James 5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 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 one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
James begins this chapter with more strong warnings for the professing Christian: don't trust in riches; don't whine and complain while you wait for the return of the Lord; especially don't make false promises and then break them. He then asks the pointed question above: "when you are suffering, what is your first reaction? When you are sick, what do you think of first?" The answer to both should be: pray. James had no doubt these people were suffering for their faith, as well as with the fallout of a fallen world. But what should mark us as different, as followers of Christ, is how we react to these things: in faith and hope, or in selfishness and complaining.
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