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Main Idea
Repentance and restoration are community efforts to rally one another to continue running the race.
How many of you like sports movies or movies with epic battle scenes? In these types of movies, there are usually peak inspirational moments in the form of what I like to call power cries, and there are usually two different types. There is a battle cry, and then there is a rally cry. Battle cries are the ones that give us chills as an entire army screams at the opposing force just before they sprint toward them. But then, there is the rally cry, which is usually done before the battle (think William Wallace addressing his men and the epic line: They may take our lives, but they will never take our freedom!) or in the locker room/sideline before the big game. The rallying cry is the pep-talk meant to infuse the team or army with hope and purpose and inspire them to action.
Today, James gives the church one final rallying cry as he ends his letter.
Passage
James 5:13–20 CSB
Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect. Elijah was a human being as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land. Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land produced its fruit.
My brothers and sisters, if any among you strays from the truth, and someone turns him back, let that person know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
I – Prayer
Prayer is mentioned 7 times in 6 verses and is the dominant theme of this final passage in James.
It would be difficult to walk away without seeing that prayer is both the bedrock of the Christian life and the nourishing rain that saturates every nook and cranny of our circumstances, relationships, and desires. So, let’s look at all of the different ways prayer is to be incorporated into our lives.
When
Suffering – The circumstantial hardships we endure as divine tests crafted to perfect our faith. This is the central theme of the book.
Sick— In addition to circumstantial hardships, we are told to seek prayer for physical sickness and ailments.
To confront sin – James has spent five chapters addressing issues in the church: inner temptation, double-minded doubt, favoritism, spiritual adultery and murder, death faith, a destructive tongue, bitter envy, selfish ambition, infighting, arrogant boasting, and the pursuit of riches over the pursuit of God and the failure to uphold the royal law of love. Prayer combats the sins done in the flesh by our old selves.
To bring provision – when we need wisdom from God, unity in the church, and for the widow from Elijah’s story referenced in verses 17-18 (the supernatural provision of food and son’s resurrection.)
Restoration—The prophets of Baal were defeated, and rain again nourished the land (also from Elijah’s story). This is the unifying effect of the Royal Law of love specifically and the outcome of following God’s commands generally.
Magnifying God’s glory is the entire point of the book and provides practical wisdom for daily living. We do all this to become more Christ-like and reflect the God who always gives greater grace.
Takeaway # 1. Pray and seek prayer in every circumstance. Prayer is like a gentle rain, nourishing dry souls and reviving withering roots. It will invigorate everywhere it falls.
Who
You – You are encouraged to pray during your trials and sufferings.
Elders – These are the leaders and under-shepherds of God’s flock. They are to embody righteous living through the requirements for Elders that Paul would eventually write down. You are to seek them out when you are sick, and they are to anoint with oil (used for medicinal purposes like from the parable of the Good Samaritan, which represents refreshment, restoration, and being set apart for a sacred purpose) and pray the prayer of faith over you. This is not a mystical or gnostic-type prayer known only to those who attain the highest levels of Christian knowledge and experience, nor is it a proof text that it is God’s will to heal you, and the only limitation is your own faith. It is a prayer in faith by an under-shepherd who believes in God without doubting, who recognizes that God always gives grace, and D.V. (Deo Volente or Lord willing), He will heal this person and raise them up.
Friends – Ask your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ (pray for one another that you may be healed). We are all part of one body, invested in each other’s growth, and are called by Peter as a royal priesthood… each one of us. We are called to have each other’s backs as we strive to live out our faith. When one of us is down and hurting, we operate like a good coach in a sports movie during a halftime speech in the locker room… we rally around the teammates who need encouragement, prayer, a pep-talk, an atta-boy, and whatever else they may need so they can get back in the game and get the job done!
Prophet – Elijah is offered up as the example of the effectual prayer of a righteous person. While he did amazing things, he is introduced into the discussion as “a human being as we are,” which is to say, “he is just like any one of us.” Elijah’s prayers and submission to God in the referenced story kept the rain from falling for 3.5 years. During that time, God provided for a widow’s daily food needs and raised her son to life. Elijah challenged the 450 prophets of Baal, and God established His sovereignty over His creation through their defeat. These are amazing stories of victory and strong faith. Elijah is also the man who immediately goes into hiding, scared for his life because of Ahab’s wife, Jezebel. Elijah isn’t given as an example of perfection… he is an example of an ordinary man without prestige or pedigree who did extraordinary things by praying in faith to a God that he fully trusted.
Takeaway #2: If a man who can stand strong one moment and be terrified the next can pray a powerful, effectual prayer, so can you.
However, the power of prayer in this section is not how a person can pray for their own restoration. Instead, a web of prayer has been created, with the one in need at its center. They may have prayed for themselves while suffering in trials, but when they are sick, they ask for prayer and are covered by prayer from everyone else around them. The one in need is not the one praying the prayer of faith or exhorted to be the righteous person whose prayer is powerfully effectual. Their brothers and sisters in Christ are doing that on their behalf. They have surrounded themselves with Elijahs. This is a rally cry from the community on behalf of the individual, because repentance and restoration is a community affair.
Takeaway #3: Surround yourself with Elijahs. Asking for prayer allows your church family to obey scripture and intercede for you. The imperative commands to pray in James’s final bit of wisdom are not prayers for yourself. They are commands to pray for others.
Why
Physical healing. Let’s not shy away from the reality that Jesus is our Healer and Great Physician.
