James 5:13-20
“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 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.” (13-14).
In these verses, James is making the point clear- about how Job worshiped in his trials that he explained in verse 11. The sufferer should pray, the cheerful should sing psalms, the sick should call the elders of the church- asking them to pray for him. And also, he is adding a connection of prayer and worship through all seasons of life. His praise should be continually in our mouth, no matter what!
“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. 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.” (15-16).
The catalyst that we must add to our prayer is- faith, confession, and forgiveness. When these catalysts are added our prayer elates to a category called fervent (zealous) prayer. Prayer without faith is similar to empty words; prayer without confession means we lack the heart of submission; and prayer without forgiveness means we are proud. GOD wants us to have sound faith, having the heart to submit to Him each moment, and a life that seeks forgiveness. These in turn make the life of a Christian victorious.
“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. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.” (17-18).
Elijah can be considered as a role model for fervent prayer. When we come across great men of GOD, we may have an attitude that they are so because they are a special breed and we believe that we cannot attain the same level of spirituality. But, in here, James is giving us advice- tune your heart with GOD rather than considering yourself low. Elijah turned himself to GOD that he sensed what was in GOD’s heart. The two greatest prayers of Elijah contained the burden of GOD to His people. The first was to close the doors of the sky to stop dew and rain as the Israelites went away from GOD and the second prayer was to open the doors of the sky to have rain.
When Elijah had the heart of GOD, He gave him the courage to stand before King Ahab. GOD delighted in him as he had an earnest heart. His prayers and devotions were sincere. James is giving us advice, if our relationship with GOD is sincere and has the passion to know Him more, He will work through us. Most of us desire to be used by GOD in greater ways, but, we never invest our time on loving GOD. The love for GOD is the root of all ministry and when we love GOD and GOD alone, He shares His heart/burden with us. Elijah didn’t come with emotion, but he came to the scene with the burden of GOD. A person who is driven by emotion that he acquired during a sermon will never stand strong as he contains more of emotion rather than the heart of GOD. And, as Elijah had the burden of GOD, GOD’s favor was upon him and GOD molded even him while the Israelites underwent the period of drought and famine.
“Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 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.” (19-20)
It is evident from these verses that GOD uses human instruments in turning sinners back from their ways. Confronting a person who wanders off from the truth is essential. But, we should have the wisdom to do the same and should be done with the love of GOD. Wandering from the truth shows different dimensions. It can be called when a person lives an unholy life when someone twists the Word to prove his grounds or it is when people go to the false teachings as well. The initial step of confronting such a person is by loving them as Jesus loved us. Never be judgmental. Many people fail as they judge people as they ‘wander from the truth,’ rather than making them aware of the situations or how they went off from the track.
The standard by which we must confront a person is the Word of GOD. Making things clear in the light of the Word of GOD makes things more convincing than having a lecture for two hours. And, when someone turns him back, he is doing two major things. 1) Saving his soul from death; 2) covers a multitude of sins.
As James concludes his letter, he wants none to perish but to be a part of eternal life. A heart that has a passion for GOD has a passion for the perishing souls. The burden of His heart should be on us and we have to move on with that same intensity of that burden.
James explained and advised us about the trials of faith (1:1-18); peculiar characters of the faith (1:19-5:6); and about the triumph of the faith (5:7-20). As we conclude this study, do we carry the same essence of the faith that has been entrusted to us? Are we holding on to the faith? And do we have the heart of Jesus Christ to love others and to correct people who go off from the truth?
Have faith that has life; let our faith be strengthened through trials and let our faith be a model to others as well.
GOD bless you.
