Pray for One Another! James 5:13-18
Job lost everything when he refused to curse God for his troubles. The Lord rewarded him by restoring everything even better than before. Job showed us the real business of life – worshipping God through every test, every challenge, every stumble. This means praying not just for yourself, but for others. There may be a hurting soul quietly pleading for someone to pray to deliverance, knowing that God hears our prayers for each other.
This is where our lesson today leads us. After learning how to pray from Christ and finding out how much invested in prayer He was, today our lesson takes us beyond the realm of our own needs to lift others up before the Lord. Be blessed
James 5:13-15 “Is any…” is what these series of questions coming from James is opening with and it speaks volumes to Christians everywhere. It lets us know that there is a universal need for prayer. Men and women, no matter their status in life, need to be lifted up before God via a heavenly petition and we have the responsibility to do the lifting. F.B. Meyers who said, “The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer,”
Suffering can come in the form of troubled hearts and minds or troubled bodies dealing with illness. James keyed us in on what we can do: “PRAY!” Psalm 50:15 says, “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” If there is trouble of any kind for anyone: “PRAY!”
Will that deliverance come instantly? For some, perhaps it will but for others, no. There are times when God’s deliverance doesn’t look the way we think it should look. Take Paul for instance who prayed three times and God’s answer of deliverance was “grace,” (2 Corinthians 12:9). God’s grace was going to see him through his “thorn in the flesh,” thereby fostering a spirit of deliverance deep down on the inside of him.
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done,” (Philippians 4:6, NLT version). “Any” is everything and James’ answer for it all is to “PRAY!”
The prayer of faith shall save the sick.” Jesus once told the centurion, “Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee,” (Matthew 8:13). “Faith” plays a key role in the receiving of miracles and praying for others (see also Mark 10:52). This faith is being sure and confident in the One to whom we pray for healing. It’s that blessed assurance belief that He “is faithful that promised,” (Hebrews 10:23), if it be within His will. As we have seen with Paul, sometimes God wants His “grace” to be manifested. At other times prayers may be asked “amiss,” (James 4:3) resulting in going unanswered. Regardless, prayer is NEVER the wrong answer.
“If he committed sins, they shall be forgiven them.” Part of the elders job involves praying for the restoration of the sin sick individual; the one who has “missed the mark” and is seeking to be healed spiritually (compare Christ’s example in Luke 7:44-48).
James 5:13 Continuing with the theme of “forgiveness” and “prayer” James teaches to “confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.” Spiritual healing as well as physical healing can be found when we “confess” and “pray one for another.” We also have the responsibility to only confer with one another about our shortcomings and sin, but we have to take it to the Lord. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
James 5:17-18 Here, we are given the illustration of Elijah. It did not rain for 3½ years. When Elijah prayed again, it rained. The prayers of a righteous man made the difference. “The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry,” (Psalm 34:15, emphasis mine). Your prayers work and God hears them. Don’t ever let the enemy convince you that your prayers are for naught, because they aren’t. Your prayers are not reliant on your strength or power; rather, He to whom you are releasing your cares, your worries and the plights of your fellow man.