Praying Having Faith in God, Rev. Dr. Faye S. Gunn

0:15 Tonight, I want to bless the name of the Lord for this choir who has rendered music so beautifully unto the Lord tonight. We don't have any reason to fear, for He keeps watch over us and the angels are indeed around us. We thank God tonight. But a good evening to the Alfred Street Baptist Church family and friends. It is a great joy for me to be with you this evening, to stand in this sacred place, to proclaim a word for the Lord in this first worship service in 2020. I thank God and I thank our pastor, the Reverend Dr. Howard John Wesley, and I thank Dr. Judy Fentress-Williams, and I thank each of you for your presence here this evening.

1:13 I'm delighted to have a friend with me this evening, Sylvia Johnson, a retired principal and director in the Fredericksburg Public School System, who traveled up with me. And Sylvia, I just ask you to raise your hand for just a moment. Thank you for your presence this evening. Church is a delight to know and a joy just how good God really is. And if I had a thousand tongues, I couldn't tell it all tonight. But I want to share with you before I begin my sermon this evening, I want to share with you a text that I received on Thursday evening that came from a friend, the nephew of Sylvia's. He's a pastor, Reverend Jarvis Bailey. And I think it's befitting to set the tone for the service or for my sermon this evening.

2:15 We say technology can be both good and bad. But I thought this message was quite touching. And I want to read it in your hearing no more than about a minute and a half. And this is what Reverend Bailey wrote. He said, welcome to Flight 2020. We're prepared to take off into a new decay of a new year. Please make sure your attitude and blessings are secured, locked in, in an upright position. All self-destructive devices should be turned off at this time. All negativity, hurt, and discouragement should be put away. And should we lose altitude under pressure during the flight, he said, reach up and pull down a prayer.

3:19 Prayers will automatically be activated by faith. And once your faith is activated, you can assist other passengers. There will be no baggage allowed on this flight, for the captain guard has cleared us for takeoff. Destination, greatness. And if you're wondering, he says, yes, I've already purchased my ticket. I'm buckled in tight and ready for takeoff. God take the wheel and lead my way. I'm already on board. Let's go. I want to say to you this evening, let's go Alfred Street to the Word of God that's found in the book of James, chapter 5, verses 13 through 16. As it is our custom, I would ask you to stand that we might reverence the reading of God's Holy Word, realizing that the theme for this month is teach us to pray.

4:34 And it reads, is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church. And let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick. and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. I would ask you this evening to wrap your thoughts around a theme. Pray, having faith in God. Pray, having faith in God, you may go to your seats.

5:32 Let us pray. Eternal and loving God, we thank you that Flight 2020 has already taken off. And while this is not our first stop, we thank you that we've made it to the first worship service in 2020. We thank you, dear God, for bringing us through 2019. Now, God, help us have faith enough to believe that you will see this flight to the end of 2020. And God, we ask now in the name of Jesus that you will indeed renew and refresh Dr. Judy's mind and ministry each day while Pastor is on sabbatical leave. And bless all who will pray and support her and the work of your kingdom. Pastor Wesley has done a tremendous job as our pastor. Now put a hedge of protection around him and keep him safe.

6:26 Let no hurt, harm, or danger befall him. And may your power and presence forever be with him to bless him and to provide for all of his needs. Come, Holy Spirit, come and bless this preached moment. Bless all of your people and bless your preacher. teach us how to pray having faith in you who is the author and finisher of our faith and I pray this prayer in the name of Jesus amen pray having faith in God as a young girl church I grew up attending a little one-room church with a potbelly stove with a very few members on an island called Chincoteague, Virginia. And we had about 20 pews with about 10 pews on each side of the center aisle. And I can remember how one deacon in particular, whenever it was his time to pray, he would stand up and say, it's time to have a little talk with Jesus, who makes everything all right. And right after he would say his prayer, pray his prayer, he would enter into one of those favorite hymns of the church. What a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear.

7:52 What a privilege it is to carry everything to God in prayer. I've come to learn over these two years of my life, it is indeed the Lord who is able to make everything all right. Is it not what prayer is about church? Prayer is having a little talk with Jesus, who is our friend that will stick closer than a brother, a friend who will listen when we pray, and a friend who will respond if we would just be silent long enough in his presence to let him speak to us. I just believe God wants me to impress upon the hearts and minds of all of us tonight that God is faithful. And all God wants us to do is to learn how to put our faith and our trust in him, not only when we pray, church, but with every aspect of our living.

