Criswell Theological
Review 1.1 (1986) 85-112.
Copyright © 1986 by The
THE THEOLOGY OF PRAYER
IN JAMES
C. RICHARD WELLS
I.
Introduction
One of the strangest and saddest
omissions in modern theology is
prayer. A. Strong, for example, devoted but six pages
to prayer under
the heading of providence.1 M. Erickson's fine recent work contains
only two pages on the subject, also under
providence.2 On a single
page W. G. T. Shedd lists
prayer as one of the external "means of
sanctification," along with
Scripture, "Providential discipline," and the
"sacrament of the Supper."3 C. Hodge
interprets prayer in light of both
providence and sanctification, still in less than
twenty pages.4 Examples
need not be multiplied.5
Whatever accounts for this degree of
neglect may also explain the
near oblivion to prayer as a major theme in the
Epistle of James. The
introductions to James only rarely
include prayer among the theological
themes, motifs and values of the Letter. Interpreters
tend to orient the
1 A. H. Strong, Systematic Theology, three volumes in
one (
1907) 433-39.
2 M. Erickson, Christian Theology (3 vols;
3 W. G. T. Shedd, Dogmatic
Theology (3 vols;
1889; Reprinted.
4 C. Hodge, Systematic Theology (3 vols.;
3.231,
692-709.
5 Interestingly, of the
major contemporary theologies, K. Barth's Church Dogmatics
(4
vols.;
interpretation of prayer in terms of
the "election of Christ" will be considered later. The
section on prayer in Calvin's Institutes remains
as the standard. Institutes of the
Christian
Religion (ed. John T. McNeill: [
recent treatment on the subject is D. Bloesch, The Struggle
of Prayer (
and Row, 1980).
86 CRISWELL
THEOLOGICAL REVIEW
theology of James around the nature of God,
wisdom, righteousness
and sin, or perhaps in prolonged reaction to
Luther, faith and works.
Most
writers discern a combination of theological ideas, and many
would agree with B. Reicke
that the practical dimensions of James
virtually preempt theological unity.6
It is worth considering, however,
whether the theology of prayer
gives the Epistle precisely that theological unity it
seems to lack. An
observation by J. Adamson is telling. In his
introduction to the "anoint-
ing" passage
(5:13-18), Adamson argues that, despite the sundry
hermeneutical problems, "[James]
observed care in structure sug-
gests that throughout there is one dominant theme,
prayer." At that
point, Adamson begins his commentary on the passage
by noting: "In
the end of his Epistle, James comes round to where
he began."7
The remark is particularly telling
in that James not only begins and
ends his Letter "with trials;" as Adamson
correctly points out, but.
James
also begins (1:5-8) and ends (5:13-18) with prayer as the
instrumental means for managing
trials. And the fourth chapter, which
represents a major shift in emphasis, begins with
prayer as well (4:1-3).
The centrality of prayer in James
provides the impetus for this
article. The first section of the article will
relate prayer to the overall
purpose of the Letter. Detailed exegesis of the
three prayer passages in
James
will constitute the second section. The final section will analyze
the theology of Prayer in James in a more technical
fashion.
Prayer and the Purpose
of James
Most interpreters would agree that,
in some way or other, James
was written to contradict a defective understanding
of faith. "Pithy,
prophetic, practical," writes A. M. Hunter,
". . . what James is driving
at from start to finish is a Christian profession
which will issue in
practice."8 D. Guthrie suggests
that while "it is not easy to arrive at any
definite conclusion regarding the purpose"
of James, it is clear that
6 B. Reicke,
The Epistles of James, Peter, and Jude (AB:
Garden City: Doubleday,
1964)
6-7. His terse conclusion is that while the purpose of James is "to
admonish the
recipients to Christian patience," it actually
"consists of a series of admonitions on
different themes which are dealt with one after
another without any clearly discernible
plan." Similarly, A. Clarke (The New Testament of Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Vol.
