Today, we complete our journey through the book of James by looking at chapter 5, verses 13 through 20. Here we found James urging us to pray when we are in trouble and sickness. Then he reminds us of the Biblical connection between sickness and sin. He reinforces the concept of healing involving both the body and the soul. I will share two more teachings that pulsate from this passage of scripture.

First, we see the power of intercessory praying in verse 16.

However, it clearly states, "the prayer of a righteousness man," not the wish list of selfish Christians. I heard about this couple who had been arguing about everything for years. Both spouses were tired of living in a perpetual state of conflict. Finally, the wife tipped off her husband about the prayer she was petitioning to God. She said, "I''ve been praying for God to help us stop all of this arguing by taking one of us to heaven. When He answers my prayer, I''m moving in with my sister." This is not in the best tradition of intercessory prayer as demonstrated by Elijah in our lesson today. Intercessory prayers are always governed by the truth that God''s Will is supreme in all things.

There is a mystery to the power of intercessory prayer. There are times when God says "NO" to the form of our prayer, but "YES" to the substance of our prayers. Let me explain it this way as I share the story of St. Augustine, long before he became a saint.

St. Monica''s Falls in California is named after Augustine''s mother, Monica, who cried great tears over her son. She flooded her soul with anguish because her son was not a Christian. 

Monica prayed that her son would not leave North Africa and go to Italy because she wanted so desperately for him to become a Christian. Augustine, being ambitious and wanting very much to go to Italy, decided that he would defy the request of his mother and go there anyway. The day before Augustine was to leave for Italy, his mother prayed all day in a small chapel by the sea that her son would somehow reconsider and decide not to go to Italy.

As is typical with most sons, he did what he wanted to anyway and boarded the ship for Italy. On his way there, he fell into conversation with a notable Christian, and while on the ship, he accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. He accepted Christianity as his way of life and became one of the greatest writers and thinkers of the faith. God, you see, did not answer the form of Monica''s prayer, but God did answer its substance.

Yes, God does answer our prayers but not always in the way we envision it or design it. Remember, Jesus is sitting now at the right hand of God the Father, making intercessions for us as our great high priest.

On a personal note, I have been praying for God''s direction for six months on a certain issue. I have not gotten the answer yet, but most importantly, I have not made the wrong move. I am getting close to a decision. I can feel it. Recently, someone in our church family shared with me that they received an answer to prayer concerning one of their children.

There is power in our prayers because there is perfect power in our God. Max Lucado is right on when he states, "The power of prayer is not in the one who prays--but in the One who hears it."

Finally, we are to pray and share the tender touch with the saints who have strayed from the sheepfold.

We must remember that straying saints and inactive Christians are NOT the enemy. They are victims of the enemy. They need a tender touch. You cannot pray for a person without loving them as Christ loves you. Your prayers can make a difference. There is great joy in turning a person around and pointing them in the right direction. 

Let me express it this way. Dr. Elton Trueblood, a Quaker teacher at Earlham College for many years, tells the story of the day he was driving to some destination when he came across three men trying to push their disabled car off the road. It was raining and muddy. Trueblood tried to decide whether to stop and get disheveled or to press on. Finally, his more generous impulses won out and he did stop. The older man got in the car and his two sons plus Trueblood pushed the car and eventually got it off to the side of the road.

When the father got out of the car, he took Dr. Trueblood''s hand and said, "I am very glad you came along. You had just enough strength, added to ours, to make the thing go."

Trueblood reflected upon those words as he drove on down the road. "There are so many people trying to get their load over the hill," he thought. "I have just enough strength--when added to their own--to make the thing go." (4)

This is what our tender touch does. It joins the spirit and soul of another pilgrim and surrounds that person with strength they can feel and allows them to go on. G.K. Chesterton was right when he noted, "More things are wrought by prayer--than this world will ever know."

The story is told of two acolytes who went forward to light the candles. Both were short, but one was much shorter than the other. It quickly became apparent that the taller one, by stretching on her tiptoes, could light the candles, but the shorter acolyte could not even come close. As soon as the taller girl got her candles lit, she walked around the altar, and stooping down, picked the smaller girl up around the waist and lifted her as high as she could. The congregation was breathless: Would it work? Would the taller girl drop the shorter girl? Would the candles get lit? After some struggles and second tries, the shorter acolyte formally lighted all the candles--whereupon the congregation gave a deep sigh of relief. It was the tender touch of another human being assisting another.

I think this is exactly the image of prayer I see James writing about in this lesson. James wants us to lift ourselves and others into the "wisdom of on high." James wants us to lift our tongues for this holy purpose. As I shared this story with one of my colleagues this week, he said, "I would join a church like that."

So, we bring our study of James to a close. Perhaps you have noticed, there is no farewell or benediction to end this Epistle. Unlike Paul''s letters, there is no closure to this one. At first I thought there was something abrupt and missing from this letter. However, I had to remind myself that James is more of a preacher than a polished writer. There is something missing, though.

What is missing is our response. James deliberately ends his letter this way. James is saying, this letter is not complete until we put it into ACTION. It is not complete until we put its wisdom into action for our Christian walk and witness. It is not complete until we say NO to the tempter and YES to God. It is not compete until we strive for a church where the rich and the poor receive an equal reception at the front door. It is not complete until we use our tongues as an instrument of the Kingdom of God, rather than as an assassin''s bullet. It is not complete until we patiently wait for God''s timing, rather than our own. It is not complete until we lift others by prayer into the Holy, Tender, Loving Hands of God. It is not complete until there is great consistency between our TALK and our WALK.

It is not complete until we lift ourselves AND others into The Tender Touch of God. God, give me the courage and strength to do so. Amen and Amen.