8:55 As we begin this new year of 2020, it's time to forget about making so many New Year's resolutions that we don't keep anyway. It's time to stop playing Russian roulette with our lives. It's time to stop playing hide-and-seek with God. It's time to stop letting the devil turn our faith into fear. And it's time to begin a new year with a promise and a prayer. To draw closer to the Lord and put our faith in him no matter what the circumstances of life. I don't know about you, but I've had my share of circumstances, both good and bad. successes and failures, plenty and little, sickness and sorrow, pains and problems that required me to fall prostrate before the throne of grace. And I can declare spiritually and unequivocally this night, I know that God is real. I know that God is able. I know that God will heal. And I know that God will provide. I know that God will forgive. And I know that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. And beloved, if we seek him in faith, God will hear and God will answer in accordance with God's will for our lives.

10:36 God knew what was best for us last year God knows what's best for us right now and God knows what's best in days yet to come it will be our prayers with faith in God that will get us through these difficult and dark days in which we now live very often what most folks do when the going gets rough and the rough starts going oh we start to worry about what if Well, I want to tell you what if, in my opinion, what if cannot match or has no chance against an almighty God, an all-powerful God, an all-wise God, an all-knowing God, a God who can do everything but fail. Oh, you remember that old cliche, what if I never had any problems? I would not know that God could solve them.

11:33 But if the truth were told, we have all had our share problems. And we need to ask ourselves tonight, who solved all of our problems? Was it the doctor that really healed us? No, it was God. Was it the lawyer in the courtroom that solved your case? No, it was God. Was it the banker that got you the mortgage? No, it was God. Was it the therapist that caused you to be able to turn away from that addiction? No, it was God. It was God through the talents and the gifts of those that he had given them to that has brought us through. And what I've learned during this difficult time in my life is the fact that I can live longer by worrying less. And so can you.

12:28 And may I suggest instead of worrying about what we cannot do, let us put our faith in God who knows exactly what to do all the time and how to do it for our good. For does not Romans 8.28 say, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. So no matter what the hardships and sufferings, no matter what the bitter disappointments, no matter how badly we've been treated by others, the best way to handle any of these situations is to stop worrying and start praying. Prayer changes things and worry changes nothing. have faith in God, that God's will be done in our lives. James, through this epistle, can help us when we find ourselves stressed and suffering, sick and shallow in our faith.

13:41 He tells us to pray and trust God. He specifically addresses church suffering and sickness, knowing how to treat those who are less fortunate than we are. He talks about being a united community to support one another. I have to put a pin there to say Alfred Street knows how to do it well. We support the Alexandra community and the extended community with the loving kindness of one named Reverend Edward Jackson. You ought to give God some praise for Reverend Jackson tonight. Reverend Jackson goes early in the morning to the hospitals, in the midnight hours to the hospital, and he even goes when he's sick.

14:41 We thank God for his love for God and his love for God's people. And I simply say to us tonight, we have to learn how to be more like a Reverend Jackson. James places much emphasis on understanding how important our faith is to have a powerful prayer life. His mythology and theology is both practical and ethical. James emphasizes duty rather than doctrine. In other words, what he is saying to us is do something with your faith. Put your faith in action through prayer. But I say undergird your faith by being humble, by being authentic, and by expecting God to do something in your life.

15:38 God doesn't want an arrogant person coming always with a Santa Claus Christmas list. And God wants you to be authentic, be yourself. He doesn't want you to act like somebody else. Just when you come before his throne of grace, come humbly, reverently, thankfully, authentically, and expectantly. And God will hear, and God will answer your prayers. I say, what good is it to say that you have faith in no one to whom you're going to put your faith in? Pray having faith in God. In this text, James provides three essential points for us to consider this evening. The first one, are you suffering?

16:34 he says then let him pray let her pray are you happy then praise God for it are you sick call for the elders let them pray over you anoint you with all and if you sin God will forgive the sins and God will be the one to raise you up James gives it to us simple and straightforward when you find yourself suffering the first thing you must do is pray and depending on the translation of the Bible you're reading, the 13th verse will read, let him pray or let them pray about it. The Holy Spirit pricked my conscience right there. This is a personal matter, church. There are times when you and I, we got to pray for ourselves. It does not negate the fact that the pastor can pray, the associate ministers can pray, The deacons can pray.

