Wednesday Huddle – 25September2024 – James 5:13-20

Wednesday Huddle / By

Welcome to what I’m now referring to as our Wednesday HUDDLE (instead of Preverb).

Those who are familiar with NFL — and other sports — will know what a huddle is — It’s a time when players of a team come together and embrace before the start of a game.

Well, for us, the game is this weekend … and this Bible study is a huddle before the game, which starts on Saturday/Sunday.  The purpose, as usual, is to help us get on the same page as other GCI teams before the games begin.

 

 

PASSAGE FOR DISCUSSION …

James 5:13-20    Is anyone among you suffering?  Let him pray.  Is anyone cheerful?  Let him sing psalms.  14 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.  15 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.   

16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.  The effective, [b]fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.  17 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.  18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.    

19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save [c]a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.   

 

WHAT IS GOD SAYING TO US?  What do you think He would want you to take away?

Let’s upack the passage and see.

James 5:13-20

13 Is anyone among you suffering?  Let him pray.  Is anyone cheerful?  Let him sing psalms.  14 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.  15 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. 

  1. What do you think we should take away from vv.13-14?
  2. How do you understand the “will save” in v.15?
  3. How do you understand the word “sick” in v.15?
  4. How do you understand the “will be forgiven” phrasein v.15?

 

  • From Enduring Word Commentary …
    • And the prayer of faith will save the sick:  Many have wondered if James guarantees healing here for the sick who are prayed for in faith.  Some interpret this as a reference to ultimate resurrection.  The reference to sins being forgiven adds to the idea that James is considering a spiritual work and healing, not necessarily a physical healing.
      • Yet the context of the statement demands that James does not exclude physical healing as an answer to prayer, though he does seem to mean something broader than only a physical healing.  We should pray for others in faith, expecting that God will heal them, then leave the matter in God’s hands.
      • Clearly, God does not grant immediate healing for every prayer of faith, and the reasons are hidden in the heart and mind of God.  Still, many are not healed simply because there is no prayer of faith offered.  The best approach in praying for the sick is to pray with humble confidence that they will be healed, unless God clearly and powerfully makes it clear that this is not His will.  Having prayed, we simply leave the matter to God.

 

16 [a] Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.  The effective, [b] fervent  prayer of a righteous man avails much.  17 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.  18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.    

  1. Do you think the first part of v.16 is to be taken literally?
  2. Can you think of two persons — in the church — that you would feel comfortable confessing your trespasses to?
  3. What kind of healing do you think is in view in v.16b?
  4. What do you take away from the last part of v.16?
  5. Why is the fact that Elijah was a man with a “nature like ours” worthy of note?
  6. Why do you believe Elijah waited for three years and six months to pray for rain to fall again?  Why didn’t he pray for rain after 3 years … or 2 years?

 

