Daily Verse James 5:16 | Daily verse by Faithlife

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[Lori Jane]

Cross References:​

Nu 11:2 | Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to Yahweh, and the fire died down.
Heb 12:13 | and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame will not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
Jn 9:31 | We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if someone is devout and does his will, he listens to this one.
Ge 20:17 | And Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his female servants so that they could bear children again.
Mt 3:6 | and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.
Ge 18:23–32; 20:17; Ex 8:8; Nu 11:2; Dt 9:18–20; Jos 10:12; 1 Sa 12:18; 1 Ki 13:6; 16:1–34; 17:20, 22; 2 Ki 4:33; 19:15–20; 20:2–5; Job 42:8; Ps 10:17; 34:15; 145:18; Pr 15:29; Sir 4:26; 2 Mac 3:31–33; Mt 3:6; 7:7; 13:15; Mk 1:5; Lk 4:1–44; Jn 9:31; Ac 8:24; 19:18; 2 Co 1:6; 1 Ti 2:1; Heb 12:13; 1 Pe 2:24; 3:12

 

[Lori Jane]

Commentaries​

5:16 confess your sins to one another While James instructs his audience to confess their sins to each other, few NT texts attest to a standard practice of public confession.

James probably is referring to the act of confessing to the offended party, which would fit with the letter’s emphasis on fellowship in the congregation (see Matt 5:23–24). Confessions could also include public acknowledgment of sin in cases where the whole church has been violated.

so that you may be healed This could refer to physical healing or the restoration of the congregation’s spiritual health.

a righteous person Refers to a person who is committed to doing the will of God and to cultivating right relationship with Him.


John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Jas 5:16.

Notes for 5:16

17 tn Or “the fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful”; Grk “is very powerful in its working.”


Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Jas 5:16.

5:16 Pray for one another echoes the prayers of the elders, and these should lead to both physical and spiritual healing (i.e., forgiveness). Prayer is not a magical incantation or a guarantee of healing, but when offered fervently by a righteous person, God will respond in a way that best fits his good purposes.

R. Gregg Watson, “James,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1972.

16. The oldest authorities read, “Confess, THEREFORE,” &c. Not only in the particular case of sickness, but universally confess.

faults—your falls and offenses, in relation to one another. The word is not the same as sins. Mt 5:23, 24; Lu 17:4, illustrate the precept here.

one to another—not to the priest, as Rome insists. The Church of England recommends in certain cases. Rome compels confession in all cases. Confession is desirable in the case of (1) wrong done to a neighbor; (2) when under a troubled conscience we ask counsel of a godly minister or friend as to how we may obtain God’s forgiveness and strength to sin no more, or when we desire their intercessory prayers for us (“Pray for one another”): “Confession may be made to anyone who can pray” [BENGEL]; (3) open confession of sin before the Church and the world, in token of penitence. Not auricular confession.

that ye may be healed—of your bodily sicknesses. Also that, if your sickness be the punishment of sin, the latter being forgiven on intercessory prayer, “ye may be healed” of the former. Also, that ye may be healed spiritually.

effectual—intense and fervent, not “wavering” (Jam 1:6), [BEZA]. “When energized” by the Spirit, as those were who performed miracles [HAMMOND]. This suits the collocation of the Greek words and the sense well. A righteous man’s prayer is always heard generally, but his particular request for the healing of another was then likely to be granted when he was one possessing a special charism of the Spirit. ALFORD translates, “Availeth much in its working.” The “righteous” is one himself careful to avoid “faults,” and showing his faith by works (Jam 2:24).


Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, vol. 2 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 494.

5:16. The conclusion is clear: therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other. A mutual concern for one another is the way to combat discouragement and downfall. The cure is in personal confession and prayerful concern. The healing (that you may be healed) is not bodily healing but healing of the soul (iathēte; cf. Matt. 13:15; Heb. 12:13; 1 Peter 2:24). It is the powerful and effective … prayer of a righteous person that brings the needed cure from God. This of course relates to the closing two verses of James’ letter. If James 5:14–16 refer to physical healing, then those verses seem disjointed with the verses before and after them.