17:33 Mama and Papa, Grandma and Auntie can pray. But every now and then, you ought to pray for yourself. You ought to fall prostrate before the throne of grace, demonstrating your personal faith in God and letting God know that you love Him and that you trust Him, that you ought to pray that simple prayer I used to pray. Father, I stretch my hands to thee. No other help I know. And if thou would withdraw yourself from me now, Lord, I ask, where would I go? It's time to become sincere in our faith, our prayer life, and our relationship with the Lord. The book of James is all about godly living. and yet many Christians who say they've been baptized, saved, and Holy Ghost filled.

18:33 Never have, or should I say, take any time to be alone with the Lord. Never have time to serve in the church. Never have time to join a ministry in the church. Don't give any money in the church. But we always want God to hand something out to us. I just stopped by to try to make it real this evening. It's time for us to start acting like we are the children of God. Who are we? Who are they? Are they real or fake Christians? This whole matter of being real and fake brings to mind one of my God daughters, and I have several. So I won't call any name tonight. And whenever she visits my home, she's always got a pocketbook on her arm. A Gucci, Louis Vuitton, a coach, Michael Kors.

19:38 Oh, she has all kinds of pocketbooks. And one day I said to her, honey, those are some beautiful bags. I said, you must make a lot of money on that government job. And what she said to me was this, God mommy, these bags are fake, but they look real. And I have wondered as I thought about that, could this be the problem with who some Christians say they are? They look real, but they're fake Christians. You see, fake, when you're fake, you can fall apart. to come apart at the seams, the lining will come out.

20:35 It will tear up after a while. It can't be strong enough to hold the stability of the weight that is in it. And I say the only weight that you need is the weight of the Holy Spirit to lead God and direct you. I don't know if you're fake or if you're real, But God knows. I just stopped by tonight to tell somebody it's time to become a real Christian who are new creatures in Christ Jesus. You see, these Jewish Christians to whom James was writing was experiencing great suffering and sorrow for being a Christian, not fake. I believe they were real Christians. You see, it's a shame to have to suffer for being a follower of Christ. But there are those who will not only tear you apart for what you believe, but they'll knock you down and never help you to get up again.

21:37 And if it's possible, they'll take your life. It's sad when it's happening to our Jewish brothers and sisters nearly daily, dying for their faith. But I say to you this night, when you suffer for the cause of Christ or otherwise the Bible says it's better to trust in the Lord than to put your confidence in man. Know that God is always faithful. Man will turn his back on you. Man will lie in your face. Man will point to your mistakes and let you never forget that you made a mistake. But there's only one man that you can trust for sure. He's both human and divine. God incarnate. His name is Jesus. Put your faith in him. He will never leave you nor forsake you. For the Bible says without faith it's impossible to please God. And these Christian Jews were being persecuted by man for their Christian testimony. And they were scattered throughout the Roman Empire.

22:49 They were torn away from their homes, church. Homes they had lost, jobs they had lost, families they had lost, lost their possessions, and some had lost their lives. And many of these Christian Jews, I liken them to the suffering, to what we see in this nation on a daily basis. Oh yeah, we can brag about how well our economy is doing, but if we listen to the Democratic debate on Thursday, December 19th, we heard loud and clear that our economy is doing well for the rich and the wealthy. However, the middle class and the poverty-stricken are still sinking with each pay period. What about the innocent children separated from their parents and some dying at the borders because of poor housing and poor medical conditions? What about the inequality of justice in the salaries of employees and bills still cannot be paid each month?

23:57 What about the number of suicides and overdoses? And yet we put a band-aid on trying to take out certain flavors of that vaping mess so that children won't buy it and smoke it anymore. We don't have sense enough in leadership to do what is right. We want to do what satisfies self. But sometimes you got to do what God wants you to do. What about the 30,000 veterans who are sleeping on the streets and millions more with no place to call home? There's great suffering and sorrow for not only Christians but for many people who live in these United States of America, and maybe some right here in this church, do we really understand the importance of the prayer of faith?

25:04 We have to pray for this nation and our leaders, and we have to pray for each other. We have to pray in faith that God's will be done. And if we would be serious this evening, too many folks, Christians do not get serious. about praying until suffering takes a serious toll on their lives. It's one problem after another. So what do you do when your suffering becomes so weighted that no matter what you try, not anything seems to work? Let's continue this flight in 2020 by making prayer a priority in our lives to seek God in favor. If you recall in Exodus 14, when Moses was called by God to leave or deliver the people of Israel from bondage in Egypt, he was led by God's voice. And when the Israelites were just about there and had arrived at the Red Sea, what did Pharaoh do?

