“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.” James 5:13.

For the sake of those starting out in Bible study I am including the following.

Some very good English translations of the Bible are, the New King James Version by Thomas Nelson Publishing, the King James Version, much harder to read because of the old English wording; and the New American Standard Bible, published by the Lockman Foundation.

It would not hurt to obtain both the New King James and the New American Standard; however, one is enough for now.

Any version will do though, if that is all you have on hand, or can afford. Please do not use the New World Translation, because it is put out by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and has been twisted to fit their heretical theology.

The preface at the beginning of your Bible, will tell you how to use the various tools in the text; such as marginal notes, columnal references, footnotes, paragraphs, capitalization, and so on.

There is a great deal of information especially in study Bibles, there will be, timelines, maps, concordances, tables of weights and measures; a gold mine of helps.

There is another great help that you can pull up right here on your computer screen, www.biblestudytools.com/, there are other sites, but this is a good place to start.

Most importantly, and I have said this before, while reading Scripture be very careful to watch for commas, colons (:), semicolons (;), (parenthesis) and the like; a missed comma can change the meaning of a whole verse.

Parenthesis (set off) matters that illustrate or supplement the author’s message. Brackets [on the other hand] are editorial comments or clarifications made by someone other than the author and are not in the original text.

The Bible can be a good read, a technical book, and a life changing vehicle, but not if one is careless in the reading of it.

As for my Bible and the opening verse quoted above, one of the tools of this version is that paragraphs are denoted by putting the verse number in bold type. Verse 13 above is the beginning of a new paragraph which continues to verse 18, all of which concerns prayer. The next paragraph beginning at verse 19, concerns Christian care for one another.

“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.” James 5:13a.

This is the failure of many Christians; when affliction comes along, they try to work something out rather than turning to God for help first.

“Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” Psalm 50:15.

Prayer should always be the first resort, not the last; God is not too busy to hear you. Prayer should be an integral part of your life, not just an emergency device.

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7.

In bringing all things to God in prayer, there comes the realization that these requests are being answered.

In fact the answers become so common that we tend to take them for granted; for this reason we are to give thanks for these answered prayers.

Anyone would be pleased when gratitude is shown for something they have done for someone. Showing gratitude to God by giving thanks also reminds us of the grace shown to us.

This reminder of all that God has done for us brings God’s peace into our hearts, seeing that He cares for us always.

When bringing all things to God in prayer, that means everything from “Help, I have the flu, and need to get back to work!” to “Father help me get the best prices when I shop, and the best produce”, to “Please help me not injure myself while mowing the lawn”, anything.

Ask Him to help you to drive your car safely, or to help you get to an appointment on time.

The answers may not be what you expected. The flu may not go away, but work might be slow while you were out, and you were not missed that much.

Always stay alert and drive your car as carefully as possible. You will still need to do your best to leave on time for your appointment, often when prayer is not answered it is because we have not done our part.

It is amazing when you ask God to order your day; traffic lights are green while driving, short waits for appointments, easy parking, and you stumble onto bargains when shopping.

However, you cannot live your life carelessly or like some hell-raiser, thinking of God only when you need something, and then asking as though, just because you are His child in Christ, He owes you something.

You would not treat your parents that way and get what you want; you can expect no more from God.

Too many Christians miss the peace which passes understanding because they are unwilling to submit their lives to God.

“Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.” James 5:13b.

Here is thanksgiving, singing praises to the Lord at home, in church, in your devotional time. These are the things that bring peace.

“Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” James 5:14-15.

If you are very sick, seek medical attention, but always bring the Lord in on it too, always.

Some churches do not have elders, but they would have a pastor, deacons, or older Christians who are recognized as being mature Christians.

Men recognized for their godliness, humility, knowledge of the Scriptures, and lovingkindness. Have them pray for you.

When it says, “…the prayer of faith will save the sick”, it means that it will save him from death, not hell, the fact that the sick person is already a Christian is implied.

Apostle Paul speaks of communion in this manner.

“Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” I Corinthians 11:27.

“For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.” I Corinthians 11:30.

The words, “many sleep” means they have died. It is possible for a Christian to sin their way into a hospital bed or to death.

“And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” James 5:15b.

The implication here is that he has confessed and forsaken his sins to God alone or to God in the presence of the elders. This sentence also indicates that the illness may not be due to sin.

This has nothing to do with the extreme unction of the Catholic Church or with confession, neither of which can be found in Scripture.

“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:16.

It seems as though every time I have heard the phrase, “Confess your trespasses to one another…” it meant that we are to confess our sins to one another.

“Brother, pray for me, I have cheated someone out of their inheritance!” Do not even think of doing that.

Confessing your trespasses to one another depends on the reliability of the person you are telling your darkest secrets to.

Many things can go wrong; if they tell another “reliable” person your secret, it is out; especially if they in turn tell it to a “reliable” person who loves to gossip.

If you confess your secret to a reliable person and then find yourself at odds with them, as things heat up, the first thing that will be vomited up against you will be your darkest secrets.

Many Christians have been absolutely broken and become estranged from the church by this kind of vitriol.

