(a) Outline the teaching of James on prayer. (b) Mention any four factors which may hinder the effectiveness of prayer.

Answer Details

(a) The teaching of James on prayer (James 1:5-8; 4:2-3; 5:13-18)

James gives rich practical teaching on prayer:

• Pray for wisdom in faith: If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives generously to all without reproach; but he must ask in faith, with no doubting, for the doubter is like a wave of the sea and will not receive anything from the Lord.
• Ask with right motives: People do not have because they do not ask, and when they ask they do not receive because they ask wrongly, to spend it on their passions.
• Pray in every circumstance: Whoever is suffering should pray, whoever is cheerful should sing praise.
• Prayer for the sick: If anyone is sick, let him call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord; the prayer of faith will save the sick, the Lord will raise him up, and his sins will be forgiven.
• Confession and mutual prayer: Believers should confess their sins to one another and pray for one another that they may be healed.
• The power of righteous prayer: The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects. James cites Elijah, a man of like nature, who prayed that it might not rain and it did not rain for three and a half years, then prayed again and the heavens gave rain.

(b) Four factors that may hinder the effectiveness of prayer

1. Doubt and lack of faith: The double-minded, wavering person should not expect to receive from God.
2. Wrong or selfish motives: Asking to satisfy one's own pleasures and lusts.
3. Unconfessed sin and unrighteous living: Sin and disobedience break fellowship with God and hinder answers.
4. Unforgiveness and broken relationships: Failure to forgive or reconcile, along with an unrepentant, quarrelsome or hypocritical heart.