James 5:13-16
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 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. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
After warning the believers against swearing by anything in earth or in heaven, James then begins to conclude his letter with some very specific instructions pertaining to various situations they might find themselves in. He begins by telling those who are going through any kind of suffering, to pray. While this might seem like an obvious thing to do for some, it’s not common for all people to pray when they suffer. Many of us choose to not pray when suffering comes our way. We display anger against God as if He were the cause for our suffering, and as if our anger at God was going to change our situation in any way.
We should never forget that we are on a spiritual journey that involves spiritual battles as well, and that the enemy of our souls - the devil, is out to destroy our faith. He will often use suffering to try to do just that. During those times of suffering, the one thing we should actually do is get closer to God, and seek Him. The one thing we should never do, is walk away from Him in those difficult times. James already talked about the one main thing that can result from the trials we face – the transformation of our character to reflect the nature of Christ, and that’s why he asks us to consider it pure joy when we face trials of various kinds. (James 1:2-4) If, during our times of suffering, we choose to walk away from God, we’re choosing the path of defeat, we’re choosing to not be transformed into the character of Christ, we’re allowing the enemy to have his way in our lives, and to destroy our faith in God.
He then says that if anyone is cheerful, he must sing psalms (songs). There’s something that happens to the attitude of those who are happy when they sing songs. It takes their happiness to a whole new level. It simultaneously does something to the person’s attitude going forward the rest of the day. Let’s never forget that we need to take care of our attitudes, mental states and emotions, and when we take care of them, we are able to help others in so many ways.
He then goes on to talk about what to do when one is sick. Back in the day, there would not have been as many doctors as we have today. So he suggested that if one is sick, they do something else, apart from what most of us would immediately do today. Before we look at that, let’s remember that most illnesses are psycho-somatic, meaning that the state of the mind has an effect on the functioning, and the health of the body, and if this is so, then James’ suggestion below seems a lot more meaningful to us today, who live in quite different times than when he wrote this letter.
He goes on to suggest that a sick person send for the elders of the church to come and pray for them in faith, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord, as they do so. This is something that is hardly popular in the church today. Elders in the church were meant to serve as guides, as leaders, who helped people grow in their faith, and who managed the affairs of the church.
When the elders come and pray for the sick person, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord, and in faith, then the sick person will be healed, and the Lord will raise up that person back to normal health. This does not seem like an expensive option at all, and yet, it’s hardly practiced in the church today. Let’s seek to get back to the basics of our faith – perhaps we will see a lot more miracles happening today, and as a result, this will build both our faith, and that of others who witness these miracles.
James goes on to make a connection between illness and sin, and adds that when the elders pray in faith, anointing the person with oil, not only will the sick person be healed, but also his sins will be forgiven him. Does this not remind us of the time when Jesus healed the man who was paralyzed? Not only did He heal him, but He also forgave his sins. Not all illnesses are connected with sin, but it does look like sometimes sin is closely linked to illness.
James goes on to add that we are to confess our sins to one another, and to pray for one another, so that we may be healed. This again, is something that is hardly practiced in the church today. He is not talking about confession to a priest, who then intercedes for that person to God. There’s no room for that in Christianity as we have one mediator between God and man - Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5). He’s talking about being as open in our relationship with one another as believers that we are able to talk about our faults and failings with each another, and pray for each another, so we can experience the healing from the hurts or illnesses that sin causes. Often, unconfessed, un-repented of sin has an impact on our minds, and in turn, on our bodies as well, and eventually it takes its toll on our health, resulting in sickness. He adds that when we pray for one another in this way, we will receive healing, both for our sins as well as for our sicknesses.
James goes on to add that when a righteous person (one who has been made righteous by God, and who is in close relationship with God), prays fervently for someone, those prayers are heard by the Lord, and results in God answering those prayers in powerful ways.
James 5:17-18
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
James then goes on to make reference to a time in the life of the prophet Elijah, whom he says had a nature just like ours, meaning that there was nothing supernatural about Him. He says that when Elijah prayed earnestly that it would not rain on the earth for three and a half years, it did not rain, and when he prayed again that it would rain, it rained and the earth produced its fruit. The only thing that seems to be different between Elijah and most of us today is that he prayed earnestly, whilst most of us don’t pray so earnestly, but apart from that, he was just another ordinary person like we are.
James 5:19-20
19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
James then concludes his letter with an encouraging note to his readers (or listeners). He tells them to make every effort to help someone who has wandered form the truth, to come back to the fold. He says that if anyone helps a person turn from back his erroneous ways, then that person is actually saving that person’s soul from eternal death, and also helping that person find forgiveness for all his sins. When one finds forgiveness for his sins, that’s exactly what happens – that person’s sins are covered, his life completely transformed, and he is headed for heaven, to live with God forever.
This seems a very good way to end a letter, with an encouragement to the believers to be there to help each other grow in their faith, and to bring those who go astray back to the fold.
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