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Now, here's today's message from Pastor Skip. 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 him 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 the perfect vibrato. Uh Um with uh 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. He 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. 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 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. Let us sing. You see, when it is well with your soul, Your soul will well up.
With praise. The Christian is not joyful because of what is going on. outside of him, but What is going on inside of him? There's an inner world, and if it is controlled by God, it will bring joy in the midst of chaos. Case in point, Paul and Silas were beaten with rods, thrown in a jail in Philippi, and the Bible, strangely enough, says at midnight.
Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns to God. And they heard it. One of the greatest cures of discouragement. is to sing to God. Who rules over everything, even when I don't understand what he is doing.
And by the way. There are physical benefits to singing. Did you know that? It will lower your blood pressure. You'll get better lung capacity.
Improved posture. Toned facial muscles. When you sing, this article says, you are controlling and working your facial muscles. This acts as a kind of workout for them and helps your face look more toned. and younger.
Forget all those creams you spend hundreds of dollars on. Start singing. Get a workout for your face.
Now, I'm not suggesting that you just worship God so you look younger, but Heck, if it works. Proverbs says a merry heart makes a cheerful Countenance So pray when you're suffering, pray when you're smiling, third, pray when you're sick. Verse 14, is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church. Let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up.
Now, let me just say this is one of the most disputed verses. in the entire New Testament. And I'm not going to get into the weeds too much on this. I just want to give you some explanation of it. I'll tell you what, this is not.
James is not giving a blanket formula for. for healing the sick. And the formula would be: elders plus anointing oil plus faith equals always healed. It's not what he is saying. In fact, Many scholars don't even think James is speaking about being physically sick at all, but rather being spiritually sick, because the word here for sick literally means weak or weary.
Weak or weary. And sometimes in the Bible, it's a word that refers to physical sickness. More often than not, it refers to emotional sickness. It could be that James is simply describing those who are weak and weary because they have suffered so much. They have been suffering.
They have been persecuted. They have been outliers in their society. And because of that, they are weak and weary, or they are emotionally and spiritually sick.
Something else you should know. It says, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord literally means to rub him down with oil. Um think of a massage. Not that that's what they were doing, but the idea is it wasn't for ceremonial purposes. It was more for medicinal purposes.
He is not describing an anointing ritual as a means of divine healing, but the common practice often used by physicians. To rub oil on the skin to refresh or to soothe or to honor. It is used of the woman in Luke chapter 17 who poured oil on the feet of Jesus. Jesus said, She's anointing me for my burial. Jesus said, when you fast, Don't look like you're fasting, but rather anoint your head.
And wash your face. Or the good Samaritan. who saw the guy who was Beat up on the side of the road, and he applied to his body oil. And wine. to help the man's wounds.
So, in other words, somebody who was weak and weary of life should come to the leadership of the church where they get refreshed, encouraged in those days because physicians weren't readily available. they should get rubbed with oil and prayed for.
Now, not everybody agrees with that. They don't like that interpretation, even though that seems to really fit historically. And um Without again Going down a rabbit hole or trying to Get into the weeds. Let me just say this. God can and does heal.
Without getting into all the interpretation of God can and does heal. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And I believe God still can and he still does heal people.
Sometimes he chooses to heal people through natural processes. Did you know your body has built-in natural things that happen when you get cut, when you get hurt, to help. naturally heal you.
Sometimes he uses medicine, doctors, hospitals.
Sometimes he heals miraculously. And sometimes He doesn't heal at all. He says no. But it's an answer to prayer nonetheless. You see, if it was always God's will to always heal.
No one would ever die. I've prayed for people and I've seen them healed legitimately, miraculously, and I have somewhat of a medical background. I had enough sense to know this is a miracle. That person was miraculously healed in front of my eyes. I prayed for other people.
And I've watched them die. Paul himself. had a thorn in the flesh. She said, I prayed to God three times. This is Paul.
This is the apostle. I prayed three times. God finally answered me and basically said, uh-uh. My grace is all you need. My strength will be manifest in your weaknesses.