II. Romans to the
Revelation
[
thinks it a connecting link between prophetic Judaism
and Christian faith. Apart from
two references to Christ, it need not be Christian
at all, he argues. Not unexpectedly,
then, "[t]here is neither plan nor arrangement
in it; but it contains many invaluable
lessons which no serious person can read without
profit."
7 J. Adamson, The Epistle of James (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976) 196.
8 A. M. Hunter, Introducing the New Testament (3 ed.;
1972) 170.
Wells: THEOLOGY OF
PRAYER IN JAMES 87
“[t]he
Epistle is essentially practical and would appear to be designed
to correct certain known tendencies in
behavior."9
The likelihood that the author was
James, the half-brother of the
Lord
and pastor of the
purpose uniquely intelligible. Owing no doubt to
a pastoral heart, the
Letter
reads more like an impassioned sermon than a treatise.11
Eminently
practical, the Epistle here and there exhorts and admonishes,
exposes, explains, warns and comforts. James is
preoccupied with the
relation of theology to life. He cannot abide a
speculative, cerebral
faith.
J
the letter, viz., “wisdom.” Clearly wisdom means
something to James
other than mental acuity. The whole point of the
contrast between “the
wisdom from above” (3:17) and the “earthly, natural,
demonic [
dom]” (3:15) is moral.
Whatever may be claimed for the wisdom from
below, it fails as true wisdom because it does not
issue in “righteous-
ness” (3:18).
James thus stands within the
tradition of wisdom in the OT and
later Judaism. G. Fohrer
has shown that the counterpart of sofi<a
(“wisdom”) in the OT, MkH, relates not to “the
theoretical mastery of
the questions of life and the universe,” rather “to
prudent, considered,
experienced and competent action to subjugate the
world and to
master the various problems of life and life itself.”12
Wisdom has a
profoundly ethical character.
No dichotomy exists, however,
between ethical behavior on the
one hand, and the true knowledge of God on the
other, either in James
or in the OT. Thus E. Jacob can speak of the “wise
men” (MmkH) as
9 D. Guthrie, New Testament Introduction (3 ed.;
Downer's Grove: InterVarsity,
1970) 764.
10 There is no need to
rehearse the arguments about authorship. Guthrie (ibid.,
736-58), surveys the field in considerable detail and concludes
that "[i]t would seem
preferable to incline to the traditional
view." Even attempts to reconcile the problems
associated with the traditional view usually
involve James the Lord's brother. W. E.
Oesterley ["The General Epistle of
James," The Expositor's Greek New
Testament (5
vols.; ed. W. R. Nicoll;
suggests that James represents a kind of
Jewish-Christian Mishna, the original Jacobean
material being expanded by later commentary. Even
W. Marxsen [Introduction
to the
New Testament: An
Approach to Its Problems (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1968) 231] who
supposes that the Epistle must be
"post-Pauline," believes it plausible that "a writing by
James
forms the basis of the document as we know it." Note that all quotations
from
Scripture
are NASV unless otherwise noted.
11 Hunter, New Testament 109. Actually, Hunter
says, James consists of "five little
sermons."
12 G. Fohrer and U. Wilckens, "sofi<a, sofoj,"
TDNT 8 (1971) 476.
88
CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
REVIEW
channels "through which God's presence is
communicated to men."13
To
know wisdom is quite literally to know God (Prov
9:10).
Perhaps then J. A. Kirk is correct
when he suggests that James' use
of the concept of wisdom parallels the use, by
other NT writers, of the
concept of the Holy Spirit.14 Kirk
argues his case along three lines.
