James 5:13-15

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 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 one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 

When you read this passage, who is the initiative meant to be on? It’s on you. If you are happy – sing praise to God! Don’t wait for someone to suggest it – go for it! If you are suffering – pray. If you are sick, call for the elders of the church to pray for you. The initiative is on you.

We can suffer in silence, waiting for someone to call us forward to pray. We can wonder, why is nobody praying for me? We can sit and wait for the right oppotuniay or the right altar call that fits our condition.

But that’s the wrong way round. You call for people to pray for you, not the other way around. The call comes from the one who is sick, because that shows faith on the part of the sick person. The prayer of faith comes from the Elder, but the step of faith is taken by the one who is sick.

James 5:19-20

My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

If someone wanders from the truth… who is James talking about? He’s talking about people who once were in the truth. You can’t wander if you weren’t first in the truth. He’s talking about people who followed Jesus, then turned away. If someone does this, what danger are they in? Well, according to James the danger is very severe indeed. Their soul is in danger of death. That’s pretty severe. 

But there is hope. They can be brought back to the truth. If someone turns away from Jesus and turns to sin, then bringing those people back is indeed a noble pursuit. Bringing somebody back, saves them from that fate.

Im sure we all know people who ran well at some point and then wandered. Probably more than one. We can be the difference in those people’s lives. We can bring back someone from their wandering and save their soul from death.