16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish 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 earth for three years and six months. 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.
James 5:16-18 (NASB) 中文
Pray and confess
James now continues the topic of praying in the midst of sickness. In the previous verses, he encourages the sick to seek elders to pray for them. When they pray in faith, healing can come to restore and raise them from the sickness. As a bonus, of sorts, their sins are forgiven, if sin lead to the sickness.
Sins forgiven
Yes, sins can be forgiven. Is it the elders who forgive sins (as Catholics believe priests can)? I think not. for only God can forgive sin. (Luke 5:21). We are to confess firstly to God and, as necessary, to one another. There is power in confessing to one another. When we have sinned against another, we are to confess and repent to them and to God. This will bring not only spiritual and emotional healing but can also unleash physical healing.
David Guzik offers this word to elders: “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.” (enduringword.com)
Effective prayer
The power of prayer is well known throughout the Bible. Effective prayer (KJV adds “and fervent”) of a righteous person can have much great impact. Are we of ourselves righteous? I think not. It’s that we have Christ’s righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30).
Effective example
As an example, of this type of prayer, James refers to Elijah, one of the greatest OT prophets who worked many miracles. This one was a doozy. It was clearly a result of his prayer and was known by everyone – even the King of the land. But it wasn’t for his own purpose or praise, but for God’s purpose and praise. Ted the account here (1 Kings 17:1; 18:1, 41-45).
A note about this event in particular. “Elijah influenced God in the outworking of His decree by means of his praying. God allows us to influence Him in how He controls some events through prayer even today, as well as in certain areas of His will. One of these areas is how He deals with Christians who have departed from His will.” (Constable commentary)
RЯeflection
- Are we called to this type of prayer? Sure we are. If you’re like me, you talk yourself out of effective prayer. Sure, we may pray often, but how effective is our prayer? What are the results? Do we move God? A definition of prayer to consider is: “Aligning the future to the perfect will of God”.
- When we pray for the sick, do we really believe God can heal them? Is our prayer no more than an optimistic demand on God for healing, mostly devoid of faith?
