An airliner was bound for New York City. The flight was routine until the pilot began the descent. Then he realizes that the landing gear would not engage. Working the controls back and forth, he tried again and again to lock the gear into place. No success. He circled the landing field, getting instructions from the control tower. Airport personnel sprayed the runway with foam as fire trucks and other emergency vehicles moved into position. Disaster was only minutes away.
The passengers were told of each maneuver in that calm, cheery voice pilots manage to use at times like this. Flight attendants moved about the cabin with cool reserve. Passengers were told to place their heads between their knees and grab their ankles just before impact. It was one of those “I-can’t-believe-this-is-happening-to-me experiences.” There were tears, no doubt, and a few screams of despair. With the landing only seconds away the pilot announced over the intercom:
We are beginning our final descent. At this moment, in accordance with International Aviation Codes established at Geneva, it is my obligation to inform you that if you believe in God you should commence prayer.
The belly landing was pulled off without a single injury. In fact, when a relative of one of the passengers called the airline the next day to ask about the prayer rule, the airline was back to cool reserve, and responded, “No comment.”
Chuck Swindoll tells this story and then says, “Amazing. The only thing that brought out into the open a deep-down “secret rule” was crisis. Pushed to the brink, back to the wall, right up to the wire, all escape routes closed ... only then does our society crack open a hint of recognition that God just might be there and— “if you believe...you should commence to pray” [Charles R. Swindoll, Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life (Portland, OR: Multnomah Press, 1983), 273].
Webster defines crisis as a “a turning point for better or worse... a decisive moment....” Crisis results in either a change for the better, a change for the worse, or a return to the status quo. The Chinese term for crisis is made up of two symbols: one for despair, the other for opportunity.
I learned early that “man’s extremities are God’s opportunities.” Our despair often creates God’s opportunity. Crises make us aware of our need for Him. It is only in the crisis hour that some of us will seriously pray. Crises crush, but they are often God’s gifts to refine and purify our lives. They soften and penetrate our hard hearts. Alexander Solzhenitsyn admitted:
It was only when I lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirring of good. Gradually, it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes, not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through all human hearts. So bless you prison, for having been in my life [Alexander Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago quoted in Charles R. Swindoll, op. cit., 274].
Life’s difficulties are often the Father’s appointed paths to spiritual maturity. The positive way forward in difficult and painful circumstances is the way of prayer. So James appropriately concludes his practical lesson on handling life’s difficulties with a powerful call to prayer.
In verses 7-12 James repeatedly called for patience, and perseverance. He showed by the examples of the prophets and Job that God’s choicest servants have not been exempt from mistreatment. Now in verse 13 James warns that trouble comes your way too, and you need to know how to deal with it.
I. PRAYER IS APPROPRIATE IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES ... v. 13
Prayer is appropriate in all of life’s circumstances.” Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise” (v. 13). The whole gamut of life’s experiences is represented in the two words, “trouble” and “happy.” Whether your situation is dreadful or delightful, the advice is the same: “Talk to God about it!”
Spiritual attack may come from either extreme. Some rebel and become bitter when trouble comes. Others cannot handle happiness without becoming complacent.
Acknowledge God through prayer and praise whether troubled or happy. Prayer discovers God’s refuge when surrounded by distress. Praise expresses confidence in God even when the situation seems hopeless. Our life should be turned toward God in all situations. He is a sovereign God and we recognize His presence in every event. Francois Fenelon penned these helpful words in the seventeenth century:
Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one’s heart, its pleasures and its pains, to a dear friend. Tell him your troubles, that he may comfort you; tell him your joys, that He may sober them; tell Him your longings, that He may purify them; tell Him your dislikes, that He may help you to conquer them; talk to Him of your temptations, that He may shield you from them; show Him the wounds of your heart that He may heal them; lay bare your indifference to good, your depraved tastes for evil, your instability. Tell Him how self-love makes you unjust to others, how vanity tempts you to be insincere, how pride disguises you to yourself and others [quoted in Gary Vanderet, Cultivating a Faith that Endures,” A sermon preached at Peninsula Bible Church, Palo Alto, CA].
Paul called us to “pray continually” [without ceasing] (1 Th. 5:17). James shows what Paul meant. Prayer is conversation with God. Through prayer we can tell Him everything. When overwhelmed by trouble we should not complain or attack, or even sigh in resignation. Talk to God—He can be trusted “in the dark.” One scholar suggests that the imperatives in verse 13 might be transposed: “Is any among you suffering? Let him sing praise. Is any cheerful? Let him pray” [Alfred Plummer, “The General Epistles of St. James and St. Jude, The Expositor’s Bible, v. 6, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll, (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, 1940), 632]. We have a standing invitation to draw near the Heavenly Father whether times are good or bad. It’s appropriate to pray when surrounded by success, and praise is equally suitable when we are drowning in distress. Vital faith both sings and prays whatever the circumstances.
Each verse in this section contains an explicit reference to prayer. Our faith finds its power in a vital relationship with God through prayer in all the experiences of life.