First, he argues that the wisdom
contexts of James are more or less
exact parallels of other NT passages where the Holy
Spirit rather than
wisdom is the subject. Thus Jas 1:5 parallels Matt 7:7
(as frequently
noted in the literature). In both passages,
"asking" (ai]te<w) dominates,
in James with the conditional "in
faith," in Matthew by repetition (five
times). Additionally, in each passage the Father is
prominent as the
giver, in James by comparison between 1:5 and 1:17,
in Matthew by the
context fixed in 7:11. In the Lucan parallel to Matthew (Luke 11:13),
however, the Father is not "in heaven"
(7:11), He gives as the "heavenly
Father"
e]c ou]ranou? (cf. Jas 3:15); and, the "good gifts" He gives
are
specified as "the Holy Spirit."
According to Kirk, the second wisdom
passage (3:9-18) parallels
the Pauline contrast between the fruit of the
Spirit and the works of the
flesh (Gal 5:19-23). Both passages build on the
analogy of "fruit" (Gal
5:22;
Jas 3:18). Kirk hypothesizes that the reference to "spirit" in Jas
4:5,
if construed as man's spirit, provides not only a
balance to "wisdom"
(Holy Spirit?) in
Jas 3, but also corresponds to "flesh" in Gal 5, thus
completing the parallel.
Kirk also observes that other NT
passages make wisdom christo-
logical (e.g., 1 Cor
1:24, "Christ. . . the wisdom of God"). Other
passages make it either a divine gift,15
or a humanistic function which
hardens and blinds one to the things of God (cf.
1. Cor
2:11-12).
Finally, Kirk argues that some
significant OT contexts either
identify the Holy Spirit and wisdom, ascribe
similar functions to them,
or make wisdom the supreme gift of the Spirit.
Allowing for the
intertestamental period, the
identification becomes nearly total. Kirk
supposes that Jewish Christians in a Palestinian
milieu could readily
appropriate a similar identification in James.16
Kirk is convincing. The purpose of
James is the production of a
certain kind of person--"perfect and
complete" (1:4). The develop-
ment of character, however,
only begins with faith, for trials constitute
13 E. Jacob, Theology of the Old Testament (New York:
Harper and Row, 1958)
253.1
14 J. A. Kirk, "The
Meaning of Wisdom in James: Examination of a Hypothesis,"
NTS 16 (1969) 24.
15 Cf. Eph 1:11 where
Paul prays that the Father may give pneu?ma sofiaj. The
phrase clearly links the Holy Spirit and wisdom, if it
does not identify them.
Wells: THEOLOGY OF
PRAYER IN JAMES 89
a "testing for your faith" (1:3).
Wisdom, on the other hand, permits the
testing of faith to have its "perfect
result."17 But wisdom is God's gift.
If wisdom virtually comprehends the
work of God in the believer's
life, prayer is the (only) medium by which that work
is actualized. The
faith which is tested by trials appropriates wisdom
by prayer, and
wisdom is sufficient to accept trials as agents for
the development of
character. It is not too much to say, then, that
for James prayer
incarnates the whole of the life of God.
This thesis makes A. Motyer's structural analysis of James very
attractive. Motyer
divides the Epistle into three parts: (1) a large
thematic content section (1:12-5:6), oriented
around the notion of
Christian
growth in stages of "birth" (1:13-19a), "growth,"
(1:19b-25)
and “development” (1:26-5:6); (2) an introduction,
and (3) a con-
clusion, each built around the
dual concepts of "patience" and
"prayer."18 Motyer
fails to integrate the three sections, however, and
does not indicate how the third prayer passage in
James might affect
the analysis.
With prayer at the theological
center of the Epistle, the purpose of
J
J
to prayer, and both of course related to the
pastoral purpose. The first
division (1:9-3:18) may well be taken as an
exposition of 1:5-8. The
material of this section builds on the theme
expressed in 1:5-6: ". . . if
any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who
gives. . . (ai]tei<tw
para>
tou? didontoj
qeou?) . . . But let him ask in faith (ai]tei<tw de> e]n
pi<stei). . . ." The theme
is double-edged in that prayer depends on the
nature of God, and faith has only to apprehend that
nature. God not
only delights to grant wisdom fully, he effectively
actualizes himself in
the life of the believer when he does. A dynamic
interplay produces the
"perfect" (telei<oj)
man.