Spiritual healing. As Paul said, outwardly, we are wasting away. We live and operate in a physical universe and should be good stewards of the body that has given us to live in it, and when it is sick or broken, we should seek restoration. But there will come a day when this body dies, and we need to remember that we have a physical body and a spiritual one. While the outward person is wasting away because it is carnal and temporary, the inner person is being renewed day by day and is eternal. And when Jesus comes back, there will be a resurrection and a reunion of spirit and resurrected body. That body will be an incorruptible one… praise God… but we need to see that even pursuing physical healing is paired with spiritual healing. Where physical ailments are present, spiritual illness is present also. The healing sought should always be holistic. The prayer of faith is for the removal of the disease or injury and the forgiveness of sin, which in some cases has initiated the sickness.
God’s glory is achieved when we live the life we are called to live and for which we are given practical wisdom.
Takeaway #4: God cares about all of you. Even when we ask for physical healing, we should also seek spiritual restoration.
Sin plays a role at times, so they should be confessed.
II – Confession
To God
We don’t need to confess to a priest in a church confessional box or pray to dead saints to intercede for us.
We have a direct line to Jesus, our great High Priest, and when we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Even when we confess to others, they are still a representative of Christ’s body on earth. We are still making our request to and are forgiven by the Head.
In the presence of the Elders and other believers
We shouldn’t neglect the power of community. We deceive ourselves if we think we can grow and mature independently. Hidden sins pave the road to desolate lands. Can you pray in seclusion to Jesus for forgiveness? Absolutely! But don’t neglect the healing power of community because they are also a means God has provided for you. As one body, when one part is injured, the other parts come to its aid.
The Elders are God’s under-shepherds and overseers. Part of their job description is caring for and nurturing the flock. When the Elders come to pray over the sick person, they also ask if there are any unconfessed sins because they recognize that, at times, sin can corrupt the physical person just as much as the spiritual person. On more than one occasion, Jesus healed by saying, “Your sins are forgiven.” So, confession with the Elders is an important step, and remember… the Elder-sheep relationship is not one of condemnation but one of care and restoration.
The Flock. We are also called to trust each other with the intimacy of loving siblings. Even if you need some tough love to get you out of the rut, confessing to a trusted brother or sister should always lead to restoration and a way to be unshackled and liberated from that particular sin.
Fulfillment of ‘One Anothers’
These are also two of the 40+ ‘One Anothers’ in scripture, reinforcing the truth that we cannot live the Christian life apart from the Christian community. How can we confess our sins and pray for one another if we fly solo?
Marriage conferences often discuss the unity of husband and wife or their oneness. When this is discussed, I always imagine a husband and wife holding one another so that the other doesn’t fall away, as opposed to them only holding themselves, in which case the other can fall away freely. How much more powerfully could we live our faith if we embraced this same concept with each other in our Life Groups, Bible Studies, Discipleship Groups, Ministry Teams, and church gatherings?
Takeaway #5: We are called to be prayerfully committed to one another.
III – Praise
Are you cheerful? Are you currently in a stage of life where you are enjoying the fruit of a finished trial? Or, maybe you are still in the midst of a trial but are experiencing God’s nearness in a way you never have before. Despite the reason for the cheerfulness, the result should be the same. Praise the Lord!
Overt Praise
By overt, I mean the praise that is mentioned in the text.
Praise should be your reaction when free of suffering. The way this is written seems like it is given as an opposite scenario to suffering:
• Scenario 1: are you suffering? Solution: PRAY.
• Scenario 2: are you cheerful? Solution: Sing Praises. Why? Because you are not suffering! And hopefully, you aren’t currently suffering because you passed the test!
So, why do we have this advice? First, we give it because God deserves it. Second, we are all prone to forgetting God when we are no longer in emergency mode. When things are tough, we cling to Him, but when things are good, we tend to become complacent in our faith, and when that happens, a few things can happen.
1. we backslide and lose sight of our first love because the Christian life is never stationary. You are either moving forward or backward… closer to Christ or away from Christ.
2. we become bratty Christians. Sometimes, when we experience God’s blessings and see His promises in the scriptures, we become entitled, acting as though the good life and God’s graces are owed to us.
One of the best ways to protect yourself from either of these pitfalls is to humble yourself, kneel before your Creator, and praise Him for who He is.
Covert Praise
By covert, I don’t mean hidden praise done in secret, but the type of praise implied in the text but not mentioned directly.
- Praise God for healing.
- Praise God for the unveiling and forgiveness of sin.
- Praise God for His grace and love for a repentant prodigal.
You want every believer to be in a state of cheerfulness that overflows into joy-filled songs of praise to God for his goodness.
Takeaway #6: Praise keeps us humble and God exalted.
IV – Accountability
Unlike many of Paul’s letters, there is no formal farewell to James’ letter.
Instead, James leaves the church with one final rallying cry. He reminds them to remind each other what effect evangelism has on a sinner and a loving rebuke has on a brother or sister: They are saved from spiritual death, and their sins atoned for and forgiven (see similar language in Ps. 32:1; Ps. 85:2). When we stray from the truth or a sinner comes to repentance, sin is defeated. God’s grace is demonstrated, and we have rallied around one another, just as we should.
His final exhortation is for the church to be the church. All of the wisdom he has given is for you to live out your in community, not in isolation… to endure trials so your faith is matured and refined… and to magnify God’s glory in the world around you.
Final takeaway: Stop being distracted, pray for the wisdom you need to live out your faith and be the church.
Questions to Consider
1. What is the central theme in this passage?
2. Who is Elijah, and why does James mention him?
3. How might confessing your sins to a trusted believer help in your spiritual growth?
4. What steps can you take to help a fellow believer who has strayed from the truth?