  • From The Enduring Word Commentary …
    • To one another: Confession to another in the body of Christ is essential because sin will demand to have us to itself, isolated from all others.  Confession breaks the power of secret sin.   Yet, confession need not be made to a “priest” or any imagined mediator; we simply confess to one another as appropriate.  Confession is good, but must be made with discretion.  An unwise confession of sin can be the cause of more sin.
    • ii. Clarke observes that if this passage actually refers to the Roman Catholic practice of the confessional, then the priest should likewise confess his sins to the people. He also adds: “There is no instance in auricular confession where the penitent and the priest pray together for pardon; but here the people are commanded to pray for each other that they may be healed.” (Clarke)
    • iii. Noting from the context, sin should especially be confessed where physical healing is necessary. It is possible – though by no means always the case – that a person’s sickness is the direct result of some sin that has not been dealt with, as Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 11:30.
    • iv. Hiebert on confess: “The root form means literally to say the same thing; hence, it means that in confession sin we agree to identify it by its true name and admit that it is sin.”
    • v. “Now, in the primitive church this was openly done as a rule, before the congregation. The earliest manual of the church practice prescribes: ‘you must confess your sins in church, and not betake yourself to prayer with a bad conscience’ (Didache iv.).” (Moffatt)
    • vi. The great conviction of sin and subsequent confession of sin is common during times of spiritual awakening. There is really nothing unusual about confession during Revival. Finney – a great apostle of Revival – urged it and described it. In the North China revivals under Jonathan Goforth, confession was almost invariably the prelude to blessing; one writer describing the significant Korean revivals associated with Goforth wrote: “We may have our theories of the desirability or undesirability of public confession of sin. I have had mine, but I know that when the Spirit of God falls upon guilty souls, there will be confession, and no power on earth can stop it.” (from Calling to Remembrance by William Newton Blair)
    • Public confession of sin has the potential for great good or bad.  Some guiding principles can help.
        • Confession should be made to the one sinned against.  “Most Christians display a preference for confession in secret before God, even concerning matters which involve other people.  To confess to God seems to them to be the easiest way out.  If offenders were really conscious of the presence of God, even secret confession of private sin would have a good effect.  Alas, most offenders merely commune with themselves instead of making contact with God, who refuses their prayers under certain conditions. In the words of our Lord, it is clear that sin involving another person should be confessed to that person.” (Orr)
        • Confession should often be public.  James 5:16 illustrates this principle. A.T. Robertson, the great Greek scholar, says that in James 5:16 the odd tense of the Greek verb confess in this verse implies group confession rather than private confession.  It is confession “ones to others” not “one to one other.”
        • Public confession must be discrete.  Often the confession needs to be no more than what is necessary to enlist prayer.  It can be enough to say publicly, “Pray for me, I need victory over my besetting sin.”  It would be wrong to go into more detail, but saying this much is important.  It keeps us from being “let’s pretend Christians” who act as if everything is fine when it isn’t.   “Almost all sexual transgressions are either secret or private and should be so confessed.  A burden too great to bear may be shared with a pastor or doctor or a friend of the same sex.  Scripture discourages even the naming of immorality among believers, and declares that it is a shame even to speak of things done in secret by the immoral.” (Orr)
        • Distinguish between secret sins and those which directly affect others.  Orr gives a good principle: “If you sin secretly, confess secretly, admitting publicly that you need the victory but keeping details to yourself.  If you sin openly confess openly to remove stumbling blocks from those whom you have hindered.  If you have sinned spiritually (prayerlessness, lovelessness, and unbelief as well as their offspring, criticism, etc.) then confess to the church that you have been a hindrance.” (J. Edwin Orr)
        • Confession is often made to people, but before God.    At the same time, we notice that James says confess your trespasses to one another.  One of the interesting things about confession of sin as I have noticed it in the writings of J. Edwin Orr is that the confessions are almost always addressed to people, not to God. It isn’t that you confess your sin to God and others merely hear.  You confess your sin before others and ask them to pray for you to get it right before God.
        • Confession should be appropriately specific.  When open confession of sin is appropriate – more than the public stating of spiritual need, but confessing open sin or sin against the church – it must be specific.  “If I made any mistakes I’m sorry” is no confession of sin at all.  You sinned specifically, so confess specifically.  “It costs nothing for a church member to admit in a prayer meeting: ‘I am not what I ought to be.’  It costs no more to say: ‘I ought to be a better Christian.’  It costs something to say: ‘I have been a trouble-maker in this church.’  It costs something to say: ‘I have had bitterness of heart towards certain leaders, to whom I shall definitely apologise.’” (Orr, Full Surrender)
        • Confession should be thorough.  “Some confessions are not thorough.  They are too general.  They are not made to the persons concerned.  They neglect completely the necessary restitution.  Or they make no provision for a different course of conduct in which the sin is forsaken.  They are endeavours for psychological relief.” (Orr)
        • Confession must have honesty and integrity.  If we confess with no real intention of battling the sin, our confession isn’t thorough and it mocks God.  The story is told of an Irishman who confessed to his priest that he had stolen two bags of potatoes.  The priest had heard the gossip around town and said to the man, “Mike, I heard it was only one bag of potatoes stolen from the market.”  The Irishman replied, “That’s true Father, but it was so easy that I plan on taking another tomorrow night.”     By all means, avoid phony confession – confession without true brokenness or sorrow.  If it isn’t deeply real, it isn’t any good.
        • One need not fear that public confession of sin will inevitably get out of hand.  Orr tells of a time when a woman was overwrought by deep sorrow for sin and became hysterical. He saw the danger immediately and told her, “Quiet, sister. Turn your eyes on Jesus.” She did and the danger of extreme emotion was avoided.
        • Those who hear a confession of sin also have a great responsibility.  Those who hear the confession should have the proper response: loving, intercessory prayer, and not human wisdom, gossiping, or “sharing” the need with others.
    • According to Moffatt, the English Prayer Book, before the communion service, the minister is to give this invitation: “Come to me or to some other discreet and learned minister of God’s Word, and open his grief; that by the ministry of God’s holy Word he may receive the benefit of absolution.”  There can be great value to opening one’s grief.
    • Real, deep, genuine confession of sin has been a feature of every genuine awakening or revival in the past 250 years.  But it isn’t anything new, as demonstrated by the revival in Ephesus recorded in Acts 19:17-20.   It says, many who believed came confessing and telling their deeds.  This was Christians getting right with God, and open confession was part of it.

