Prayer
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Prayer
Prayer
13 Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.
14 Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they should pray over him after anointing him with olive oil in the name of the Lord.
15 The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will restore him to health; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours; yet he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land.
18 Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land produced its fruit.
James is writing to an assembly of Jews — who, according to 1:1 were scattered abroad.
Verse 13 — What kind of s
1 James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ: To the 12 tribes in the Dispersion. Greetings.
Verse 14 — What is meant by sickness?
They were scattered out of Jerusalem because of the persecutions of and 8. And so this is a group of Jewish Christians who are living somewhere in the Mediterranean area.
Because they are Jewish Christians, exalting the name of Jesus, they are under severe persecutions, trials, and tremendous stress. They are experiencing great trouble, persecuted for what they believe. James is writing to them to exhort them to stay faithful. He encourages them to endure — without wavering, without doubting, to look past the persecution, the pain, the suffering to the glory and the crown of life. He calls them to avoid anger with the world, to avoid being vengeful, to avoid an unrighteous attitude. He calls them to put away sin, to obey God’s word. So, it’s all very, very difficult. This is a battlefield.
Verse 14 —
In chapter 5, he returns to the same theme as he closes his letter out. Look at verse 7 of chapter 5.
7 Therefore, brothers, be patient until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and is patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.
8 You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.
9 Brothers, do not complain about one another, so that you will not be judged. Look, the judge stands at the door!
10 Brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name as an example of suffering and patience.
11 See, we count as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job’s endurance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
7 Therefore, brothers, be patient until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and is patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.
The thrust of this is calling them again to be faithful in the persecution and the continual suffering they’re under because this can cause such weakness.
Well, How do you deal with this?
Verse 8 — Be patient, Strengthen your hearts. The Greek word hear for Strengthen your hearts — is to “Prop up your hearts with determination, persistence, inner strength, no complaining, just hanging on.”
And I want you to notice the word there in verse 10 — Suffering. And it means to suffer evil treatment. And then Patience — to endure under the suffering.
So, I want you to get the message of the letter — It’s an exhortation of Christians who are under persecution, and suffering, to hold on, to be strong and without complaint, to endure it all for the name of Jesus Christ.
Alright — so now with that theme in mind, we shouldn’t be surprised that when we come to verse 13 of Chapter 5 and he opens the verse with — “Is anyone among you — What? — Suffering?” This shouldn’t surprise us because that’s what he has been concerned about from the beginning.
And then watch this.
13 Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.
“He should — What? — Pray!
Now I watch the pattern here.
Verse 13 — He should pray.
Verse 14 — They should pray.
Verse 15 — The prayer of faith...
Verse 16 — Pray for one another.
Verse 17 — He prayed.
Verse 18 — He prayed again.
Prayer is mentioned in every single verse from verse 13-18.
What is the theme in these verses?
Prayer, right?
What does this mean?
In all this suffering and trouble you’re going through, what are you to do?
8 You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.
Be patient — that is — Endure. Strengthen you hearts.
How?
Pray. Go to God! This is your divine resource.
This verses have nothing to do with healing. Does this surprise you? It did me. I quite frankly floundered through these verses always wondering what this was about. What is this business of the oil? The prayer of faith with a dab of oil heals someone?
This is the first time he has mentioned prayer and he saves it until here. It is climactic. Are you going through persecution, are you troubled, are you suffering? Then Pray!
This passage is not about healing — It’s about Prayer!
This is the Resource you have. This is the Divine Resource.
Let’s look at what this passage teaches about Prayer.
I. Comfort through Prayer.
I. Comfort through Prayer.
James 5:1
13 Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.
James shows forth a warm, heartfelt, sympathetic Pastoral Heart for these troubled believers. He tenderly recognizes the hardness and harshness of the conflict. And he knows what they need more than anything — They need to Pray.
The primary attention here is those who are suffering. The word here is someone who is weak, defeated, broken in spirit, crushed. This is all understandable in the context. This has absolutely nothing to do with physical sickness or disease at all. There’s no reason that James would just drop in a section on physical healing. This would make no sense in the context at all. These are spiritually weak, spiritually weary, spiritually exhausted, spiritually depressed and this calls for spiritual means to deal with it — and that is what? Prayer.
“Is anyone among you suffering?”
Suffering — again it means to suffer evil treatment. It’s the same word in verse 10. It’s also in .
