking and asked jesus, okay, so who sinned this man or his parents that caused him to be lame and jesus response is neither it was for the glory of God and in that moment provided the miracle and healed that person and so while not every situation results in a miraculous healing, every single situation should connect us to the heart of God and the very fact that we crave healing and wholeness should point to the existence of God because if there is no God think about it for a second. If there is no God, then what's wrong with sickness? When things pass away hurt? Why is it? Why do we have that desire that we get angry said that's not right. Why if there is no God, I don't know how to answer that question. Because if it's just a naturalist perspective, survival of the fittest. That if there's a defect in an organ in an organism and it passes well, the race will get stronger and there's no feeling there. But we understand reality that in our hearts we know that when a loved one comes down with an illness or there's Brokenness or we see a natural disaster in like a hurricane or a tornado and we see devastation. Our immediate instinct is that's not right. And the reason we say that's not right is because we are created in the image of God who at one point looked down to our broken world and says that's not right, and he came down and he took on the form of flesh and lived here on this earth. And I know that God cares for our sickness and our Brokenness because he sent his son in the midst of all that and died on the cross and rose again. So that his half brother James who died proclaiming that his own brother was the resurrected jesus Lord and Savior could say that the one who proclaims are in in faith is safe. So even in the darkest situation there is hope and let's not lose heart in the fact that God does in fact save and that miracles do happen and things change and relationships are amended and illnesses are miraculously taken care of and and even through science, I would consider that a miracle to whether that's through the wisdom of doctors and nurses and treatments or it disappears, whatever that is that God uses God moves in miraculous ways that we can all celebrate to his glory and whether he heals or he doesn't. What I do know is that God loves you, that God is here and that God is on his throne and you're not sick because of sin. In most cases the circumstances to you are not a direct result because of that. Now, if it's your own dumb choices, okay, that's another conversation, like I used to have students to say like they would come to me like I'm just praying the Lord give me the answers to this test. What did you study? No. And I'm gonna pray a different prayer for you right? And we know that people are like, oh I'm just being attacked No, you just you need to get a job okay, right? Some of you are nudging your young adults next to you but like right, like sometimes there isn't a level of responsibility for our own actions but we have to understand that there is a spiritual warfare and circumstances outside of our control that we can come in and whether they're in favor of us or not, they remind us that there's heaven, they remind us of the need of salvation and they remind us of the frailty of life. Let's keep on reading verse 16. Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. I want to pause there for a second in this audience And even today Elijah would be seen as like the Mount Rushmore of profits, one of the greatest humans who ever existed. And James's ah, he was just a man, he had no power in and of himself. If you have a penny, everybody was like underline that or star that or something because that is crazy. I'm used to reading scripts like wow, these are the heroes of the faith, wow, they're crazy. They did all these crazy things. But what James says, hey this guy that we lift up, he was just a man. That issue is just like we did, do you Elijah was a man with a nature like ours and he prayed fervently that it might not rain and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth and then he prayed again and heaven gave rain and the earth boards fruit That story. We don't have full time to dive into it but it's really um chronicled in first kings chapter 17-19 and so this country had turned its back on God and the king ahab um was was rebellious against god had turned to the prophets of bail and others and so God sends down judgment and he uses a prophet Elijah to declare that judgment and says okay it's not gonna rain for 3.5 years, it's gonna be a drought. But once he declares that then he has to kind of go on the run for his life. But then there's this really crazy showdown um that's that's described there in first kings kind of 18 17 and 18 where he challenges 450 prophets of bail and actually they build an altar. He said okay you believe your god is God will you build an alter? I'll build an altar and we'll see which one strikes down fire from heaven. And so he he goes the profits of bail actually build an altar and and we think it's crazy but let's be real like how silly are the altars that we build in our culture today, whether it's fame, whether it's fortune, whether its popularity, whether it's our money, whether it's certain relationships, whatever altar they, we build it. And so they build this altar and they start crying out to bail and Elijah is like, hey, You know, maybe your God went to the bathroom, maybe he's not there, maybe cry a little bit louder, maybe shout a little bit, maybe he's just on the other line and so he just starts mocking the profits, which I love that because it's one on 450, I don't know if I would do that. Um but he does and then when it comes to his turn, they actually, he actually commands he actually commands the people to actually water down the altar and so the wood is soaked and