Read James 5:13-20

Wednesday

Read James 5:13-20

13 Are any of you in trouble? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. ¹⁴Are any of you ill? You should send for the church elders, who will pray for them and rub olive oil on them in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵This prayer made in faith will heal the sick; the Lord will restore them to health, and the sins they have committed will be forgiven. ¹⁶So then, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you will be healed. The prayer of a good person has a powerful effect. ¹⁷Elijah was the same kind of person as we are. He prayed earnestly that there would be no rain, and no rain fell on the land for three and a half years. ¹⁸Once again he prayed, and the sky poured out its rain and the earth produced its crops.

19 My brothers and sisters, if any of you wander away from the truth and another one brings them back again, ²⁰remember this: whoever turns a sinner back from his or her wrong way will save that sinner’s soul^d from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.

Think

Do you pray?

James reminds his readers to pray - and to ask for others to pray for them.  Specifically the 'elders of the church.'  Oil was seen as medicinal and symbolic of God's Spirit.

The forgiveness of sins and healing of diseases is closely associated in Biblical literature; but even though we pray in faith and receive forgiveness of our sins we don't always get better.  Sickness is not a punishment for sin - or the result of a lack of faith - as some are led to believe.

Pray

Do you know anyone who is in trouble?  Pray for them.  Do you know any one who is sick?  Pray for them.  Do you need prayer?  Ask somebody to pray for you.