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Now let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. When you come to church on Sunday, we begin every service with prayer or praise. We typically regard prayer as a Sunday activity. Not you, but most people, when you think of prayer, they think, oh yeah. That's what we do on Sundays when I go to church.
We open in prayer. Prayer. And um We close in prayer. But of course. The Bible says Pray without Ceasing.
or pray on every occasion, or if you would like. Pray every day. There was a woman who did pray every day. She had a little apartment and she was a strong believer. And she would voice her prayers out loud.
Her neighbor was an atheist. and could overhear her. in her daily devotions, it drove her nuts.
So, when she would be praying for something, the atheist would hear it and shout back at the top of her lungs: There is no God. But that didn't deter the Christian lady from being devout and praying every single day out loud. One day she was in dire need of groceries. She prayed out loud for groceries, asked God to provide. The atheist, overhearing her, smiled and said, I'll fix her.
She, the atheist, went to the store. bought a bunch of groceries. Placed them on the front porch of the believer, knocked on the door, and hid in the bushes. To see what would happen. The believer came out, she saw the groceries, she understandably got excited, raised her voice to heaven and said, God, thank you.
I knew you would provide and praise the Lord. And just then, the atheist jumps out of the bushes and says, You Foolish old lady, God didn't buy you those groceries. I bought you those groceries.
Well, then the believers started shouting even louder and jumping up even higher and more praise the Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujahs. The atheist.
Sort of bemused at that, said, Why does that excite you? And the believer said to the atheist, I knew that God would provide my groceries, I just didn't know he would make the devil pay for it. Prayer is not just for Sundays. Prayer is for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. And Sunday.
It's something that we do every day. Uh answer the question. Do you want prayer? Yes. Yes, now.
Uh some people Well, when it comes to prayer, a lot of people don't like the idea that we. Whenever the subject of prayer comes up, they get nervous. Oh, it's one of those prayer sermons again. And that's because. We all instinctively know this is an area we can grow in.
We need to grow in. And when prayer comes up, we might even flag the notion with several excuses: like, look, I'd like to do that. You don't understand my schedule. I just don't have enough time. to develop a quality meaningful lengthy Prayer Live.
I get that. I understand the pressures we face as a modern society. I would simply ask you back a series of questions. Do you have enough time to binge watch a series on Netflix? Do you have enough time to go get a good workout at the gym?
Do you have time to go play a round of golf? Do you have time to go shopping? Do you have time to practice a musical instrument? Do you have time to look at messages on Instagram, etc., etc.? The average person Spins.
40 minutes a day on the phone. That is talking in conversations on the phone. The average person spends four hours and 37 minutes looking at the screen of their phone. Net amazing, four hours, thirty-seven minutes, average person. We spend The average person one hour a day in the bathroom.
Three hours a day watching television. One hour a day eating and drinking. The average Christian will spend less than 10 minutes a day in prayer. And that's even being generous. According to the Barna Research Institute, they say.
One minute. One Minute Per day. For years um my wife and I had a little magnet on our Dishwasher. And it was a Picture of Billy Graham. And it was a side profile of Bill.
It was sort of a famous photograph, and he was praying. And it showed his side profile and had one word on the magnet: pray, exclamation point, pray.
So every day we'd walk by that with that reminder, pray, pray, pray. Pray. And I think that's such a fitting. thing from his life because when he was older He was being interviewed, and they said, Dr. Graham, if you could do it all over again, would you change anything about your life?
He said, Yes, I would have studied the Bible more and I would have prayed more. I would have said yes less to speaking engagements. I would have traveled less. I would have spent more time in the word and in prayer. There's a man who did spend his life.
and ministry preaching the word and of course praying for people.
Now, as we begin James chapter 5 this morning, I hope you have a Bible with you. It's important to do that whenever we study the Bible, have a Bible actually with you to study. James chapter 5, we're going to begin in verse 13. I just want to make an announcement. I do not want to guilt you into praying.
I do want to guide you into praying.
So much so that prayer becomes just the natural Instinctive response. to everything In life. Everything give thanks. Pray without ceasing. It just becomes a natural part of us.
Most of us do struggle in this area. But I don't think prayer should ever be something that creates anxiety. Oh, here it is, prayer sermon. Oh, I feel so anxious. Prayer was meant to relieve anxiety, not create anxiety.
You know the passage, Philippians chapter 4. Be anxious for. Nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God, and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guide or keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Now James has already said a lot in his letter. about the speech. That we Use Words that we use, the tongue in particular, and how that the tongue can destroy. He's already talked about the lowest use of the tongue. Cursing men, chapter three, complaining, chapter five.
Now, James talks about the highest use of the tongue, and that is. Prayer. And praise. And we're going to look at verse 13 to verse 16. The whole last section of this little letter is about prayer.
We're going to take it in two sessions. We're going to look at the first few verses of this, James chapter 5, verse 13 to verse 16. Here's what I'd like to do with you. I want to give you five specific conditions. That require prayer.
