The Book of James, One Man, One Prayer, One God, James 5:16-20 - Lesson 25

James 5:16-20,  Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. ¹⁷Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. ¹⁸And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. ¹⁹Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; ²⁰Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

We have previously addressed the calling of the elders to the bedside of one who is in a weakened condition, one who desires that his brothers in Christ seek God’s healing hand in his favor.

In that passage in chapter five, sin was addressed as a possible reason for the sickness and that confession of sin and forgiveness was to be sought with the help of the elders, if such was the case.

This was a specific case wherein a group of men were called for healing prayer, but now in our passage for today James addresses more generally that which should be done if healing is to be sought.

For in verse 16 one of the prerequisites of healing is forgiveness of sins.

James tells us to confess your faults, one to another and pray one for another that ye may be healed.

Like many verses of scripture this instruction has been greatly abused for upon this verse the Roman Catholic church bases its doctrine of confession to priests.

Martin Luther was especially motivated to oppose his former church by reasoning that if parishioners were required to confess to priests, bishops, and popes, then the priests, bishops and popes were to also confess back to the parishioners.

For does not James tell us to confess one to another?

Martin Luther thought it very strange to think of the confessor priest by the name of "one another."

He reasoned that there was a substantial difference between "one another" and a priest or even the preacher and therefore opposed such a doctrine of confession.

There is nothing given by James to require the believer to publicly confess his sins to the entire church.

There may be times when this is the right thing to do where church discipline is in play but that is not what James is talking about.

From the preaching of our Lord Jesus Christ in passages like Matthew 5 and Matthew 18 we know that sin with regard to your brother is best dealt with privately, on a one to one basis.

James here urges those who pray for healing to have cured relationships with brothers before going to the Lord for the curing of the body.

We are to privately confess our sin against those whom we have offended and to seek their forgiveness and reconciliation.

We are not to come piously to the throne of God when we have in our heart ought against our brother or our sister.

Our Lord so instructed us in Matthew 5:23,  Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; ²⁴Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

The inference of James 5:16 is that there will be some sickness that is the result of un-confessed sin related to relationships – sin against a brother or sister in the body of Christ.

So the first step according to James is to consider the need for confession and reconciliation.

In Matthew 9 we are told that Jesus first forgave the paralytic man of his sins, and then healed him.

Those who were healed were instructed to sin no more.

Now James is not saying that confession heals us, but that prayer brings healing.

But prayer is to be from a righteous man for James next tells us from whom successful prayer comes.

Verse 16b,  The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

James follows this instruction by using the example of Elijah to emphasize the fact that the prayer of a righteous man has great effectiveness.

Elijah was a man of like passions, a man like us.

He was not perfect, as a study of his life makes clear.

His prayer to resign from his ministry and from life itself was rejected by God, who told him in 1 Kings 19 to go back to work.

But his prayers to stop the rains and to start them were acts of obedience on his part, and God answered them.

Note the fact that the word "prayer" in "the prayer of a righteous man" is singular, not plural, and so is the word "man."

James is saying that one prayer, prayed by one person, can be exceedingly powerful.

It is not confession that accomplishes great things, so that the more we confess, the more miracles God will perform on our behalf.

It is not even the number of prayers that we pray, as though the quantity of our prayers moves God.

Jesus told us to not use vain repetitions as the heathen do for they think they shall be heard for their much speaking.

But the emphasize of James is twofold. First, unreconciled relationships hinder prayer:

Peter in 1 Peter 3:7 said this with regard to the relationship between husbands and wives.

1 Peter 3:7,  Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

Secondly, James is stressing righteousness.

James is not saying that many saints should be praying, or that one man is praying many prayers; he is stressing the fact that the one man who is effectually and fervently praying his one prayer is righteous.

Confession of sin is important, then, because it heals relationships and because it is essential for righteousness.

God is looking to answer prayer from those who are right before Him.

We do indeed need to be persistent in prayer as Paul was persistent in prayer concerning his thorn in the flesh where he kept at prayer until God had made His answer clear to Paul.

