The Theology of Prayer in James

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. M. Erickson's fine recent work contains only two pages on the subject, also under providence. 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." C. Hodge interprets prayer in light of both providence and sanctification, still in less than twenty pages. Examples need not be multiplied. 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