and and he just prays and he doesn't pray up to God and say dear God, I am so awesome. So let's show these people how awesome I am. But rally says God show them who you are. Boom, fire comes down from heaven. It scorches it up, it's this crazy victory. And so they've been in this drought now for a long time. And then in first kings 18 verse 42 talks about how he says, OK hmm rain's coming, You've been waiting for 3.5 years. And so he goes up on this mountain you think man that's gonna be this great victory. And what I find interesting is he prays and then he sends a servant up on the hill on the top of Mount Carmel and says okay do you see anything, nope, he had this great word from God, he prayed, he didn't see anything goes back keep spraying, okay, do you see anything, nope? and seven times Elijah, this prophet, this man of God praise and and he's praying and on the seventh time that someone comes back and he just sees off in the distance a rain cloud the size of a hand. And so we see this huge miracle and defeating the prophets of bail. But then we see this prayer where he's praying, he's praying, he's praying and seven times he sees nothing. Isn't it interesting that when we pray, that first answer seems silent, right? But just because God is silent does not mean he's not working. And prayer is much more about persistence than it is intelligence, It's not about having fancy words but about communicating to the one who created the universe and that persistence going back, going back, going back and there the size of a hand off in the distance, a cloud that ultimately brought rain and save the nation. Now Elijah was just a man because you think, Wow, this is incredible. But the very next chapter, Chapter 19, he runs for his life, he hides in a cave and he actually has suicidal thoughts. This guy just just take me now and God comes to him not in a grand gesture, but in a whisper and you can only whisper to someone if you're close. And so that's why now James knowing this story, knowing that his audience knows this story. He says, you know Elijah who you hold up so high. He was just a man like you like me. The difference with his fervent prayer. See prayer is not the last line of defense but it's the first and main weapon that we have to win spiritual battles in our life. Mm hmm Let's continue reading verse 19 and 20 my brothers. If anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. The idea of restoring a brother or sister to christ someone coming back in the fold really connects to other verses in scripture that says love covers a multitude of sins and so what I believe he's teaching us here is this your taking notes, You can write this down. Is that bold prayer honors God and transforms us? Why do we pray? Because bold prayer honors God and transforms us. He gives an example of Elijah who the odds were stacked against him. He was experiencing suffering 3.5 years of drought and even when he prayed for rain, it still took seven times to even just see a cloud the size of a hand off in the distance. Sometimes I think prayer works that way. I feel like we we live in an immediate outcome world. I ordered from Amazon at nine. It was on my door stop bye before noon. I don't know how that's possible. I think the next step is I'm going to think about something I need and it's just gonna show up right? It's scary how targeted like on my world is and how crazy how personalized it is. But because we have that because we have the immediate gratification of social media. I share my thought, I get likes I get you know, I think I think they should add um I think they should add a huh button because then you see that some people post you're like why really? Or maybe a really button. So it's like like you dislike or you know an emoji and then like uh huh people be like what? I don't even know what that was anyway. But like we live in a world where it's instant everything, instant everything. It wasn't that long ago, the internet and a well would start and you're here and you're like I'm connected to the world Right now between Netflix shows that only gives you like four seconds you're like come on hurry up right? And so like we we live in instant everything but prayer doesn't always work that way where but you know what does and I find it crazy that we live in a world where this is true sin actually as immediate gratification, right? Sin, you do something sin has immediate gratification and then long term destruction. Prayer doesn't always have immediate response but always leads to ultimate outcome. It's been said that the cost of bad habits is your future, but the cost of good habits is your present. Are you willing to do what is needed in the moment to secure the ultimate experience later when it comes to prayer? See at the very heart of the human condition or human problem is the very problem of the human heart we want for us, we want for me, we want it now we want our desires. But the very act of prayer takes that out of us and aligns us with the heart of God and we say we want your desire. We're not just asking God to come into our story, we're saying I want to be a part of your story and prayer alliances with the heart and God honors bold prayers. I was really excited about and I still am really excited about just the start of Mission Grove church. And I remember like with some of us, we've been praying for like we're praying for one new family were praying for 20 new families and we are and we are and we're praying and God is moving and I'm so excited. Um, but God this past week just blew the vision off the top of my head of because I read about this pastor over in Asia who in 10 years has started 100 and 50,000 churches and seen 1.7 million baptisms in 10 years in, in the asian countries and I'm just like, wow, okay God, I gotta have a little bit bigger