James 5:13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray.
It can be hard to pray when life is going well but, when we’re in trouble, prayer becomes our native tongue. We don’t have to read a book on prayer, take a class on prayer, or ask someone else to pray for us. When serious trouble comes, we know how to pray.
When I was in third grade I walked home from school, through the neighborhood park, on a Friday afternoon. There was some construction going on and I saw a floodlight on the ground with a sticker that said, unbreakable glass.
I’d never heard of unbreakable glass, and I wondered if it was possible. I’ve never destroyed anyone’s property, or ever wanted to, but I picked up a piece of wood and hit the glass as hard as I could. To my dismay, the unbreakable glass shattered into a million pieces. Why did they call it unbreakable glass?
I quickly looked around to see if there were any witnesses, and I saw a girl who was two years older than me. She asked my name, and all I could think of was John Smith. She said, No you’re not. You’re Shane Houle, and you’re in big trouble.
I went home and prepared to die. Even if I explained myself, who would ever believe that I didn’t intend to break the glass? I hit it as hard as I could with a piece of wood! All I could do was pray. So I prayed most of that night, and most of the following day.
That Sunday, in church, I told God that if he’d keep my secret, I would become his servant. Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, and God kept my secret. And, several years later, he collected on my promise. Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray.
James 5:14-15 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up.
The lack of modern medicine helped people look to God whenever they were sick. Jesus was famous for healing (Luke 4:40), and commissioned his apostles to heal as well (Matthew 10:1). Others in the church also had gifts of healing (1 Corinthians 12:9, 28, 30), so it’s no surprise that James encouraged suffering Christians to call for prayers of healing. But what was the oil for?
The Good Samaritan cared for the wounded man by pouring on oil and wine (Luke 10:34). The prophet Isaiah spoke of open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with olive oil (Isaiah 1:6). The disciples anointed many sick people with oil and healed them (Mark 6:13). Oil was thought to be medicinal, and was used along with prayer.
But oil is also symbolic of the Holy Spirit. Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed [David] . . . and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David (1 Samuel 16:13). The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me (Luke 4:18), said Jesus.
When the elders were invited to pray for the sick, they may’ve applied the oil medicinally, or to symbolize the Spirit’s power to heal, or both. All healing is a gift from God, whether it occurs naturally or supernaturally, with or without prayer, with or without medicine.
James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.
Sickness can be the result of sin so, whenever illness comes, we should examine ourselves for unconfessed sin. Ordinarily, confession should only be made to those whom we have sinned against. If we’ve sinned against God, we should confess to God. If we’ve sinned against our neighbor, we should confess to our neighbor. If we’ve sinned against a group, we should confess to the group. This should always be our practice, whether or not we’re sick, and whether or not we hope to recover.
A pastor I knew was forced out of his church by a man who then became the pastor. Some time later the man became ill, and called the former pastor to his death bed. He said the reason he forced him out was because he wanted his position. Then he died but at least he cleared his conscience.
James 5:19-20 My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
As soon as we come to Christ, our sinful nature wants to lead us away from him. Since all God’s people are prone to wander, we have a duty to go after strays, and bring them back to the fold.
David spied on Bathsheba, while she was bathing, and summoned her to his palace (2 Samuel 11:1-27). One thing led to another, she became pregnant, and David killed her husband to save his own reputation. Suddenly this man of God was up to his eyeballs in moral failure. And he refused to come clean.
Months past but there was no repentance or confession—just a fallen soldier enmeshed in his own sin. Finally, his friend Nathan came by and helped restore him to God (2 Samuel 12:1-13). Because of Nathan’s help, David came back to the Lord.
A common theme I hear from men is that, at one time, they weren’t doing well spiritually. The train was off the track and they were far from God. Then God sent a Nathan, to help them get back on track, so their lives could go in the right direction again. If someone you know has wandered off, perhaps you can be a Nathan.
Reflection and Review
Have you ever prayed desperately?
Why was oil used for healing?
Has God ever sent you a Nathan?