It is good for many Christians to join in prayer over important matters.

But there is no scripture that tells us that the number of prayers offered or the numbers of those praying is what moves God.

God is not moved by Christian majorities who are for or against a particular thing.

God delights in the prayers of His people, but prayer is not a work of man that moves God to action due to the volume or intensity of our efforts.

God pays no attention to polls.

We do not need a "moral majority" to move God.

We do not need to gather sufficient "prayer power" to see God’s hand.

James is telling us that one righteous man or one woman, privately praying in his or her closet, may effectively bring about great intervention from God.

There is no commandment against groups in prayer but we are not to think that God is moved just by numbers.

So having said that James now gives us the last verses of this epistle.

We see in these ending verses a change of focus from the beginning of this epistle in chapter 1 to the closing verses of chapter 5.

In the midst of our adversities, our focus initially tends to be on ourselves.

James exhorts us to joyfully endure our afflictions and to pray for wisdom.

He calls upon us to act in a way that is consistent with true religion.

And true religion commits us to take the focus off ourselves and put the focus on others

So in the closing verses of chapter 1, James says that true religion seeks to assist the helpless and needy, the orphans and widows.

And in the closing verses of chapter 5, the focus is again to be on others and their need for repentance.

The basic meaning of these verses is that saints should seek to bring wandering brethren back to the Lord.

The response of believers is not to condemn but to seek to restore.

Does not every part of your body look out for every other part of your body?

Does any part of your body wish to condemn any other part of your body?

Does your right arm wish to cut off a left arm that is broken or does your right arm step up and take on the extra load?

God calls us the body of Christ for a reason and we are to look at our own bodies for instruction.

We are to look upon those who have lost their way as the "sick ones" of the church body.

They have wandered away.

Wandering ones need to be brought back to the fold.

He uses the word "convert."

"Convert" simply means "to turn back again."

Jesus spoke these words to Peter in Luke 22:32,  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Satan has filled this world with ways to seduce a saint to err from the truth.

Disobedient Christians are in danger of serious discipline of the Lord, and even death as Paul told the Corinthians who came unworthy to the Lord’s communion table.

He said,  For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

Where were their Corinthian brothers and sisters who should have sought them out and helped to restore them before things got to the point of God’s drastic discipline?

But when in love, we do seek them out and help restore them, we are rescuing them from the discipline of God and, in love, we see their sins covered.

Peter knew of this as he wrote to us in 1 Peter 4:8,  And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

But we may apply these verses to the lost as well.

This call for us to bring to truth those who have erred from the truth, is not only aimed at believers who have strayed but it is also aimed at the conversion of the lost.

The greatest need of all is for the sinner to turn to Christ for the forgiveness of sins and the assurance of eternal life.

Just look at the multitude of sins that are covered in the transaction of salvation!

James has spoken much about the wrong use of the tongue and how the tongue is to be used for God’s glory and what greater use of the tongue can be than in turning a sinner to Christ?

What greater work is there on earth than the saving of men’s souls?

If we have been left here to carry out the work of our Lord, then surely the greatest of good works is the work that our Lord was engaged in, the seeking and saving of that which is lost and all that pertains thereto.

So we conclude the book of James where our faith has been challenged.

James has challenged us to ask: Is your religion genuine and real?

Will that which you hold to save you?

Does your religion major on the outward with little or no effect on that which is inward?

Do you possess that which you profess.

Do your actions match your words?

Do you practice what you profess?

Do your works add credence to your words?

Do your good works emanate from a heart that was implanted by the Spirit of God at the new birth?

If you are truly a Christian, you are to ask yourself how you measure up to the standard James holds out for the Christian?

We are prone to accept the witness of men but as John says in 1 John 5:9-12 the witness of God is greater.

1 John 5:9-12,  If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. ¹⁰He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. ¹¹And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹²He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

Not one of us should come away from this book feeling comfortable and complacent.

All of us should be challenged to practice true religion on a daily basis.

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man or woman would be, that by God’s grace we shall.