James concludes his letter with a focus on two words that we don’t often want to put together: patience and prayer. Just “coincidentally,” we’re in James 5 this morning, and yesterday I was given a little reminder gift that says, “Pray. Wait. Trust.” Was that a coincidence, I wonder, or words I need to hear? Thanks, God! (and Jill).
James 5: “Be patient until the Lord’s coming; the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
Patience is not our strong suit. Waiting in whatever form all feels like wasted time. But waiting in traffic, waiting in line, and waiting on God are not all the same thing. We may waste time doing a lot of things, but prayer isn’t one. As James reminds us, patience is part of faith in motion. It’s the steady trust that God is still at work even when nothing seems to be happening.
He compares it to a farmer waiting for rain. You can’t rush the crops. You water, you weed, you wait—and you trust that growth is happening beneath the soil.
In the meantime, James points us to prayer. Not as a last resort, but as a lifeline. “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective,” he writes. Prayer keeps us connected to God’s presence, even in the waiting. James even takes it a step further: prayer makes us stronger and strengthens our faith.
Waiting isn’t wasted if it’s filled with prayer. Prayer turns delays into dialogue with God, frustration into faith, and impatience into intimacy. Prayer puts our faith on steroids. We sometimes think or say, “All I can do is pray,” as though prayer were not much or not enough. James says, “Pray” (and wait and trust … and then pray again), because prayer is powerful.
Prayer: Faithful God, help me to trust your timing when I’d rather trust my own. Teach me to fill my waiting with prayer, believing that you are at work in my life even when I don’t see it. Amen.