When should you pray? Let me give you The times when you should pray. Number one. Pray when you're suffering. Pray when you're suffering.
Look at verse 13. Is anyone among you suffering? Question mark, rhetorical question. Let him Pray.
Now let's answer the question. You ready? Ready to answer the question? I'm going to ask the question, you're going to answer it. Is anyone among you suffering?
It's always a yes. It's always a yes in every congregation at any given time. There's always people among us. who are suffering because suffering is a fact of life. Physical suffering.
Emotional Suffering Spiritual. Suffering, it's all a normal part of life. Remember, in James chapter one, he said, he used the category various trials.
Something can fit in that category somewhere, various trials. We all experience them. A little context, however, just so you understand. James in his writing. James is writing Specifically.
to scattered Jewish Believers. They were scattered because they were fleeing persecution. Back in the book of Acts, in chapter eight, it says, A great persecution arose. Against the church at Jerusalem, and the believers were scattered. Throughout Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles.
Well, that's scattering. Brought them to new locations, including beyond Judea and Samaria. to Asia Minor. And it is believed that James is writing. This letter to several Jewish Christian Congregations throughout Asia Minor Minor who are suffering persecution.
They were scattered. And even in their new locations, they are experiencing suffering. and persecution for two reasons. Number one, because they are Jewish. Number two, because they are Christians, and the pagan world did not like either of those two groups very well.
And to be a Jewish Christian in those days was particularly threatening. We cannot avoid suffering. It's a fact of life. We've said it. on so many occasions.
We can't avoid it because we cannot avoid bumping into the evil. of a fallen world. And even if we could somehow manage to not ever get involved or see or touch the evil in a fallen world, we still have a problem. Us. We're part of the fallen world.
We are fallen people. And uh wherever you go, you take you with you. And that's a problem. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heidzig. Before we return to today's message, have you ever struggled to study the Bible consistently?
or wondered how to really enjoy your time in the word? In his book, How to Study the Bible and Enjoy It, Pastor Skip gives you the tools and insights you need to dig into scripture with joy, clarity and confidence. This practical guide is our thanks for your generous gift of $50 or more to reach more people with God's Word through Connect with Skip. Request your copy when you give today at connectwithskip.com/slash offer. or call 800-922-8888.
Now, let's get back to today's message from Pastor Skip. There's enough evil in each of us. to account for the evil that goes on in all the world. Jeremiah put it this way: the heart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked. Who can know it?
So we are all fallen. We all from time to time suffer So is any one among you suffering? Let's him Pray. Ah, but here's the thing.
Sometimes people don't pray. Except when they suffer. It's one minute a day, maybe. according to Barna. except when they suffer.
Then all of a sudden they're like hyperspiritual. All the time. Seeking the Lord. It's sort of like going to an ER. Who calls the emergency room just to chat with somebody?
No, you have the conversation and you go to the emergency room if there is an emergency. Uh according to um One research group They said the prayer habits of Americans. Here's a little quip from that.
Some of these prayers, these prayers of the Americans they researched. are born in extremist That is, when life is bad, they're suffering, they're hurting, there's pain, an extreme situation.
Some of these prayers are born in extremists. There are few atheists in cancer wards or unemployment lines. And it goes on to say 90% of Americans that they researched. Pray for healing. We understand that.
We understand that when crisis hits that people instinctively will Turn their voices upward toward heaven and pray to God, asking God for help. In fact, let me just throw this out. Perhaps. One of the reasons that we suffer is because when a crisis hits we talk to God. We just don't talk to God until a crisis hits, and I can kind of picture God going, Oh, been a while, nice to see you again, glad you could show up.
from time to time. And that could it be that God just allows a smattering of pain in our lives from time to time to get our attention and bring us back into communion with Him? Because he knows that's where the secret sauce is. when we're connected to him. But Most people pray as a last resort.
Instead of a first response.
Now let me turn that around. Could it be that if we made prayer our first response, it would never have to be our last resort? We pray. Because we believe somewhere deep down that God is the source. of help and comfort.
As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians chapter 1. He is the father of mercies. He is the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our tribulations. But something you need to know.
And I will try to move along quickly, but. You know me by now, so Look at the word pray. Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.
Now, you might read that little word pray and say, Yeah, I'm going to shoot up a prayer. Like an arrow. Oh, God help. Boing. I'm suffering, please Lord.
That's not what it means. The word here is in the present tense. It means an ongoing continual Prayer. It's much like what uh What Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7: ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened. Those are in the present tense.
Knock or ask, keep on asking. Seek, keep on seeking. Knock keep On knocking, and the door will be open to you. It's a continual thing. One of my favorite stories in Daniel is in chapter 10.
Somebody in the worship team mentioned Daniel chapter 9 how Daniel was praying, or it was actually Taylor in the announcements that Daniel was praying in chapter 9.
Well, in chapter 10, he's still praying. And an angel comes and says, Hey, Daniel, the day you started praying, I was sent from heaven to answer your prayer. But the prince of Persia withstood me twenty one days. Until Michael had to kind of get me out of that bind and I showed up.
