James Expounds on Faith Volume 56

 Praying in Faith Part 1

James 5:13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. KJV Note: NKJV=New King James Version

The Apostle James now makes a turn from writing to those scattered Jews who have now come to our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) in repentance and faith to them being faithful and strong in prayer and praise on all occasions and no matter what their circumstances. James begins his discourse with these words, "Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms." (James 5:13) (KJV). The first response the Apostle gives to affliction for these early believers and we true believers today and of every era and generation is to lift up 👆 our selves entirely to our Father in Heaven through prayer. This English word 'afflicted' is translated by the Greek word kakopatheō meaning to undergo hardship: - be afflicted, endure afflictions (hardness), suffer trouble. Unlike the false, fraud, and fake gospel being declared by the popular false prophets of the prosperity gospel, the real Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and true faith in Him never brings popularity or great profits, but instead affliction from those who still belong to the devil 👿 is brought upon many of us who are the true adopted sons and daughters of God. Here is what the Apostle Paul wrote to Brother Timothy (and it speaks to us too), "I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." (2 Timothy 4:1-5) (NKJV). Then the Apostle turns from those suffering hardship to ask the question, Is any merry? For not all of God's children are suffering hardship at the same time ⌚, for some during certain seasons are 'merry' and this English word is translated by the Greek word euthumeō meaning to cheer up, that is, (intransitively) be cheerful; (adverb) more cheerfully: - be of good cheer (merry). There are many seasons in every true believers sojourn and pilgrimage here on the earth 🌎 where we are walking and living with joy unspeakable and full of glory (it really should be all seasons of our lives down here), so James declares that we should rejoice in our Lord Jesus Christ always singing praises to Him for His love to us and goodness to us and His guidance of us and His protection to us. The Apostle Paul wrote such truths to the true believers in Rome and the true believers in Ephesus with these words, "And that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written: 'For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, And sing to Your name.' And again he says: 'Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!' And again: 'Praise the LORD, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!'" (Romans 15:9-11)(NKJV) and these words to those in Ephesus, "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God." (Ephesians 5:15-21) (NKJV).

Here is what the Expositors' Bible Commentary had to say of James 5:13, "The subject of this verse was probably suggested by that of the preceding one. Oaths are not a right way of expressing one’s feelings, however strong they may be, and of whatever kind they may be. There is, however, no need to stifle such feelings, or to pretend to the world that we have no emotions. In this respect, as in many others, Christianity has no sympathy with the precepts of Stoicism or Cynicism. It is not only innocent, but prudent, to seek an outlet for excited feelings; the right and wrong of the matter lie in the kind of outlet which we allow ourselves. Language of some kind, and in most cases articulate language, is the natural instrument for expressing and giving vent to our feelings. But we need some strong safeguard, or the consequences of freely giving expression to our emotions in speech will be calamitous. This safeguard is clearly indicated by the rules here laid down by St. James. Let the expression of strongly excited feelings be an act of worship; then we shall have an outlet for them which is not likely to involve us in harmful results. By the very act in which we exhibit our emotions we protect ourselves from the evil which they might produce. The very mode of expressing them moderates them, and serves as an antidote to their capacity for evil. Prayer and praise, or (in one word) worship, according to St. James, is the Christian remedy for "allaying or carrying off the fever of the mind." In all cases in which the mind is greatly agitated, whether painfully or pleasantly, whether by sorrow, anger, regret, or by joy, pleasure, hope, -the wise thing to do is to take refuge in an act of worship. Mental excitement is neither right nor wrong, any more than physical hunger or thirst. Everything depends on the method of expressing the one or gratifying the other. It will be easy in both cases to indulge a legitimate craving in such a way as to turn a natural and healthy symptom into a disease. Neither a heated mind nor a heated body can without danger be kept heated, or treated as if it was at its normal temperature. The advice of St. James is that in all cases in which our minds are agitated by strong emotion we should turn to Him who gave us minds capable of feeling such emotion; we should cease to make ourselves our own center, and turn our thoughts from the causes of our excitement to Him who is the unmoved Cause of all movement and rest. We need not tie ourselves to the distribution of prayer and praise expressed in the text. It is the most natural and most generally useful distribution; but it is not the only one, and perhaps it is not the highest. The precept will hold good with equal truth if we transpose the two conclusions: 'Is any among you suffering? let him sing praise. Is any cheerful? let him pray.' 'In everything give thanks,' says St. Paul; which involves our frequently giving thanks in suffering. This was what Job, to whom St. James has just directed his readers, did in his trouble. He 'fell upon the ground and worshipped: and he said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither; the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord' (Job 1:20-21). And the Psalmist teaches much the same lesson as St. Paul: 'I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth'. (Psalms 34:1). But if praise is as suitable as prayer for suffering, prayer is as suitable as praise for cheerfulness. He who is cheerful has indeed great reason to bless and praise God. He has a priceless gift, which is a blessing to himself and to all around him, a gift which makes life brighter to the whole circle in which he moves. We most of us take far too little pains to cultivate it, to retain it when it has been granted to us, to regain it when we have lost it or thrown it away. Yet cheerfulness has its dangers. The light-hearted are apt to be light-headed, and to be free from care leads to being free from carefulness. The cheerful may easily lose sobriety, and be found off their guard. The remedy is prayer. Prayer steadies without dimming the bright flame of cheerfulness; and just as thanksgiving sweetens sorrow, so supplication sanctifies joy. 'Is any suffering? let him sing praise. Is any cheerful? let him pray.'"

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…