II. PRAYER SUPPORT IS IMPORTANT IN CHRISTIAN RELATIONSHIPS—vv. 14-16a
Here James identifies a specific form of trouble—sickness. These verses have been the source of much confusion. The Roman Catholic Sacrament of Extreme Unction emerged from these verses. The ritual is called “extreme” because it is administered at the point of death, with the hope that these last rites prepare the soul for death. Read it carefully: “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” (vv. 14-15). The movement of the passage is toward wellness and healing, not preparation for death. Others say these verses apply only to that early period when the healing gifts of the Apostles validated the gospel. They conclude that this passage has no relevance today. However, James does not mention apostles, but elders—church leaders for all generations, leading me to believe that the principle is operative today, and should be the practice of today’s church. These verses are for us and we should take them seriously as we pray for one another.
A very ill Christian is invited to call on his church friends for prayer. The word translated “sick” in verse 14 means “to be weak or helpless.” The term used in verse 15 means “to be weary or fatigued.” It depicts the physical weariness and exhaustion produced by a long incapacitating sickness. This condition apparently confined the person to his bed because the elders are called to come to his side rather than he going to them. James is referring to a long-term, debilitating affliction that has brought great distress.
The elders were the leaders of the local church. The term “elder” designates a church office. A whole congregation can hardly gather at the sickbed, so the elders were called. They were spiritually mature and experienced in intercessory prayer, and came representing the local church. Had the sick person been well enough to attend the church gathering he might have received the prayers of the entire body.
Surely, the elders could pray just as effectively without coming to the sick person’s side. That is theoretically true, but for someone who has been confined for a long time, there is something healing in the very presence of those who make an effort to demonstrate their care.
The elders prayed for the sick one, anointing with oil. Oil was often used medicinally, but the emphasis here is on the praying, not the anointing. James may be simply saying, “Use your medicine as usual, but don’t forget the power of prayer!” The prayer was to be offered in the name of the Lord because they recognized that they had no healing power within themselves; they acted in simple dependence upon the authority of Christ!
“And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up” (v. 15). It should not be assumed that every group of elders has gifts of healings or that everyone who is prayed for will be healed. The “prayer of faith” is prayer prompted by the Holy Spirit with a deep conviction that it God’s will to heal the one being prayed for. Any prayer for healing or for any other purpose should be offered with the condition, “if the Lord wills.” But the “prayer of faith” here seems to be a response to a revelation that God is going to heal in a specific case. It should be recognized also that it is the Lord who heals, not some magical quality in the anointing oil, or power inherent in those who pray. Church leaders should be committed to pray for those who are under their care. Now James moves from the prayer for healing offered by the church leaders to the prayer for restoration that should be a part of the life of a local assembly. Verse 16 recognizes the importance of a mutual commitment to support one another in prayer.
All sickness is ultimately related to sin because of Adam’s sin. All sickness is not, however, the direct result of personal sin. Jesus made this very clear in John 9 where the disciples asked about a man who had been born blind, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents?” (v. 2). Jesus said there was no cause-and-effect relationship between his handicap and sin, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned ... but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life” (v. 3).
Scripture does indicate that sin can produce sickness and even lead to death. Paul warned the Corinthians about approaching the Table of the Lord improperly, saying, “That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep” (1 Co. 11:30). James may indicate that kind of sickness here.
“If he has sinned” (v. 15) is a conditional clause. It is not certain that the person has sinned, but James seems to think it probable. The phrase might be translated, “If he has sinned, and I think he has….”
The tense used for the verb “sinned” refers to a past action with continuing results. Those past sins have a continuing grip on the person. Perhaps the sins had continued unconfessed over a long period of time. They were possibly persistent deliberate acts of a rebellious heart. That is the type of sin that produces weakness, sickness, and even death.
A further indication that this sickness is related to sin is the word, “Therefore,” in verse 16. The conjunction implies that this sentence concludes what has been said before. James is saying that unchecked sin may cause sickness and/or death. He warns, “Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”
Many times our need is more spiritual than physical. We need genuine repentance and the ministry of fellow believers. Confession of sins and the prayers of the God’s people result in spiritual and physical health. We need each other in our fight against sin. Confessing our sins means to be honest and open about our needs, and to agree with God that sin is really sin. It must not be rationalized or justified. We must confess and call for help.
Confession of sin to one another along with the intercession of supportive brothers and sisters will deliver us from sin’s power. Even when sin has advanced to the point of sickness, the prayers of His people may call for God to restore us to health even as He forgives us.
The openness James recommends needs to be cultivated in the modern church. Such caring and burden sharing would certainly produce a healthier community of believers. We need to be able to let our hair down, and to take our masks off. We need to be a hospital where we can bleed and have our wounds dressed.
Keith Miller addresses this need in The Taste of New Wine:
Our churches are filled with people who outwardly look contented and at peace but inwardly are crying out for someone to love them... just as they are—confused, frustrated, often frightened, guilty, and often unable to communicate even within their own family. But the other people in the church look so happy and contented that one seldom has the courage to admit his own deep needs before such a self-sufficient group as the average church meeting appears to be [Keith Miller, The Taste of New Wine (Waco: Word Books, 1965), 22].
Prayer support is important in Christian relationships. We can be restored physically and spiritually through a prayer ministry of the Body of Christ. Perhaps this is why James concludes by emphasizing how we can be assured of success in prayer: “… remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover a multitude of sins” (v. 20). We can become persons of powerful prayer as we begin to pray for the lost.