3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
To suffer evil treatment, suffer persecution. To be abused, treated wickedly. Causing calamity and distress. Are you crushed?
He should pray.
This means a continual pleading. When you’re crushed, weak, and weary from the battle — Continually plead to God for Comfort.
There’s an amazing contrast he throws in:
“Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.”
This is really the opposite of the suffering. If your are cheerful, if in your soul you’re joyful, well in your spirit, then sing praises!
Literally — it is Psalm. He should Psalm. Praise is a spiritual balm, a spiritual comfort. And so — Praise brings spiritual comfort and Prayer brings spiritual comfort.
So, the point here is James is not concerned about healing the sick, but offering the means to spiritual comfort and that comes by prayer.
So, if you’re find yourself emotionally, mentally, spiritually suffering — then You should pray! Go to God!
Now that’s what the individual can do. But there are times when you may be worse off and you can’t even pray.
II. Restoration through Prayer.
II. Restoration through Prayer.
There are times when things are so bad — a person cannot even pray for themselves.
14 Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they should pray over him after anointing him with olive oil in the name of the Lord.
The translations always have “sick.” Regrettably — and it leads everyone to assume James is talking about someone’s physical sickness. Several times in the NT that word can be sickness or disease. It may refer to sickness. But that’s not the primary definition of the Greek word. It’s primary definition is to be in a state of weakness, to be feeble, to be impotent.
19 He considered his own body to be already dead (since he was about 100 years old) and also considered the deadness of Sarah’s womb, without weakening in the faith.
1 Accept anyone who is weak in faith, but don’t argue about doubtful issues.
2 One person believes he may eat anything, but one who is weak eats only vegetables.
Romans 14:1
9 But be careful that this right of yours in no way becomes a stumbling block to the weak.
10 So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, catastrophes, persecutions, and in pressures, because of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
This last verse is the passage about Paul’s “Thorn in the Flesh.” This is the same word. Paul says, “I take pleasure in my weakness, insults, distress, persecutions, difficulties. In other words, this is human weakness from the difficulties of life under suffering and persecution.
Now go back to back to and supply the proper translation.
Is anyone among you weak?
That’s a whole different sense, isn’t it?
I know some of you are suffering — pray. But are any of you so weak? Have you come to that point? Are you defeated?
Listen. Maybe persecution put you there. Maybe sin put you there. But You are so weak, so spiritually defeated. You cannot even draw on the power of God. You’ve tried to pray, but you find yourself to weak.
What co you do when you hit rock bottom?
The spiritually weak need to find someone who is spiritually strong!
Isn’t that what he says?
“He should call for the elders of the church.”
Read the qualifications in and Titus.
They are godly, spiritually mature, strong. Go to them and draw on their strength.
Call — this word means to “call alongside.” Call the elders alongside you. Why? For Restoration!
1 Brothers, if someone is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual should restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so you also won’t be tempted.
It’s the same idea. If you’re spiritually weak and have hit rock bottom, and are overwhelmed, overtaken, struggling — then go to the spiritually strong and let them pray for you.
Let me say this to the pastors here.
Isn’t this a beautiful ministry?
I wonder many times when someone comes to me, what wisdom can I give them. And I feel so inadequate and for good reason. They don’t need my wisdom or opinions. They need me to pray for them.
And watch this!
“After anointing him with olive oil in the name of the Lord.”
This is very interesting. This word anointing is very interesting. It means to rub or oil up. The athletes of the day would have their muscles rubbed up with oil to restore their tired, weak muscles. It literally means to crush over.
46 You didn’t anoint My head with olive oil, but she has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.
Luke 7
This is not ceremonial in any way with just a little dab that is supposed to be reminiscent of the Holy Spirit or something.
People would actually use oil to bathe. It was the base of soap.My wife has a soap she uses for her face that is made from an oil.
It also had a metaphorical sense. To oil someone could mean to stimulate, encourage, warm their heart, provide strength to their weakness. In a literal sense, Christians who were persecuted and their bodies were broken for the cause of Christ, they were actually oiled to restore strength to their bodies. So on one hand, oil was applied to restore strength to their physical bodies. On the other hand, they were encourage, loved, warmed, strengthened, stimulated.
This is really a wonderful ministry of Restoration to strengthen the broken, weary, weak, exhausted, struggling as their pastors come alongside and get on their knees and pray with spiritual strength on behalf of the weak. And in compassion they strengthen, stimulate, bind the broken hearted. This is a ministry of love that we have somehow lost.
