James 5:13-20

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.  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.  Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.  Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.  Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.  My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

James is said to have had the nickname “Camel Knees.”  A reference to the amount of time he spent in prayer.  Likely, something he learned from watching his brother Jesus.  It seems fitting that he would conclude his letter to the suffering saints with teaching about prayer.  Most of the time we have little to no control over our circumstances.  However, we do have access through prayer to the person who controls our circumstances.  It is important to remember that prayer is not so much about asking for God to change our circumstance but to change us in the midst of our circumstances.

PRAY FOR THE WOUNDED TO GOD: Suffering people are called to pray.  Cheerful people are called to praise.  Sick people are called to seek prayer from spiritual leaders.  What all three of these groups have in common is going to the Lord.  In both hard and happy times, we are to look to the Lord.  Too often the suffering and sick become angry with God and turn from Him instead of trusting Him.  Those who are experiencing God’s blessings tend to become prideful instead of grateful.  God can bring relief to our suffering and healing to our sickness and His grace is the true source of all cheer.  Praise and prayer is the only proper response to any circumstance of life.  The sickness in this passage is likely referring to spiritual sickness, things like anger, gossip, fear, partiality, doubt, anxiety, depression, and foolishness.  These are the things James has been discussing in this book and make sense for him to be addressing here.  It would be strange for him to suddenly start talking about pneumonia and cancer in this context.  Spiritual sickness also makes much more sense for calling elders to pray, anoint with oil, strengthen faith, lead to confession of sin, and restoration.  Certainly, we should pray for physical healing in times of illness; and sin can be the source of both physical and spiritual sickness. However, the spiritual interpretation seems to fit more naturally in the overall context of the book. 

PRAY FOR THE WORKING OF GOD: Prayer is simply asking God to work in ways that we are unable.  Prayer is an admission of our own weakness and dependence upon Him.  Prayerlessness is a form of spiritual arrogance.  When we go to God, we are asking for His supernatural working and grace in our lives.  We have no right to make demands of Him, nor do we deserve His intervention in the circumstances of our lives.  Prayers is also a means of aligning ourselves with His will.  When we seek for God’s wisdom in prayer, we are seeking to know His will and understand His ways.  When we pray according to His will and with the righteous motives He graciously imparts to His children; our prayers become effective.  God’s working through the prayers of Elijah to stop and start rain on the earth.  These are the things that are only possible with God.  He calls us to trust Him and call out to Him for His working according to His will in our lives.   

PRAY FOR THE WANDERING FROM GOD: Unfortunately, there are times when our brothers and sisters in Christ will wander from the Lord.  This can be especially true in times of suffering and persecution like James’s original readers were facing.  When this happens, we are called to strive to bring them back through repentance and confession of sin that they might be restored to fellowship.  Prayer would certainly be one of our primary instruments in this kind of ministry.  Confrontation and church discipline are other tools we may need to employ.  What we cannot do is simply ignore them.  When believers allow bitterness and sinfulness to control their lives, they run the risk of death.  Paul warns of this in 1 Corinthians 11.  God disciplines His children and will go as far as taking them off the earth, so they no longer embarrass and bring harm to the cause of Christ.  However, when we confront one another and call one another to a life of repentance, we help to bring the covering of Christ’s forgiveness to the body.

APPLICATION: Turn to the Lord in every circumstance.  Pray for the Lord to bring relief to our sufferings and healing to both our physical and spiritual sickness.  Admit to our own weakness and depend on the Lord to work supernaturally in the circumstances of our lives.  Pray for our brothers and sisters who are rebelling against the Lord, call them to repentance and warn them of the consequences they might face.