 

What about the effective prayer of a righteous man?

 

    • The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much: In writing about the need for prayer for the suffering, for the sick, and for the sinning, James points to the effective nature of prayer – when it is fervent and offered by a righteous man.
        • i. The idea of fervent in this context is strong. “It might be rendered literally: ‘Very strong is the supplication of a righteous man, energizing.’” (Meyer)
        • ii. “When such a power of prayer is granted, faith should be immediately called into exercise, that the blessing may be given: the spirit of prayer is the proof that the power of God is present to heal. Long prayers give no particular evidence of Divine inspiration.” (Clarke)
        • iii. Much of our prayer is not effective simply because it is not fervent. It is offered with a lukewarm attitude that virtually asks God to care about something that we care little about. Effective prayer must be fervent, not because we must emotionally persuade a reluctant God, but because we must gain God’s heart by being fervent for the things He is fervent for.
        • iv. Additionally, effective prayer is offered by a righteous man. This is someone who recognizes the grounds of his righteousness reside in Jesus, and whose personal walk is generally consistent with the righteousness that he has in Jesus.
    • avails much: “It was so with John Knox, whose prayers were more dreaded by Mary of Scots than the armies of Philip.” (Meyer)

 

19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,  20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save [c]a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.  

  • What kind of death? — everlasting, spiritual OR physical?
      • Note the following verses …
        • 1 John 5:16-17 …  a sin that leads to death (physical, premature)
        • 1 Corinthians 11 …  some slept (died prematurely) because of excessive sin
  • God’s discipline sometimes resulted (can result) in premature (physical) death, which is the death, more than likely, being referred to in verse 20.
  • Notice the following excerpts from gotquestions.org and preceptaustin.org …
    • We find an example of a sin that leads to death in Acts 5.  There, Ananias and Sapphira lie to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3), and they die as a result. Paul mentions another example of a sin that leads to death in 1 Corinthians 11:30.  Some who were abusing the Lord’s Supper had become sick and had even died.  These are the only two clear instances in the New Testament of believers who committed sins unto death.  John mentions a sin unto death in his first epistle, but he does not offer any specifics regarding what the sin is.  He is speaking of categories of sin, not pointing out specific sins.
    • The “sin unto death” is willful, continuous, unrepentant sin. God has called His children to holiness (1 Peter 1:16), and God corrects them when they sin. We are not “punished” for our sin in the sense of losing salvation or being eternally separated from God, yet we are disciplined. “The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son” (Hebrews 12:6). First John 5:16 says there comes a point when God can no longer allow a believer to continue in unrepentant sin. When that point is reached, God may decide to take the life of the stubbornly sinful believer. The “death” is physical death. God at times purifies His church by removing those who deliberately disobey Him. The apostle John makes a distinction between the “sin that leads to death” and the “sin that does not lead to death.” Not all sin in the church is dealt with the same way because not all sin rises to the level of the “sin that leads to death.” 

 

 

 

 

 

Everything is Better with God

James 5:13-20

 

Bacon.  For those who eat both meat and pork, just saying the word can make mouths start watering — crispy, salty, smokey bacon.  It is not good for us, but we cannot stop eating it.  Bacon is so good that vegans came up with a plant-based version called “facon.”  Even those reluctant to eat meat, by their actions, admit that bacon is hard to live without.  The desire of Americans to find a way to put bacon on almost anything has led many to believe that everything tastes better with bacon.  In fact, Sara Perry set out to prove it.  The author and commentator wrote a cookbook called Everything Tastes Better with Bacon: 70 Fabulous Recipes for Every Meal of the Day, where every recipe features, of course, bacon.  For the culinarily adventurous, you can eat bacon on a doughnut, in a bar of chocolate, in a gum ball, infused in mayonnaise, in a smoothie, and in many other forms.  Even when bacon appears in the most unlikely of places, many will eat it because, apparently, everything tastes better with bacon.

