Pray About Everything
James 5:13-20 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
There are a lot of situations for prayer in these 8 verses. Although we are to pray unceasingly, this passage encourages us to pray specifically when:
Psalm 118:5 Out of my distress I called on the LORD, the LORD answered me and set me free.
Hebrews 5:7 During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
Mark 6:12-13 They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
Exodus 40:9 Take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy.
Psalm 66:18 If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;
Proverbs 15:29 The LORD is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
Psalm 34:15-19 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry; the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;
That is why James tells us in verses 19-20, My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
When one church member hurts, sins, or has trouble, all the church family suffers with them. When one wanders from the faith in deception and sin, he is walking in the pathway of death and it effects all of us.
We are to love each other so much that our love motivates us to minister to that wandering person, save him from death, and restore him to the Body of Christ.
1 Peter 4:8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
That means God’s love in us holds no grudges nor unforgiveness towards the wanderer when he returns. That is how God restores the sinner and heals the entire Body of Christ.
1. It is not always God’s will to heal physically; otherwise, no sick believer’s body would ever die. Even though his body dies, the believer in Christ will live forever.