I'm going to keep you weak.
so that you'll always lean on my strength. That was Paul's answer. This is Connect with Skip-Heitzig. Before we return to Skiff's teaching, Do you ever feel stuck when it comes to studying the Bible? Pastor Skiff's book, How to Study the Bible and Enjoy It, shows you how to go from feeling intimidated by scripture.
to engaging it with joy and confidence. This helpful book is yours when you give $50 or more to help keep this Bible teaching ministry going strong around the world. Request your copy of How to Study the Bible and enjoy it today. At connectwithskip.com/slash offer or call 800-922-1888. Let's return now to today's message.
But When we're sick, we should be praying. We should be asking. We should be knocking, we should be seeking, we should present our bodies as a living sacrifice.
So, pray when you're suffering, pray when you're smiling, pray when you're sick. Fourth. Pray when you sin.
Now, I need to explain that very quickly. I don't mean pray during your sin. Like, you know, I'm going to go over here and sin, then I'm going to balance it out and shoot up a prayer while I'm doing it. Balance things up. I mean Once you know that you have sinned.
You should pray. The prayer of faith, verse 15, will save the sick, the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, He will be forgiven. Confess your sins or trespasses to one another. and pray for one another.
Now James here seems To indicate a sickness that is a result of sin. in a person's life, a sinful circumstance.
So, the believer is being disciplined by God. Here's some man who has committed some sin. He is now sick. He now realizes that God is chastening him.
So, he confesses his sin to God. He then finds the elders of the church, confesses his sin to them also. They pray, rub him with oil, and God answers that prayer. It's a promise in its context. That When sickness is the result of some sin, and that sin is confessed and forsaken.
That healing will take place. Of course. We should. Always pray. When we know we've committed some act of sin, something displeasing to the Lord, it's called confession.
Right? Confession. It's also called repentance. Once you know and you identify it and you confess it, then you, by God's grace, turn away from it. Confession.
Repentance. 1 John chapter 1, verse 9. If we confess our sins. That's a prayer. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
And the reason we confess and the reason we repent when we know we've done anything that displeases the Lord is because. It is that sin. That hinders the effectiveness of our prayers. God's hand is not short that it cannot save. His ear is not heavy that it cannot hear.
Your sins have separated you and your God.
So you want to remove the roadblock. Confess the sin. Turn from it.
So pray when you're suffering, pray when you're smiling, pray when. You're sick, pray when you sin. And then fifth and finally, Pray for the saints. Pray for other people. Not just yourself.
Now turn your focus and pray for other people. Verse 16, confess your trespasses to one another, and here it is, here it is, pray for one another, that you may be healed. Healed physically, healed emotionally, healed spiritually, the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man. gets a lot done or avails much. or I love the old King James, availeth.
Yeah.
Now, this is called intercession. When I pray for other people, this is called intercession. It's a very specific category of prayer. I will say this. Every other form of prayer that I've mentioned so far, under these conditions that I've described them, are much, much easier than this one.
Intercession is much harder. And let me explain that. Praying when I am suffering. Pretty easy. Easy to do.
Because I'm praying for myself. I'm suffering. God, don't you see me? God, won't you heal me? I'm praying for myself.
I'm aware of what I lack. I'm aware of what I need, or I think I'm aware of what I need. God knows what I need, but I'm suffering. Pretty easy to pray. When it comes to worship, Singing.
When life is good That's easy. Life is good. Easy to sing, whistle. God is awesome. Singing the hymn takes no effort whatsoever for me.
Confession of my sin is easy. Because I know I need forgiveness. I want the roadblock taken away. I want fellowship restored. Ah.
But intercession? Much harder because now I'm not focused on myself.
Now I'm not even focused on God.
Now I'm focused on you and I'm not as much invested in your situation as my situation.
So to pray for you and your needs is is much harder. In fact, it is labor. In Colossians chapter 4, Paul speaks of Epaphras. And he says to the church, he is laboring. fervently For you.
In prayer. Laboring fervently for you in prayer. I'll be honest with you. When I pray for others, I get distracted. very easily.