It can be hard to pray when life is going well but, when we’re in trouble, prayer becomes our native tongue. We don’t have to read a book on prayer, take a class on prayer, or ask someone else to pray for us. When serious trouble comes, we know how to pray.
When I was in third grade I walked home from school, through the neighborhood park, on a Friday afternoon. There was some construction going on and I saw a floodlight on the ground with a sticker that said, unbreakable glass.
I’d never heard of unbreakable glass, and I wondered if it was possible. I’ve never destroyed anyone’s property, or ever wanted to, but I picked up a piece of wood and hit the glass as hard as I could. To my dismay, the unbreakable glass shattered into a million pieces. Why did they call it unbreakable glass?
I quickly looked around to see if there were any witnesses, and I saw a girl who was two years older than me. She asked my name, and all I could think of was John Smith. She said, No you’re not. You’re Shane Houle, and you’re in big trouble.
I went home and prepared to die. Even if I explained myself, who would ever believe that I didn’t intend to break the glass? I hit it as hard as I could with a piece of wood! All I could do was pray. So I prayed most of that night, and most of the following day.
That Sunday, in church, I told God that if he’d keep my secret, I would become his servant. Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, and God kept my secret. And, several years later, he collected on my promise. Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray.
James 5:14-15 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up.
The lack of modern medicine helped people look to God whenever they were sick. Jesus was famous for healing (Luke 4:40), and commissioned his apostles to heal as well (Matthew 10:1). Others in the church also had gifts of healing (1 Corinthians 12:9, 28, 30), so it’s no surprise that James encouraged suffering Christians to call for prayers of healing. But what was the oil for?
The Good Samaritan cared for the wounded man by pouring on oil and wine (Luke 10:34). The prophet Isaiah spoke of open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with olive oil (Isaiah 1:6). The disciples anointed many sick people with oil and healed them (Mark 6:13). Oil was thought to be medicinal, and was used along with prayer.
But oil is also symbolic of the Holy Spirit. Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed [David] . . . and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David (1 Samuel 16:13). The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me (Luke 4:18), said Jesus.
When the elders were invited to pray for the sick, they may’ve applied the oil medicinally, or to symbolize the Spirit’s power to heal, or both. All healing is a gift from God, whether it occurs naturally or supernaturally, with or without prayer, with or without medicine.
James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.
Sickness can be the result of sin so, whenever illness comes, we should examine ourselves for unconfessed sin. Ordinarily, confession should only be made to those whom we have sinned against. If we’ve sinned against God, we should confess to God. If we’ve sinned against our neighbor, we should confess to our neighbor. If we’ve sinned against a group, we should confess to the group. This should always be our practice, whether or not we’re sick, and whether or not we hope to recover.
A pastor I knew was forced out of his church by a man who then became the pastor. Some time later the man became ill, and called the former pastor to his death bed. He said the reason he forced him out was because he wanted his position. Then he died but at least he cleared his conscience.
James 5:19-20 My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
As soon as we come to Christ, our sinful nature wants to lead us away from him. Since all God’s people are prone to wander, we have a duty to go after strays, and bring them back to the fold.
David spied on Bathsheba, while she was bathing, and summoned her to his palace (2 Samuel 11:1-27). One thing led to another, she became pregnant, and David killed her husband to save his own reputation. Suddenly this man of God was up to his eyeballs in moral failure. And he refused to come clean.
Months past but there was no repentance or confession—just a fallen soldier enmeshed in his own sin. Finally, his friend Nathan came by and helped restore him to God (2 Samuel 12:1-13). Because of Nathan’s help, David came back to the Lord.
A common theme I hear from men is that, at one time, they weren’t doing well spiritually. The train was off the track and they were far from God. Then God sent a Nathan, to help them get back on track, so their lives could go in the right direction again. If someone you know has wandered off, perhaps you can be a Nathan.
Reflection and Review
Have you ever prayed desperately?
Why was oil used for healing?
Has God ever sent you a Nathan?