James characteristically oscillates
between "faith" and the "nature
of God" in the first section. Thus 1:13-17
speak of God's nature in terms
of the kinds
of gifts He gives, while 1:19-25 speak of faith in terms of
doing the Word, not just hearing it. In 2:1-13, the
"faith in our glorious
Lord
Jesus Christ" must recognize the nature (cf. 2:1, dochj!) of God
17 This is confirmed by
the fact that the brethren should count as joy the experience
of trials "knowing (ginw<skontej) . . . endurance"
(1:3). As R. Bultmann ["ginw<skw,"
TDNT 1 (1964) 704) points
out, the NT use of ginw<skw
diverges from the character-
istic Greek usage in that the
former appropriates the OT sense which "is no mere
question of objective confirmation but of a
knowledge which accept the consequences of
knowledge." The use of e]xe<tw (1:4) bespeaks this
acceptance of consequences.
18 A. Motyer, The Meaning of
James, The Bible Speaks Today (Downer's Grove:
InterVarsity, 1985) 12-13.
90
CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
REVIEW
who chose "the poor of this world to be rich
in faith" (2:5). It may even
be possible to interpret the "faith and
works" passage (2:14-26) in
terms of this structure. If faith lays hold of wisdom
through prayer, and
if wisdom actualizes the life of God in a fallen
world, then the real
thrust of the context is the relation of character (telei<oj) to prayer-
wisdom, rather than the relation of conversion-faith
to works of the
law. James returns to the nature of God motif in
chap 3 with his lament
that the tongue blesses “our Lord and Father” while
it curses “men,
who have been made in the likeness of God” (3:9).
The first division reaches a climax
in 3:13-18 with a recapitulation
of wisdom. God's wisdom is categorically “from
above” (a@nwqen).
How
else could it be realized, then, but by prayer? James has come full
circle (cf. 1:5, 17).
The recapitulation of wisdom also
provides a transition to the
second major division (4:1-5:18), because God's wisdom
contrasts so
dramatically with man's wisdom.
James has already hinted at the tragic
distinction between the two wisdoms (cf. 1:20); but,
here, the opposition
becomes central. Whereas the first division
focuses on the nature of
God,
the second focuses on the nature of man.
Once again, prayer dominates. The
very nature of man, charac-
terized by “earthly” wisdom, keeps
believers from praying (4:2) or
from praying aright (4:3).
As in the first section, the theme
appears to be double-edged.
Whereas
the proper response to the nature of God is faith,
the proper
response to the nature of man is humility-confession: "Draw near to
God
and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners;
and purify your hearts you double-minded"
(4:8). In both cases the
proper response is prayer-response, and the
overarching goal is the gift
of wisdom producing the “perfect” (telei<oj) character. And once
again, as in the first section, James oscillates
between the nature (of
man)19 and response (humility-confession)20
motifs. The division con-
stitutes a nearly verbatim
exposition of the “earthly” wisdom described
in 3:14-16.21
The third prayer passage presents a
peculiar set of problems,
solution for which awaits the exegesis to follow.
For present purposes,
19 E.g., "who are
you?" (4:12); "you are just a vapor" (4:14); "you boast in
your
arrogance. . . evil" (4:16); "your miseries
are coming" (5:1-6); and "strengthen your
hearts" (5:7-11).
20 E.g., "Come
now" ( @Age
nu?n; 4:13, 5:1); "you ought to say" (4:15); "Do
not
complain. . . may not be judged" (5:9). All
of these exhorations and warnings center on
prayer-kinds of attitudes.. See
Calvin's (Institutes 3.20.28)
discussion of "private prayer ."
21 The "from
below" wisdom (3:15) is e]pigei<oj (cf. 4:13-15; 5:1;
5:4). yuxikh<
(cf.