So here's a guy praying. 21 days later, the angel shows up. What if Daniel would have quit on day 15? He kept on asking, kept on praying, kept on seeking. That's the idea.
Anyone among you suffering? Keep it up. Keep praying, don't stop. Charles Haddon Spurgeon put it this way: Prayer pulls the rope down below, and the great bell rings above in the ears of God.
Some scarcely stir the bell for they pray so languidly. Others give only an occasional jerk at the rope, but he who communicates with heaven is the man who grasps the rope. Boldly and pulls continually with all his might. You get the visual picture of the guy doing that? Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, all day long.
Anyone suffering? Let them pray.
So pray when you're suffering. Number two, pray when you're smiling. Not everybody is suffering.
Some of you, you're doing great. Life is good. He continues, Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing. Psalms.
Now, I think you'll agree that singing psalms is a form of praying. Sing Psalms. Seeing when life is good. When life is good, Praise music should come out of your lips. Being thankful.
You know, Judaism and Christianity are singing religions. Not atheism. Atheism is songless. They have nothing to sing about. True story, in the 1800s there was A very I was going to say famous, infamous atheist named Robert Ingersoll.
He was a lawyer. He was an author, he was a politician. And he was given the name the great agnostic, even though he was an atheist.
Well On his funeral notice, was a line in large letters that said, There will be no singing. Can you imagine? We're going to have a funeral for this guy. There will be no singing.
Well, let me get it out to the public right now. At my funeral, there will be singing. I hope it's not Ding Dong the Witch is dead. But there will be singing. Singing is so important to Christians.
For the last 2,000 years, hundreds of thousands of worship. Hymns and songs have been written by believers. The words sing, Singing.
Song Songs And sang are found 225 times in the scriptures. It's not hard to find churches that want to sing. They all do. It's just a natural thing. Is anyone cheerful?
Let them sing Psalms. A survey of 1,800 different church congregations. I'm sorry, different people from 24 different congregations.
So almost 2,000 people, 24 churches. They kind of came up with The idea that people love to sing because Singing Brings great comfort, especially if it's a song they remember from an episode in their life. Oh, I love that song. It sort of captured something for me at that time. And here you are, suffering or struggling or happy about something, and you were reminded of it because of the song.
Songs bring great comfort. And yet, also in this little survey, they said: even though, so people are saying, we love to sing, it brings great comfort, even though 50% say they don't sing very well.
So they admit, I don't sing well, but I love to sing. But I don't sing very well. But I love to sing. I just don't sing very well. But that's okay, isn't it?
Because we're not auditioning. For a choir. We're God is conditioning us for the future. Start singing now because you're going to be doing a lot of it in heaven. Notice, though, that James never says anything about how we should sing.
He says, Are you cheerful? Sing. He didn't say, sing with a perfect vibrato. With one. Three, five, harmony.
Sing beautifully. He didn't say that. He just says sing.
Now, there are scriptures that do qualify it and tell us how to sing. But you'll be happy to know They too don't say, has to be good, has to be perfect, has to be on key. It's nice if it is, by the way, it's helpful. It just says make a joyful noise. Or shout.
Joyfully To the Lord. Anybody can do that. We can all pull that off.
So the question is not Do I have a voice? The question is do I have a song? Has God put a song in my heart? Not do I have a beautiful voice to express it, I can make a joyful noise, but do I have a song?
So this is very natural for the Christian. You're cheerful, sing. Interesting that bars have a thing called happy hour. This is happy hour. Right now.
We're in it. Sundays Saturdays, Wednesdays, we get together, we sing happy hour. Happy hour. But he does ask a question, I didn't even go over that yet. Is anyone cheerful?
Now you might read that and go, well, Phew. That that's not me. And this is why I don't sing at church, because I'm not cheerful. Not, I don't mean generally, but maybe you're going through a very difficult time, and because you're going through a difficult time, it's just not in you, you're not feeling it. And so you might say, you know, I'm kind of exempted from this because I'm not cheerful.
But here's what the word cheerful means: it means. to be well in your soul. Not in the middle of the night. emotionally or outwardly, but The well-being of the soul. Let me ask you, Christian, saved by God's grace, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.
Is it well with your soul? It is well with your soul because of what he has done for you and the imputed righteousness of Christ to you.
So, are you in that condition? Yes. Then let us sing. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before you go, don't forget to request this month's featured resource, How to Study the Bible and Enjoy It.
This book from Pastor Skip offers practical, encouraging help to take your Bible study deeper and get more out of every verse. It's our thanks for your generous gift of $50 or more to help share God's word with more people. Call 800-922-8888 or visit connectwithskip.com slash offer. and be sure to sign up for weekly devotionals and get your free one sheet how to approach studying the Bible. It's a great tool to jumpstart your time in Scripture.
Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Make a connection! Make a connection at the foot of the crossing. Cast your burdens on his wood. Make a connection.
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