James 5:13-20, “The prayer of the righteous.”
Today’s text is from James about how we, as the body of Christ, should function and live in the community of faith. We Christians belong to the community of faith headed by Christ. In this sense, there is no such thing as an individual Christian separated from the body of Christ. As members of the church community, the body of Christ, we are responsible for one another. We have a duty toward one another to grow, build, and expand God’s kingdom on earth. Simply put, we are each other’s keepers! Individualism, — the attitude of minding my own business, nobody else’s –, is an anti-Christian attitude. Again, we are each other’s keepers.
With that said, in our text, the first thing James teaches to the body of Christ is to always remain in God, depend on and recognize God, thanking and do God’s work. Verse 13, “Is anyone among you suffering? Let them pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let them sing psalms.” Do we notice here that James treats “suffering” as a part of life, even for Christians? Suffering is not a misfortune that only happens to some people. “Suffering” happens to all as a part of life living in this sinful and sin-sick world. Rodney was shot and killed at the age of 42, leaving a 19-year-old Gabriel to pay for all the funeral costs and to care for his little brother, Dalton. James advises that when we go through “suffering,” we are to pray because only God can help us and strengthen us to go through what we have to go through. Unfortunately, many people who go through extreme suffering leave God or cannot seem to bring themselves to pray, wallowing in their pain and suffering and being isolated from the community of faith. To come out as victors through our life struggles, we need God’s helping hands to overcome obstacles in life. That is why we need to pray.
“Is anyone among you cheerful? Let them sing psalms.” When we are having good and propitious times without any problems, we are to sing praises to God for the blessings we enjoy. Every good thing comes from God; it is God who solves our problems, changing painful situations or circumstances around so that we can be cheerful and happy. We are to give thanks with psalms to God in such happy times. However, when life is going great, some people forget God and enjoy their blessings apart from God. I know a man who prayed and prayed when his business was going downhill, but when God, listening to his prayers, turned his situation around and blessed his business, he was too busy enjoying his blessings, playing golf, hiking, or hanging out with his friends on Sunday, skipping worship services; he became a backslider. In good or bad times, we must remain in God, seeking His face or singing praises for His goodness.
The second thing we are to note is the importance of prayer in healing and saving souls. Verse 14 reads, “Is anyone among you sick? Let them call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.” James teaches the community of faith that when they are sick, they are to call for elders, –pastors–, to pray for them with the anointing of oil and in the name of the Lord. The anointing of oil symbolizes the power of the Holy Spirit. The name of the Lord is the name of Jesus. Do we see here that it takes a triune God to heal people? They are to pray to God with the anointing of oil, the presence of the Holy Spirit, and the name of Jesus. Some say that the anointing of oil was a medicinal practice in ancient times. If that is the case, one should know that any medical treatments one gets should be in the name of Jesus because all medicines, doctors, and nurses are instruments of God to heal people. Nothing works apart from our triune God –Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Our triune God is the Ultimate Healer!
Regarding prayer and healing in vs. 15, we must be aware of blind faith. In other words, we should not interpret “The prayer of faith will save the sick” as a guarantee of healing if we pray in faith. Many people stumble over this verse, thinking they are not being healed because they lack faith. Let’s note here “faith.” What kind of “faith” is it? Faith in who? Having “faith” in God, isn’t it? Having “faith” in God denotes knowing and respecting God for who He is. Our God is Almighty God; He can do all things. But this God is also a Sovereign God, having infinite knowledge we cannot access. What God does and decides in His infinite wisdom and knowledge, at times, we cannot possibly understand. In other words, God does not always answer in the way we wanted, how we wanted. God cannot and will not always answer our prayers as we wanted. I must remind you that even Jesus’ prayer was not answered as he prayed. “My God, please, remove this cup from me!” God could not remove the cup Jesus had to drink from him because the Father God wanted to save humans from their eternal damnation. In this context, we should pray for others in faith, expecting God to heal them, but leave the matter in God’s hands. If God does not grant immediate healing for our prayers of faith, we ought to respect the reasons hidden in God’s heart and mind.
Having said that, many are not healed simply because no prayer of faith is offered. I am surprised that many sick people say that they do not want to bother God with their problems. They said there are so many other people God has to help. Wow! I simply do not know what to make of such an attitude. Is it a Christian spirit to yield healing to others? Or is it a disguise for their lack of faith in God? I had a spiritual formation professor who said he would not pray for a parking space at busy shopping malls; he thought that was a selfish prayer. When I first heard that, I was impressed with his noble(?) attitude; I felt that it was a selfless attitude, so I tried to imitate him for a while. But one day, when I tried to find a parking space while biting my tongue not to pray for a parking space, God spoke to me. “Don’t you think I can provide a parking space without disadvantaging others? Do you want to limit me to your level?” That was an eye-opening experience for me. I then realized that God is beyond and above human limitations; God can do all things beautiful at any given time. When we are sick, we are to pray earnestly; God can never be overwhelmed or weary like humans. We are to pray for the sick with humble confidence that they will be healed unless God clearly and powerfully makes it clear that this is not His will. Having prayed, we simply leave the matter to God.
Another important point we are to know from our text is that healing requires confession of sin in vs. 16. “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” Of course, there are many dimensions of healing: spiritual, physical, emotional, relational, etc. Also, not all sicknesses are the result of sin. However, noting from our text, a person’s sickness may be the direct result of some sin that has not been dealt with, as Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 11:30. In this context, confession is an absolute necessity, especially for spiritual healing. Without confession, there is no forgiveness of sins. The early churches practiced public confession. They stood before the congregation and confessed their sins, which was a powerful tool to keep their Christian identity pure and holy before God.
When we sin, we are to confess to God. However, that is not enough. We must also confess and ask for forgiveness from the person we have sinned against. When that is not possible, we can confess to our spiritual advisor or pastor and sometimes to the entire church when we sin openly in public. Otherwise, one will have the burden of sin in one’s heart without knowing the true liberation from sin.
Lastly, the second half of verse 16 says, “…The effective and fervent prayer of a righteous avails much.” In other words, not everyone’s prayer is weighed the same in God’s eyes. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective in the NIV. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, yet when he prayed, heaven was shut, and when he prayed again, the heaven opened. What is the difference between their prayers and ours? For one thing, they are after God’s heart, obeying to be hands and feet of God. They prayed according to God’s will. Elijah prayed for famine because that was God’s will for Israel, which turned against God. That is the essence of prayer: praying for God’s will be done. If we are willing, God helps us to pray according to His will instead of our will. All that we are and do is because of God’s power working in us, not because we are righteous in and of ourselves. Do we know God’s heart? God wants to save people who are lost, –who are wandering off from God. It is God’s will to save people from death. Do we know God’s will? It is God’s will for us to pray fervently for the lost souls. Who will pray to save souls for God?