5:5)
and daimoniw<dhj
(cf. 4:11-12). It produces zh?loj (cf. 5:8-11) and e]riqei<a (cf. 5:121).
Wells: THEOLOGY OF
PRAYER IN JAMES 91
it will suffice to note that the two double-edged
themes recur: (1) The
(giving) nature of God ("the Lord will raise him
up," 5:15) and faith
("the
prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick," 5:15).; and
(2)
The (weak and sinful) nature of man ("if he has committed sins,"
5:16;
"nature like ours," 5:17) and humility-confession ("confess your
sins," 5:16). The passage appears to
recapitulate the entire letter much
as the discussion of the two wisdoms recapitulated
the first section. If
so, then the theme of the Epistle of James may
well be summarized by
5:16b:
"The effective (i.e., "in faith") prayer of a righteous man can
accomplish much (i.e., the life of God is
actualized)."
Prayer and the Life of
James
Before leaving this introductory
section, a word is due relative to
the life and character of the Lord's brother. At
least two distinctive and
relevant features emerge from the extant
biographical information.
Both
Josephus and Eusebius have versions of the death of James.
Eusebius'
account derived, by his own testimony, from Hegesippus,
a
second century writer whose chief interest evidently
lay in opposing
Gnosticism. Hegesippus'
account included many details about James'
character and practice.
The versions differ significantly,
however, as to the details of
J
during the interval between the death of Festus and
the arrival of
Albinus, the
new procurator from
According
to Josephus, "the most equitable of the citizens" protested
the unlawful assembly and sentence, some even going
to meet Albinus
himself. James and some others were accused,
according to Josephus,
as "breakers of the Law."22 Hegesippus, on the other hand, claimed
that certain scribes and Pharisees, who deeply
respected James, (called
the Just), led him to the
the misunderstanding that Jesus was "the
Christ." Instead, James
affirmed his own belief, whereupon the scribes
and Pharisees threw
him from the
J. B. Mayor agrees with Lightfoot
that the former account poses
fewer problems in detail than the latter.24
Nevertheless, the kernel in
both accounts, and in fragments of others that
survive, attributes to
J
James
received at home,25 and the restored vision
received from his
22 Josephus,
23
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 2.23.
24 J. B. Mayor, The Epistle of James (2nd ed.;
xxxviii -xlii.
25 Note that Joseph was
called di<kaioj
(Matt 1:19)!.
92
CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
REVIEW
brother, combined to produce a reverence for the
Law as the very
revelation of God.26 Life ordered in
such a way comes very close to the
wisdom James espouses in his Epistle.
A second feature of James' character
is even more striking, in light
of the present case. Hegesippus
described James' lifestyle specifically
and comprehensively in terms of prayer. His full
account bears notice:
But James the brother of the Lord,
who, as there were many of this name,
was
surnamed the Just by all, from the days of our Lord until now,
received
the government of the church with the apostles. . . . He was in
the habit
of entering the temple alone, and was often found upon his
bended
knees, and interceding for the forgiveness of the people; so that
his knees
became as hard as camel's, in consequence of his habitual
supplication
and kneeling before God.27
Furthermore, however spurious the
narrative may be historically,
Hegesippus added that when he was stoned James
"knelt down saying,
'I
entreat thee, 0 Lord Cod and Father, forgive them, for
they know
not what they do.'"28
The Epistle which bears his name
betrays the very character of
James.
If, as Phillips Brooks said, "preaching is truth through per-
sonality,"29 this sermonic letter
is best understood as an extension of
James the Just.
II. The Prayer Passages of James
Since the prayer passages in James
have been set already within a
contextual framework, the purpose of this
exegetical section can be
defined rather narrowly. The focus now becomes
content rather than
purpose and structure. "What" James
teaches about prayer replaces
"how" or "why" he structured his Epistle
around the prayer motif.