What bacon does for our taste buds, good relationships do for our hearts.  When something good happens to us, the first thing we want to do is share the news with a beloved relative, spouse, or friend.  When something awful happens to us, we often turn to the same person for comfort.  If everything tastes better with bacon, then everything is better with love.  Even bacon!  There is a saying from Euripedes, “Friendship doubles your joys, and divides your sorrows.”  Most of us would agree that life is better when we get to share it with a friend who loves us.  Perhaps James had a similar thought in mind when he wrote:

 

Is anyone among you in trouble?  Let them pray.  Is anyone happy?  Let them sing songs of praise.  Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up.  If they have sinned, they 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 person is powerful and effective.  Elijah was a human being, even as we are.  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 and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins. (James 5:13-20 NIV)

James begins this passage by encouraging his readers to turn to God in prayer in every situation.  Whether we are feeling troubled, happy, sick, or another emotion, we can share that moment with the Lord.  When sharing the ups and downs of life, we tend to give our attention to human beings first.  It makes sense because most of us do not perceive God with our senses.  It is harder to accept God’s presence when we cannot see or hear him.  However, if we truly understood the love of God, he would be the first one we turned to in our time of trouble.  He would be the first one we tell our good news.  He would be the first one we reach for when we are sick, in pain, weary in the flesh, or worn down by life itself.  He is truly the best friend who makes everything better.  He gives everything meaning.  He is life itself.  Lord, I pray that we would learn to turn to you first.  I pray that we would realize that you make everything better.

We should resist viewing this passage through a transactional lens.  In other words, we have to avoid the temptation to view prayer as simply a means to get something we want from God.   Although prayer changes things, we should not approach God seeing him as a servant to our will, remaking the world as we desire it to be.  Rather, prayer is a way to deepen our relationship with God and the primary means by which we spend time with him.  James is encouraging us to “pray continually,” as Paul would put it, sharing all of our moments with our loving Father.  As we spend time with God, we become more able to discern who he is, who we are, God’s will, and the things he is doing in and around us.

Of course, we should be transparent with him about our feelings and honest about the desires of our heart.  However, when we ask God for something, it should flow from who he reveals himself to be.  In other words, our prayers should be in line with who he is, what he has said, and what he is doing.  This is what James calls the “prayer offered in faith.”  And, as we make our requests known to God, we should do so with an open heart, leaving room for God to be God.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus expressed his desire not to die, which was in line with God’s nature.  However, he also prioritized God’s will over his own and remained open to whatever God wanted to do.  Jesus showed us how to express our deep desire to God like a child to his father, while also honoring the fact that God is sovereign.

The prayers we offer in faith have power.  James stated that the “prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”  The “righteous person” is not some kind of special, super Christian.  “Righteous” means to be rightly related and connected.  Righteousness is the right thoughts, words, and actions flowing from our right relationship with God.  As an example, James mentioned Elijah was a man with a nature like ours.  That means that he was not perfect in thoughts or actions.  He fled because he was afraid (1 Kings 19:3), he was depressed and even sounded resentful toward God (1 Kings 19:9-14).  Yet Elijah started and ended a drought with prayer.

We can assume the drought was not Elijah’s idea, and he was acting based on what God told him to do.  This is what gave Elijah’s prayer power; he prayed what God revealed to him.  He prayed God’s will.  Therefore, the prophet’s prayer was not him trying to manipulate God into making the world the way Elijah would want it.  Rather, Elijah’s prayer was a witness statement based on what he saw and heard.  It was a pledge of allegiance to the will and ways of God.  Let it be so for us as we pray for those who are sick or weary.  Let us remember that it is not the persuasiveness of our prayers that brings forth healing and rejuvenation.  God does not need to be convinced to be good.  He is good.  Let us remember that healing is possible because of the nature of God and his love towards us.  When we pray for healing, we are discerning and affirming the will of the one who promised us healing in this life and the next.

Before asking God for anything, we would be wise to first seek his heart.  How does God view our situation?  What is he working out?  What is he trying to show us?  How can we bring him glory in this moment?  In other words, we should let our relationship with God, cultivated in prayer, inform our requests.  When we hear from God, we can pray with conviction and power because we know that he cannot lie.  He will keep his word.  This is what empowers us to pray bold prayers.  We are not being bold in our own strength.  We are being bold in God’s strength.  We are bold because Christ is at the Father’s right hand making intercession for us.  Because of God’s radical love for us, our prayers can be audacious, as the Spirit leads.

As we share more and more of our life with God through continual prayer, we will find our joys doubled and sorrows divided.  He is a Father and a friend.  He is the one with whom we share all of our firsts.  Jesus opened the door and showed us the way to relationship with God.  Now, we can bear witness to the fact that everything is better with love.  Everything is better with God.

 

 

 

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