James 5:13-20--The Prayer of Faith

James 5:13-20 English Standard Version (ESV)
The Prayer of Faith
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 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 one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 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. 17 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. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 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.
Listen Here:  https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/Jas.5.13-Jas.5.20​

---

This is it, the last passage in the book of James.  James sums it all up with a word of encouragement about how the prayer of faith can be an effectual weapon.  Those who are suffering should pray and remember to sing praises to God in the midst of their suffering--remember to focus on who God is and not on your circumstances because His identity doesn't change based off of how you feel in the moment.

James instructs those that are sick to call for the elders to pray for them and anoint them with oil (symbolic of the Holy Spirit being poured out on someone) and we are told that the one who is sick will be healed , the Lord will raise them up and their sin will be forgiven--that's a strange addition.  Why is James talking about their sin being forgiven if they are sick and need healing?  I believe the context here is there is a spiritual issue that has manifested itself in physical illness.  People don't like to admit it, but sin doesn't only take its toll on the soul, but also on the body.  It seems like James it talking about this kind of a situation when he's saying that we should call the elders and pray for healing--the fact that the person calls for the elders and for prayer shows that they want to be put back in a right relationship with God and this is why their prayer is heard and why healing takes place.  This is not magic where you use the right oils and ointments and say the right words and God has to do what you want Him to do..

James then encourages us to not get into that situation by always taking care of our sins by confessing them to God and to each other and to always pray for one another for healing and forgiveness.  God listens to the prayers of the righteous (those in right standing with Him because they are not living lives of sin that what interfere with their fellowship with God).  They are likely to be praying in the will of God and therefore God will give them what they ask for because they are already asking for what God wants to do.  

James talks about the faith of Elijah who prayed and God closed up the heavens and there was no rain for three and a half years, and then prayed again and the Lord opened up the heavens and it rained so hard that the dry ground became muddy and the chariots of the king got stuck, and the land which had become a desert was brought back to life.  This was a miracle done by God through Elijah and it reminds us of the miracle that God does in each and every one of us to take something that is fruitless and barren and bring it to life as only He can.

Last but certainly not least, James answers the question that Cain asked back in Genesis 4, "Am I my brother's keeper?"  The answer to that question is, "Yes!"  We are told that if we see a brother going astray and wandering into error and false teaching to bring him back.  If we see them sinning we are to talk to them and pray with and for them so that they will have a restored relationship with God.  If we see that they are ill we should pray for their healing and not just us, but the elders of the Church--this way their spiritual and physical needs can be attended to.  We are to watch over each other and to love each other as we want to be loved and as Christ has loved us.