James 5:13–18
The Prayer of Faith Saves the Sick
Living the Word: Faith in Action
Prayer is one of faith’s clearest acts of trust.
James teaches us
- Every condition must be taken to God
- The sick must be brought before the Lord
- The righteous must pray like God hears
What was the first thing you reached for?
Prayer, or everything else first?
Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.
James 5:13
I.
Every condition must be taken to God
James 5:13–14
Suffering must pray.
Not after every other option is exhausted.
Going to God first declares what you believe about Him.
Cheerfulness must praise.
Joy belongs to God too.
Praise in ordinary mercy trains the heart before hard seasons come.
Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;
James 5:14
The sick member calls.
The elders come. The church moves.
Why do we not call?
- Pride
- Doubt
- Relational distance
- Shame
Those reasons are understandable.
None of them are in the text.
and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
Luke 10:34
The oil is care.
The prayer is faith. The power is the Lord’s.
II.
The sick must be brought before the Lord in faith
James 5:15–16
and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
James 5:15
Do not soften the promise until it means nothing.
God hears. God acts.
The Lord will raise him up.
Not the oil. Not the elders. Not prayer as a technique.
He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.
Matthew 28:6
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,”
John 11:25
The prayer of faith is not wasted when the faithful Christian dies.
The Lord still raises him up.
But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.
James 1:6
For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,
James 1:7
God’s sovereignty is not an excuse for doubtful prayer.
It is a reason to pray boldly with open hands.
Not every illness is tied to personal sin.
But sin can have bodily consequences.
Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
John 9:3
For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.
1 Corinthians 11:30
Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
James 5:16
Confession is not private guilt management.
It is honest sin named to a trusted Christian who can pray.
When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me.
Psalm 32:3–4
I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; and You forgave the guilt of my sin.
Psalm 32:5
Behold, the LORD’S hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear.
Isaiah 59:1
But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
Isaiah 59:2
You cannot confess to someone you do not know.
Thin relationships make James 5:16 hard to obey.
III.
The righteous must pray like God hears them
James 5:17–18
Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain,
James 5:17
and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.
James 5:17
Elijah was a man like us.
Same limits. Same fears. Same human weakness.
Now Elijah the Tishbite... said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand,”
1 Kings 17:1
“surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”
1 Kings 17:1
Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he crouched down on the earth and put his face between his knees.
1 Kings 18:42
He said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” So he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go back” seven times.
1 Kings 18:43
It came about at the seventh time, that he said, “Behold, a cloud as small as a man’s hand is coming up from the sea.”
1 Kings 18:44
Persistence was not doubt.
It was faith that kept asking.
Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.
James 5:18
The result was specific because the prayer was specific.
Are we praying with Elijah’s seriousness?
Or are we hoping without asking?
Examine your prayer life
- Not only for frequency
- But for faith
- And for sin left in the dark
Let the church be what James says the church is supposed to be.
Someone has to call. Someone has to go. Someone has to say the hard thing.
Let your children hear real prayer.
Specific. Persistent. Honest. Expecting God to hear.
The Lord raises up.
To health now, or to glory at the last day.
If you are outside of Christ, obey the gospel.
- Hear the Word.
- Believe Christ.
- Repent and confess.
- Be baptized for the remission of sins.
Do not carry it alone.
If you need prayer, come now.