Exegetical
studies provide the data for analysis of James' prayer-
theology .
Praying for Wisdom--Jas
1:2-8
The first prayer passage is 1:5-8,
set in the larger context of 1:2-8.
Kirk
summarizes the argument of this context according to the follow-
ing scheme:
26 Mayor, James xli,
27 Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 2,2.3.
28 ibid.
29
(
statement of God's will, communicated in any other
way than the personality of brother
man to men is not preached truth."
Wells: THEOLOGY OF
PRAYER IN JAMES 93
"The brethren" and
"Trials" = "The testing of faith"
"The testing of faith" and
"Wisdom" = "Steadfastness"
"Steadfastness" and more
"Wisdom" = "Perfection and completion"30
J
to return suddenly to the original thought. The
mention of "wisdom" at
1:5
inaugurates this tendency. The main verb of this passage, h[gh<sasqe
("to consider"), indicates a considered response to the
"trials" into
which believers invariably (note "when," o!tan) fall. It represents active
wisdom31 in the face of that
which serves as a "means of testing."32
James
describes the ultimate goal of this process of active wisdom both
positively ("perfect and complete") and
negatively ("lacking in
nothing"). James does not, therefore, introduce wisdom in 1:5, he
returns to it, and shows it to
be contingent.
The contingency of wisdom is
expressed in two ways. First, the
use of a first class conditional sentence
demonstrates that James does
not regard wisdom as a "possible" or
"probable" lack, but as a universal
lack--he "assumes
the reality of the condition."33 The contingency is
simple awareness. Second, wisdom is a gift of God, who
gives however
in answer to prayer. Thus the imperative, ai]tei<tw ("let him
ask"), is
juxtaposed with kai>
doqh<setai ("and it will be
given," future indica-
tive).34 The
indicatives show that James encourages "asking" as an
ongoing practice and "giving" as
ongoing response.35
A certainty which countermands the
contingency of wisdom is
expressed in several ways. One is the use of ai]te<w ("to pray")
itself. In
contrast to the other major NT words for
"pray,"36 ai]te<w connotes
30 Kirk, “Wisdom” 31.
31 h[ge<omai
can mean "to lead," or, as here, "to believe" or
"regard as.'' F.
Buchsel, "h[ge<omai," TDNT 2 (1964) 907. Thayer [Greek-English Lexicon of the New
Testament (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 1962)] noted that the word indicates a belief
resting "on the due consideration of
external grounds."
32 This is the
significance of doki<mion (1,3). w. Grundmann, "do<kimoj,"
TDNT 2
(1964) 255-59.
33 A. T. Robertson and W.
Hersey Davis, A
New Short Grammar of the Greek
Testament (10th ed.;
"earthly" wisdom in 3:13ff, this may be an ironic twist
by James.
34 The "asking"
and "giving:' juxtaposition constitute a kind of
tacit third class
condition where the condition is undetermined but
the conclusion is sure, James used the
imperative, not the subjunctive, however, in what
would have been the protasis. First
and third class conditionals frequently occur
together, and serve to sharper the distinction
between the two. Cf. Robertson and Davis, Grammar para.
353.
35 D,
Moody, 1979) BO.
36 proseu<xomai
(pray worshipfully), eu@xomai (earnestly wish), de<omai
(supplicate),
e]rwta>w (freely pray), and e]ntugxa<nw (draw near, perhaps on
behalf of another).
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CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
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simplicity, if not childlikeness.37
Again there is juxtaposition, this time
with a[plw?j
("generously, simply"). The believer asks simply, God
gives "to all men simply."38 The
parallel with Matt 7:7 is unmistakable.
Clearly
both texts stress the simplicity of the act of prayer itself: "It is as
if the NT witnesses wished particularly to
encourage men to pray, by
assuring the suppliant that his requests are
heard by God."39
Another expression of certainty in
this prayer passage is the
participle dido<ntoj,
translated "who gives." The unusual position