vision. Right? I, I think in terms of seconds and minutes and God thinks in terms of nations and generations and revivals like our God is so much bigger. Do you understand that the universe was not created for us, but for him, if the universe was created for us then it's way too large. It doesn't make sense. But if the universe was created simply to give us an indicator of how big our God really is, then it's just the right size. So we go out at night and we see just so many stars, billions and trillions of Galaxies that are created solely for the purpose purpose of glorifying their creator and that we have that so we can trust that God's plan for you. And for me it's salad. There is no request too big or too small to take to God. I don't think God is ashamed of bold prayers. I think God, it feels maybe a little bit sad in our small prayers. I think God is honored when we pray for bold revival to break out in this community and in our marriages and in our families and in our workplace, I think we can pray bold prayers and see God move some of you are in this room right now, specifically because the prayers of others over the past year, God changes lives and he changes us. So when we pray bold prayers honor God and then that transforms us every single time. So when we pray, there are four possible answers you can get, when you pray you can get it, yes, you can get to know you can get a weight or I got something better. Sometimes we pray for something and we're like God, this is, this is what I need, this is what I need is I need and it doesn't come and you're like can what happened and then he comes on and deliver something better like wow and in all those cases God responds in our hearts to transform so who can pray, let's go back through this passage and just give some practical practical thoughts here that we can apply this is that Who can pray, what really gives us three types of prayer, Verse 13 tells us I have personal prayer. Then verse 14 talks about bring it to the elders or pastors of the church or leadership of the church and then he prayed over, we actually have a prayer team that gathers every Tuesday to pray for the request and you actually have the opportunity to write down and on those connect cards any progress and know that a team of people are praying for you every week and every day and then there's relational prayer Probably my least favorite verse in there is verse 16 when it says therefore confess your sins to one another meaning going to the person that you offended. Hey, I'm sorry we talked about that a little bit earlier messages about owning the percent of your conflict. Whatever you bring to the table is owning that. Notice that in verse 13 as anyone among you suffering, let him pray your first response. Your first weapon that have at your disposal when you're suffering is prayer. So personal prayer. Taking your requests to God. Now I challenge this notion until I started looking at scripture as a whole. The book of psalms is seen as the book of worship. Now we sing songs up here which is awesome and we connect with God through music. Well the book of psalms is really written out for that purpose but the most common som over 50 out of 150 songs in there are called lament psalms in other words, people who are in anguish. People who are wrestling, people who have questions and God says, bring him to me. I think of psalms like Psalm 23 though I walk through the valley of the Shadow of Death I think about psalm 1 19 talking about the word is a lamp unto my feet. Think about Psalm 1 39 but when I'm questioning purpose of my life Henderson's No, you are fearfully and wonderfully made 30 seconds before the service started. I was just talking with someone even about that? Mm hmm God knows what you're going through. So you can bring all of those things to you to him. So it's personal, Right? But then he says bring it to the church. I've been in churches where they've anointed in oil and we brought people forward and we've prayed and we've seen we've seen sicknesses been healed and other things have been incredible. Um but the power is not in the ointment or the oil. The powers who were praying to right? When, when my child is learning to speak, it's not the clarity of the child's word. It's the presence of the parent that matters most same thing in prayer. So we take all those things in. But then it says that you're not meant to do life alone and so pray with one another, confess with another, pray for one another. One of the best things you can do for a friend is to regularly and routinely pray for them. Mm hmm. And so those are three types of prayer. But what happens when we pray or when should we pray? How often should we pray? And it gives us full list here it says well if you're suffering, pray, if you're successful, pray it's been said that whatever you don't turn to praise turns to pride. So are you experiencing success in your life? Thank God for that. Turn into praise. If you're sick, give it to God, he is a God who heals and if we don't experience healing in this life, we will in the next and we will, we will give perseverance and strength and peace and purpose right in the midst of the storm. He also says in there that in sin to confess and then it says in there for those who are seeking now I love this because this is Elijah praying for his nation and in a drought for 3.5 years and even on top of the mountain seven times going look into. And so this idea of perseverance continuing to go back and seeking God, here's what I'm learning and I say learning because I have not fully learned this yet. But I am continuing to learn that if you seek answers, you don't always find them. But if you seek God you will always find him. And sometimes you get the answers. So why are we seeking something that we won't always find where God