26:13 He had a change of mind, a change of heart. And he sent the army in pursuit of them. And what did Moses do? He didn't say, that's it, it's the end. Let's just surrender, give up, throw up both hands. No, he waited for instructions from God. And Moses in Exodus 14, 13, it says, he said to the people, do not be afraid. stand firm and you will see the deliverance of the Lord that the Lord will bring you today I don't know who I came to preach to tonight but if you stand firm long enough God will deliver you from that broken relationship if you stand firm long enough God can deliver you from that addiction If you stand firm long enough, God can deliver you from that anger spirit that you have.

27:19 God can deliver you from that abusive relationship. God can deliver you from your frustrations. If you stand firm long enough and trust God, God will deliver you. For that's what he did for the Israelites. He delivered them from Egyptian bondage. And God will do the same for you. Put your faith in God. Stand firm to see the deliverance of the Lord. But isn't it ironic, church, that right after James asked the question, is anyone among you suffering, he says, let him pray. And then he asked, is anyone happy, cheerful? Let him sing psalms. What James does now is to begin to contrast life for us as it really is. He's saying to us that there will be times when we will suffer.

28:17 But know that behind every cloud there's a silver lining. And it lets us know that the storm will pass over. Life is not always going to be dark and dreary. We will not always be suffering, nor with sickness unto death. God allows us to experience the radiance of his sunshine with great prosperity and those times of joy in our lives when everything is going well we find ourselves with great big smiles on our faces at those venues of graduation and marriages and even the birth of a new baby so let us when things are going well let us praise God with a grateful heart. You see, it was customary for Christians to sing psalms unto the Lord. The Hebrew title for the psalms is Tehillon, which means praise psalms. And the book of psalms was actually the psalter or the songbook for worship events in the temple in Jerusalem, suitable for prayer recitation, but especially for singing, for one to express their praises to Israel's Holy One.

29:35 And I don't know of any church that can do it any better than the music ministry right here at Alfred Street under the direction of the stellar Dr. Joyce Garrett and all of the awesome directors and musicians who accompany her. Oh, they demonstrated it at the Kennedy Center last month. We know how to sing and praise the name of the Lord. But I say to you, each of us should have our own song. You see, my song is my faith looks up to thee. Thy Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine, hear me while I pray. Take all of my guilt away. Oh, let me from this day be holy thine. Psalm 150, the first verse says, praise the name of the Lord. But the sixth verse says, let everything that have breath praise the name of the Lord.

30:37 And if you got breath in your body tonight, it's because of what God has done. Privilege you to see another day. If you got breath in your body, you ought to give God some praise right now. You didn't wake yourself up this morning. God did. You didn't put the food on your table. God did. You didn't put the roof over your head. God did. You didn't pay for those clothes on your back, though you think so. But God did. And I don't care how many cars you got in your garage. God paid for them You ought to praise God for all that you have, because everything that we have belongs to him.

31:39 There are times when things are going well in our lives, a new job, a new raise, a pay, new home, a car. We ought to rejoice even with healing of the body. But what should put the icing on the cake is when we confess with our mouths that Jesus Christ is the son of God. God raised him up from the dead and we shall be saved. It's our salvation that we ought to praise God for tonight. God wants us to exalt him, not our problems. And I'm not trying to diminish our problems this evening, nor am I saying that our problems do not exist. I'm saying that we might have some problems, but because we know and believe God, who is greater than all of our problems, we can say great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.

32:37 He's our refuge and present help in time of trouble. I know church because I've been there. And I'm praising God right now for back in 2013, I, along with my family, experienced a real problem. When our eldest son, Calvin, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, a name that I cannot even pronounce. And I can't tell you how many tears I shed. I can't tell you how many prayers I prayed along with the intercessory ministry of this church, the deacons, family, and friends. It was so rare that John Hopkins didn't know the best treatment for him. Oncologists in D.C. and Clinton, Maryland were all baffled.