— “You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”
my cup overflows.”
And all of this is done in the name of the Lord.
That “in behalf of Christ” or “consistent with His name and person.” To do that in the name of the Lord means to do it because that’s what Christ would do. This might be the place to actually answer the question: What would Christ do? Christ would restore their strength.
Because this is exactly what verse 15 says.
“And the Lord will restore him to health.”
The prayer of Faith — The prayer of the strong and spiritually strong and godly men — offered in faith — will save the sick person. And you guessed it if you’ve been paying attention — That is not the word of Sick! In fact, it’s never been the word for Sick. This word in verse 15 is used only one other time in the NT.
3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, so that you won’t grow weary and lose heart.
That’s what it means — Weary.
So, you go to those who are strong spiritually and they pray in faith — because they are spiritually strong. And the one who is weary will be restored.
The Lord will restore him.
The word means to “rebuild, raise up, awaken, to excite!” Isn’t that tremendous! This believer has lost his excitement, his enthusiasm. The Lord will restore him. What a beautiful promise!
And if he has commited sins
This proves that it’s not about sickness or disease because not all disease is related to sin. But if there is spiritual weariness and weakness, spiritual defeat, and it’s a result of sin — then confessing that sin, God will forgive you. The text actually reads, if it’s a possibly your weakness and weariness is because of sin, then the Lord will forgive you.
What a beautiful ministry of Restoration.
III. Care through Prayer
III. Care through Prayer
James 5:16
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.
Therefore — here is a transition from individual prayer, spiritually strong prayer, and now to congregational prayer. This is care of the whole church. This is fellowship, if you will.
Confess your sins to one another. This doesn’t mean every bit of garbage, but not to hide sin. Sin thrives in solitude and isolation and privacy. God wants it open and exposed. And this happens in the church when we confess our sins to one another with people who love you. Sin not confessed and exposed causes spiritual weakness, weariness, exhaustion and defeat. So, open up and share. Seek forgiveness with one another.
And this — one another is one another of the same kind, people just like you. This means you’re confessing your sins to believers! This is so missing in the church. We farmed this out to so called “professionals,” AND they’re not of the same kind! So, we’re trying to get worldly wisdom for spiritual problems from those who are not spiritually awakened!
So that you may be Healed.
Share your life so that you may be healed. This is the purpose of Mutual Prayer. This is not necessarily physical healing, especially in this context.
15 For this people’s heart has grown callous; their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn back— and I would cure them.
40 He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they would not see with their eyes or understand with their hearts, and be converted, and I would heal them.
Peter described the healing from sin that Christ purchased for believers on the cross.
24 He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness; you have been healed by His wounds.
Here’s the Point
Here’s the Point
If you’re suffering, pray! and Keep Praying.
If you’ve hit rock bottom, from persecution, or severe trouble in your life, or even sin has debilitated you spiritually that you can’t even pray. Go to the spiritually strong men — your pastors, your elders — and have them come alongside you and pray for you.
And remain in close contact with the church family in intimate fellowship that with their care, you will may remain free of sin and spiritually strong.
“The urgent request of a Righteous Person is very POWERFUL in its effect.”
This is why you go to the elders. This is so simple and straightforward. This is why you share with one another, because a righteous person praying is tremendously powerful. And it’s effective. This is the Greek word for energy. So the energetic empowered prayer of a righteous man who has no issues with sin in his life is going to have a tremendous impact.
Is very powerful in its effect
That is before God is very strong. And this is where this powerful illustration of Elijah is so interesting. Look at verse 17.
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours; yet he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land.
“A man with a nature like ours.”
Elijah was a man (ἄνθρωπος — general) like us, like you. He suffered. He hungered. He was afraid. He grew tired. What is this showing us?
ἄνθρωπος) like us, like you.
He was like us, but he prayed earnestly. Literally, this is “he prayed praying.” And what happened? It didn’t rain! He prayed again after 3 1/2 years and it rained again! His prayers were powerful, effective because he was strong spiritually.
So, what a blessing this text actually is. It has nothing to do with physical sickness and physical healing. This is for spiritual restoration and protection. This is to regain spiritual strength and health. This is to remain spiritually strong. This is why your local church family is so vital to your spiritual strength. You cannot go this thing alone. You weren’t meant to go it alone.
God has given this wonderful ministry of Restoration and spiritual strengthening to the church. We should thrive in it.