If you have a real problem, such as the one given above, and need to discuss it for prayer or advice, then seek out a godly discreet older Christian who has a good reputation for these things; men should go to men and women should go to women.

State your problem in the simplest terms without going into titillating details; one person said to me, “Pray for me I have a besetting sin”, that is enough, God knows what I am praying for.

Always be careful, one young man went to his pastor with his dark secret, and the pastor announced it to the entire congregation. It is hard to call this person a pastor when there are much more colorful words to describe him.

I met this young man some years later, and he was still a basket case, and still is I reckon. Please be careful.

Here is the meaning of this verse. It begins with the translation of old King James Bible, “Confess your faults to one another…” the word faults conveys the idea of telling one another our shortcomings, dark secrets, or actual sins.

However the word faults is a poor translation and is properly rendered trespasses in the New King James; the word trespasses here carries the idea of trespasses against one another.

Put another way, if we wrong someone, we are to go to that person and confess that wrong to them. What is implied is that we apologize and make any restitution that may be necessary.

“John, it was me who stole your book, here is your book, and I sincerely apologize.”

The rule of thumb on apologies is, if it was a public wrong, then a public apology is owed; if, as in the book theft scenario above, it is a private wrong, then a private apology is necessary.

There is more in this verse than confessing our transgressions against another, it continues with, “…and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”

According to Thayer’s Lexicon, the idea here is not so much that of being healed of a sickness but rather of making whole, being freed from error or sin.

This is logical because these trespasses, though confessed, can still become a cancer within a relationship, or a congregation.

The transgressor needs to be prayed for in order to cleanse him from such desires that may have caused them to sin against another to begin with.

The one transgressed against must also pray for the offender in order to release themselves from any anger they may still have for the one who offended them, “…that you may be healed.”

Intercessory prayer is an absolute must, a noble task for which God will reward those who pursue it wholeheartedly; because it does much to maintain the unity of the church.

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all; and in you all.” Ephesians 4:4-6.

James goes on to make the case for prayer.

“The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:16b.

One of the reasons that the church and the world are suffering shipwreck today is that Christians have neglected the power of prayer.

If Jesus said that mountains can be moved, why is it that His church is so helpless?

“So Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.’” Matthew 17:20.

There are several things that affect prayer though and you need to know them to pray intelligently.

Jesus said this about prayer.

“And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” John 14:13-14.

The condition here is “…that the Father may be glorified”; however, there are other conditions which must be met.

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” John 15:7-8.

This passage is part of the Lord’s teaching on the vine and the branches, John 15:1-8, it would be profitable for you to study the entire passage. If you are interested, check out “Abiding in Christ”, posted 12-24-18.

Another condition, and possibly the most important one is that we must abide in Christ if we want power in prayer.

This abiding is no different than abiding with your parents, or spouse; you live there, and hopefully it is a good environment. You socialize with those you abide with, share your problems, ask advice, and so on.

Abiding, or living with Christ is no different, you become companions, become like Him, and become sensitive to His leading. In this manner His desires become our desires; which brings us to two more conditions.

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” I John 5:14-15.

“Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight” I John 3:21-22.

We know that if it is according to His will, He hears us, if we know He hears us, we have the faith to ask, if we ask, He will grant it.

How do we know if we are abiding in Christ?

If our heart, or conscience, does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; we can know that there is no unconfessed sin separating us from our Lord.

What are God’s commandments? There are two.

“And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.” I John 3:23.

For the Christian, the first commandment has already been fulfilled, “…believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ”.

It is the second commandment that we continually fail to do, “…and love one another”.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35.

When the Lord gave the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13, this is the only condition He put on it.

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew 6:14-15.

In a similar vein, when speaking of the unrighteous steward the Lord ended with this statement.

“So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” Matthew 18:35.

Think of that, you must forgive from the heart.

There is another prayer hindrance that goes unnoticed. Speaking of our wives, Peter says this about prayer.

“Likewise you husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.” I Peter 3:7.

There are many husbands whose prayers are not being answered because they do not show their wife proper respect.

The righteous man is not just one cleansed of sin by the blood of Christ, as all Christians are.

The righteous man walks in the power of a person who abides in Christ at all times. Is it possible to be such a person, or is it something quite out of our reach?

“Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.” James 5:17-18.

Elijah had a nature like ours, which is a sin nature, with its cravings of the flesh as ours, yet he overcame it by the power of God. Hear what the Apostle Paul has to say about this.

“…I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12b-14.

Both Elijah and Paul were men who had their eyes fixed on the prize and pressed toward it, casting worldly riches and fame aside.

No matter what you are able to achieve in your Christian life, do not cease to pray. This will strengthen your faith and encourage you to press on.

There are many things that we know are God’s will without being super-Christians.

Prayer for the unsaved, God is not willing that any should perish. Pray for the safety of your family, pray for America which is perishing in the face of evil. Pray for food, shelter, peace, work, a Christian walk.

But if you have known sin in your life confess it to God and seek His deliverance from them, then continue to pray. Never, never give up!

Effectual Fervent Prayer, James 5:13-18 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 10-20-11, updated on 12-5-20.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.