says, I'm not wanting you to seek answers. I'm wanting you to seek me. Sometimes I think God doesn't resolve and give us the answers we're looking for. Because if we did get the answers we were looking for, we'd probably stop and ignore him. Mm hmm. But if there's something in question. If there's something in doubt, it requires us to recognize our own human frailty and to get on our knees and pray to God said God, I don't know, but you do. So I'm coming back and it's about that relationship. So don't seek answers, seek God right? But then in searching, if you yourself are the protocol or you have a loved one, like a child or a parent or a sibling or a friend who has just wandered off the path. Mark this verse, because there is hope for every relationship, there is hope for every life that while our hearts are prone to wander, God draws people back to him and in every single situation there is hope and God's love is deeper than any sin. Anybody could commit in this, in this earth and in this lifetime you cannot outzen God's love and forgiveness. And while you're maybe far from God, God is never far from you. So keep going. I don't know who this applies to in the room, but if you're praying for a loved one who is far from God, keep at it, don't just pray for the situation, pray through the situation, say God, I know you're going to answer me in Luke chapter 11, he compares persistent prayer to that of a child and then he goes on to say that if earthly parents give good gifts to the Children, how much more so will the Father of lights and the giver of gifts. The good God as the band is gonna come up on stage, I want to close with this. I want to bring up a story and show a picture of this little kid, three year old named Grayson clamp. Grayson clamp was born with a heart defect. He couldn't see in his left eye and he was not able to hear. He was taken, taken in by foster parents, Lynn and Nicole and later adopted. And actually they had a verse first Corinthians 29 that says no eye has seen, no ear has heard no mind conceived what God has prepared. Well, they're in charlotte about 56 years ago, they actually had this brand new medical procedure where they were actually able to attach an auditory nerve to where this three year old who hadn't heard his entire life, could hear for the very first time. And what you're about to witness is This three year old child getting to hear his father's voice for the first time. Just look at his expression. It's pointless, pointless. It's breathless. Life is pointless. Watch this. Okay, here we go. Mhm. Let me signing out. Hi Grayson talk to him. Daddy. Daddy loves you. Daddy loves you, Daddy. Yes. Here, can you hear Daddy? Get in his face? Daddy loves you. Look, Daddy, he loves you. Mm hmm. Mhm. In that priceless moment. And the child, here's the father's voice for the first time. That could be you today to pray. And here the father's voice for the first time we're gonna give you were about experiencing, jesus here, not just about teaching it from stage, we want to experience that. So we're gonna give you the chance to do that right now. I'm going to pray in just a moment. But then we're gonna take what's called communion where there's a little wafer and and and juice. But what it does is it represents the body of jesus who sacrificed his life for you and is the reason why we can come to him in prayer and trust that he has our best interests at heart and that juice or the or the wine in scripture, it represents the blood that God shed for you and this is your first time here or you're new here or you're like, hey, I'm not exactly sure if I believe this yet. I am so glad you're here. I don't want you to feel the pressure to take communion just as it passes, let it pass by. But if you believe that jesus christ is your Lord and savior and I want you to take this cup and I want you to take this next song and spend it in prayer and whatever is on your heart. Whatever situation you're facing, I want you to give that to God because bold prayers, honor God and transform us. Let's pray dear heavenly father as we saw that excitement in little three year old Grayson of hearing his father's voice for the first time when we come before you humbly in prayer and hear your voice. Okay God we are sinners and we cannot make it to heaven on our own. Mm hmm but God what? We cannot reach up to you, You reach down to us through dying on the cross for our sins and rising again. We can be forgiven. We can have eternal life, our lives can be transformed and we can be new creations. God will we spend these moments in prayer where we give whatever sickness, whatever suffering, whatever circumstance, whatever positive or negative thing going through our life right now when we give that open hands up to you God, I pray for healing God, I pray for revival to break out, gotta confess that when we have prideful moments, God I want you to break that down, Break those walls down in me. God help us to pray big prayers. We pray for revival here in the valley that starts out of Mission Grove Church that your name will be lifted up and glorify God that your hope will bring life to this community to restore marriages, to heal relationships between kids and parents and siblings and friends and bring revival in the workplace. God we pray that your glory will be manifested here through the presence of the spirit and that we can be challenged and changed from your word God and that we can bring our prayers and our Brokenness and our addictions and our sins and our issues all to you God because there is nothing that we cannot bring to you. Maybe we just bring these moments and in prayer and honesty and in question and in doubt, whatever it is God, I pray that every single person in here will bring those to you. We love your God and your sins that we pray amen.