So I need to do something about that.
So let me just tell you a little how Hack, a little spiritual hack. This is just me. This is what I've done. Because I know this about myself, if I sit down and just start praying for you, I'll just start thinking of something, or I'll want to get on my phone or something. All those distractions we all face.
So, what I do is every morning, my dog makes me get up early and walk her. And I mean, at six o'clock, she's on my face, like, come on.
So I get up. And I take my phone, and on the phone is a Calvary app, and there's a little section called Prayer, and all of your prayer requests. Get filtered there.
So, because walking my dog is a pretty mundane activity and it does not require much thought for me, I can walk along, but I can have this little thing and go through all the prayers and I can labor in prayer while I'm walking my dog. I found that to be a very helpful thing. You may want to try it. If not, buy a dog. It might include.
increase your prayer life somewhat. When I'm interceding. For people. I discover that prayer is a battle. I told you about distractions and disturbances.
Just try this sometime. Sit down and start praying for other people. and see if your phone doesn't ring. If somebody does a knock at your front door, If somebody doesn't try to text you a message, Or you hear a bing email on the computer. And why is that?
Why, when you pray, Do you get distracted? I'm just letting the question linger a minute before I answer it. Here's why. Because when you pray. You just brought a gun.
To a knife fight. Get the picture? A knife fight. Satan just wants you to hold on to that knife. I'll fight you, devil.
I'll rebuke you. I'll talk to you.
Well, you know, really? Just pull out the big gun. You're in a knife fight, pull out a gun. I'm not saying that you should go home and pull out a gun. You understand, please, the context of this.
Illustration. You just called on the God of heaven and earth. That's the big gun. You ask God to get involved in the battle instead of fighting it on your own. That's the deciding factor.
Samuel Chattuk, I'll put this little great saying up. Samuel Chadduck said, The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.
Well, I know so much about the Greek, and he doesn't care. He will talk, you know. But when you pray. You just brought a gun to a knife fighter. Get out the big gun.
Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint upon his knees.
So if there is a God. In heaven. And if that God in heaven invites us to call on him, And he does, Jeremiah 33, 3. And if that God in heaven who invites us to call on him promises us. that he will act.
In some fashion when we call on Him, Why are we not doing that? And could that Be the reason. that some of us lack power. Years ago there was a missionary, true story, Herbert Jackson was a missionary to India. He was given a car while he was there.
The only problem with the car, he put the key in, turned the ignition. The car would go on, but the ignition wouldn't. start the car.
So uh it had to be pushed And then you put it in second gear. You guys have ever done that? Step off the clutch, it starts going.
So that's how he did, for two years he did that.
So he lived by a school. He would go to the school in the morning if he had to do errands, get a bunch of kids out of class to push the car, get them started. Then he'd do his errands, and he'd always park on a hill so he could roll it downward. or keep the engine running. He did this for two.
Years. He got sick. He had to go back home. A new young missionary came to replace him. He gave him the keys to the car, told him how the car works.
The young missionary, the new guy, opened the hood of the car. And said, I think I see your problem. It's just a loose cable. He connected it, sure enough. Turned it over.
The engine roared.
Now think of that. Herbert Jackson live for two years with a fixable problem. That was never resolved. Power was there the whole time. It was a loose connection.
They kept him from enjoying the power. Do you have a loose connection? That's keeping you out of touch with the power of God. Power is there. You've got a fixable problem.
But instead, you're living your life. Kids, come on here, push the car. People spend 17 hours every week managing Email. How much time do we spend managing knee mail? Nemail.
You know the song? What a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege! to carry everything to God.
In prayer. Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear. Kids, let's push the car. All because we do not carry.
Everything. Everything. everything to God in prayer. Yeah.
We're so glad you joined us today for Connect with Skip Heidzig. Before we go, don't miss this chance to request how to study the Bible and enjoy it, Pastor Skip's practical guide to getting more out of every page of scripture. It's our thanks for your generous gift of $50 or more to help share God's Word through Connect with Skip. Call 800-922-1888. or visit connectwithskip.com slash offer.
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