33:34 But what should be the best treatment? And these doctors consulted with doctors in Florida and came up with a treatment for our son, whose cancer was in stage four. And his bone marrow 90% compromised. And I just heard on Monday that one of my favorite congressmen, John Lewis, has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in stage four. For him and his family, we need to pray. And whenever you hear stage four, according to medical statistics, you know that you're at the door of death. And I said to my son, Calvin, do you understand how seriously ill you are? And Calvin, he looked at me and I said, you've got to put your life in God's hands. My son said to me, mom, when I accepted Christ, my life has always been in God's hands.

34:42 He said, yes, I've made some mistakes in my life. I've sinned against God but I've repented and God has forgiven me God has given me chance after chance and he looked me straight in the eye and said mom as I look at you and see how God healed your body not once but twice from cancer he said I just believe that God will do the same for me He said, I'm putting my faith and trust in God. Beloved, I have reason to praise God tonight. Because after 15 long months of chemotherapy treatment, it's been five years now. And our son's cancer is in remission.

35:39 Yes, he has some arthritis. He's got some pains in his joints. But I can say to you tonight, my son is not dead, but is alive in Christ. We ought to praise God tonight for just how good God is. God's been too good to me for me not to praise him. Have you got anything that you can praise God for? Has the Lord healed your body? Has the Lord made a way out of no way? Has the Lord looked past your faults and saw your needs? Has the Lord provided finances you didn't deserve? Has God opened doors that no man could shut? Shut doors that no man could open?

36:32 Has God done for you what you could not do for yourself? Then you ought to give God some praise. God's too good. And we ought to just praise him. Because he's God. He's Jehovah Jireh. The Lord will provide. But finally I come to this. Verse 14 says, is there any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church. Let the prayer over him anoint 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. If he sin, he will be forgiven. Think, if you will, for a moment, as one scholar said, if there had never been any sin that entered the world, there wouldn't be any sickness in the beginning.

37:31 But the Bible says we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. So let us not get it twisted this evening. All sickness is not a result of sin. Here I believe James is referring to a certain kind of sickness that is a sickness that is a result of a specific circumstance. And what we see here is healing in this section is connected with the forgiveness of sins. Perhaps it could have been somebody who sinned against the church, sinned against somebody in the church sinned against God sinned against somebody else I don't know but what we have here we can conclude but whatever it was they said call for the elders of the church and the elders would help to bring them back into full fellowship with the repenting of one's sins and the confession of the elders of the church simply to say when we sin we need to pray having faith in God and repent and ask God to forgive us of our sins. Yet in this pericope, the elders were called upon because of their leadership within the church. It was not the responsibility of the elders to demonstrate any gifts of miraculous healing. They were not trained for treating those who were critically ill. And according to the word of God in Acts 20.18, the elders were to teach and exhort. They were to give spiritual care and guidance to the Christian community and those who were spiritually weak. I want to say to you tonight, beloved, it's not the elders who will heal. It's not the oil that will heal. It's not the length of any prayer that will heal. It's not the eloquence of the words of a prayer that will heal. It's prayer that is offered in faith in the name of the Lord that will heal the sick and only the Lord will raise them up.

39:40 I'm trying to teach and help us tonight. The whole context has to do with confession of sins and the restoration of that sinner if a result of sin. God is faithful, church, to his promises. You do remember Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He said, Father, if it be your will, let this cup pass me by not my will but thy will be done it was God's will that Jesus would face the cross of Calvary die suffer for your sins my sins and the sins of the world but God promised that on that third day, he would raise him up with all power in his hands.

40:42 And now he sits on the right hand of the Father, making intercessory for you and for me. I simply want to say to all of us tonight, let your prayers be prayers of faith. I nearly died once on my bedroom floor with my second bout of cancer. And I was struggling, couldn't walk, and could hardly breathe. When my husband walked in from taking my mother to go back home, he realized that I was struggling, crawling, trying to get to the bathroom. Fred called the paramedics and they came and they said what hospital do you want us to take her to? My husband said to Circle Terrace in Alexandria. We lived in Fort Washington. The paramedics said we can't go across the state line. My My husband said, you can't, but I can.

41:53 My husband picked me up in his arms, put me on the back seat of the car. We headed to Woodrow Wilson Bridge, and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge went up, and I was numbing all over. And when we got to West Taylor Run Parkway, I said to my husband, we won't make it to the hospital. And my husband said to me, Faye, where is your faith? God will get us there. I stand here tonight because God got us there. It's our faith, church. You have to have faith in God. When you're suffering, pray. When you're sick, pray. and when you find yourself going through, praise the Lord when you're happy.