James 5:16

INTERCESSORY PRAYER

‘Pray one for another.’

James 5:16

Christianity brought with it a new phenomenon in the spiritual world, if such an expression be permitted, and that phenomenon was the sudden and extraordinary development of intercessory prayer.

There was little of this in the old world among Jews or pagans. Prayer was individual; each man asked of God what he felt himself to be in great need of.

I. The great and amazing verity, that all men are equally precious in the sight of God, Who expended the same care in the creation of each, Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond and free; Who extends His protection to all alike; and for the redemption of each, of whatever race he came, to whatever class he belonged, whatever his cultural level might be, Christ shed His blood—this great and amazing doctrine first astonished men, and then they realised it, and acted on it. It was something so true, so obvious, that all men were the sons of God, and therefore brethren, that Christians wondered it had never been thought of before, and filled with the fervour of conviction that it was a great fundamental verity, they carried out their conviction, by eagerly preaching the Word everywhere, by showing kindness to, and care for all who were in need and sorrow, whether they belonged to the household of faith or not, and especially by the practice of intercessory prayer.

II. If there is one point which differentiates all Christian liturgies from the prayer-book of the Jew, and from the devotions of the heathen, it is the fact that intercessory prayer forms the very marrow of the former. What is most remarkable is, that the further back we go, and the nearer to the beginning we get, in the very earliest Christian liturgies that have been handed down to us, this element of intercession for the whole world, not for the Church only, but for the whole world, comes into more and more prominence. It is as though the heart of the early Church was so full of this great revelation, that it could not act upon it sufficiently. In the service for the Lord’s Day, again and again, and once again was poured forth the great volume of prayer for the whole world, for all men in it, for the emperor, for his armies, for the magistrates, for the persecutors, for the whole Church, and for every office and administration therein; for the rich, the poor, the captives, those working in the mines, those at sea, for widows and orphans, for all little children, for heretics, for all in opposition to the truth through ignorance, error or malice, for fruitful seasons, for the regulation of the temperature and the guidance of the winds. Now if this had occurred but once, it would have characterised a new epoch in prayer, but the same is repeated, only slightly varied, from three to five times, and the revision which went on in the Divine Service of the Church after the fourth century was chiefly the curtailment of these lengthly and redundant intercessions. But what a revelation that was to the world of the love of God!

III. In this bustling, eager age, when we are all trying to rectify abuses and remedy ills, how much is done on the knees? How much of intercessory prayer goes on? We are, in too many cases, endeavouring to better the world without seeking God’s help and God’s guidance. What would you say of the man or woman who prayed for the sick and the poor and the afflicted, yet never visited those in need of relief or sympathy, and never put hand into pocket to help those in difficulty and distress? You would say that such a person was a very imperfect Christian. It is of such as these that St. James writes with biting satire. But the opposite side of the picture is one that deserves looking upon nowadays; and that represents the man or woman who is zealous, or affects zeal in good works, in charity, in doing good, but who has so little faith, so little idea that the assistance of God is essential to the work being blessed and brought to a good end, that he or she never prays for that assistance, never entreats for those to whom he or she is extending assistance, much less for those in distress who are out of reach.

—Rev. S. Baring-Gould.

Illustration

‘Our collect for Good Friday, that God would have mercy on Jews, Turks, infidels, and heretics, is the condensation of an old litany that was said daily. One may be ready to put down half a crown, or even half a sovereign for the Society for the Conversion of the Jews, or for a missionary association for carrying the Gospel to Turks and infidels, but how much do we pray for Jews, Turks, and infidels? How much and how earnestly do we pray for heretics, that they may be brought into unity? Is there any fervour in our intercessory prayer? Is there any conviction of its necessity? Has not that first enthusiasm which animated the early Church, an enthusiasm of brotherly love, evaporated in philanthropic talk and small subscriptions? Is there any of it found in our prayers? What a man really feels and really desires, that he will pray for. If he really desires the advance of Christ’s kingdom, really wishes that God’s will may be done on earth as it is in heaven, he will pray for it, and pray for it often, and with fervour.’