J. Ronald Blue, “James,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 835.

Verse 16. Confess your faults one to another] This is a good general direction to Christians who endeavour to maintain among themselves the communion of saints. This social confession tends much to humble the soul, and to make it watchful. We naturally wish that our friends in general, and our religious friends in particular, should think well of us; and when we confess to them offences which, without this confession, they could never have known, we feel humbled, are kept from self-applause, and induced to watch unto prayer, that we may not increase our offences before God, or be obliged any more to undergo the painful humiliation of acknowledging our weakness, fickleness, or infidelity to our religious brethren.
It is not said, Confess your faults to the ELDERS that they may forgive them, or prescribe penance in order to forgive them. No; the members of the Church were to confess their faults to each other; therefore auricular confession to a priest, such as is prescribed by the Romish Church, has no foundation in this passage. Indeed, had it any foundation here it would prove more than they wish, for it would require the priest to confess his sins to the people, as well as the people to confess theirs to the priest.
And pray one for another] 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.
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.] The words δεησις ενεργουμενη signify energetic supplication, or such a prayer as is suggested to the soul and wrought in it by a Divine energy. When God designs to do some particular work in his Church he pours out on his followers the spirit of grace and supplication; and this he does sometimes when he is about to do some especial work for an individual. 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: the following was a maxim among the ancient Jews, שתפלת צדיקים קצרה the prayers of the righteous are short. This is exemplified in almost every instance in the Old Testament.


Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible with a Commentary and Critical Notes, New Edition., vol. 6 (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife Corporation, 2014), 827–828.

Verse 16. Luther calls this ‘one of the best verses’ in James.
Both the initial οὖν, which suggests continuation, and the later ἰαθῆτε, which seems roughly synonymous with the σώσει and ἐγερεῖ of v. 15, argue against finding new subject matter, although some interpreters think otherwise.175 There is also, pace Dibelius, 242, 255, no need, despite the switch to the present tense, to detect here materials with different origins. The tension between vv. 15 and 16 and the switch from elders to ‘each other’ arises from the circumstance that the focus shifts from the sick person and the elders to the rest of the community. Although the subject is still prayer and forgiveness, the issue is no longer the bedridden individual but everyone. In the words of Shogren, ‘James is moving to the daily life of the congregation (he switches from aorist jussives to present imperatives): if all Christians were to be admitting their sins to each other and praying for each other, the ultimate remedy of summoning the elders might be averted’.177 Perhaps likewise the scene has shifted from home to public gathering; cf. Did. 4.14: ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ ἐξομολογήσῃ τὰ παραπτώματά σου.
ἐξομολογεῖσθε οὖν ἀλλήλοις τὰς ἁμαρτίας. ἐξαγορεύω + ἁμαρτία renders ידה + חטא in the LXX, but ὁμολογέω + ἁμαρτία appears in Ecclus 4:26, ἐξομολογέω + ἁμαρτία in LXX Dan 9:20. Early Christians, it appears, tended to prefer ἐξομολογέω + ἁμαρτία, which occurs in the Jesus tradition (Mt 3:6; Mk 1:5).
Protestants have passionately insisted that ‘to each other’ is unqualified: no priest is mentioned. And it is indeed manifest that Orthodox and Catholic Christians have read much into James that is not there. Yet it is also true that James clearly presupposes religious practices about which he says next to nothing, so we remain in the dark. It is, accordingly, impossible to decide whether our clause envisions public confession,185 private confession, or both,187 or what ritual might have been involved. Nor do we know whether the text moved early readers to think of all sins or only of those committed against community members.
Collins observes that ἀλλήλων does not always signal mutuality. In Mt 24:10, for instance, ‘they will hand one another (ἀλλήλους) over and will hate one another (ἀλλήλους)’ seemingly refers to one party only: people betray and hate followers of Jesus, who do not betray and hate in return; cf. also Acts 19:38. So for Collins, the confession in Jas 5:16 is not mutual: the sick confess to the elders, not vice versa. It is not clear, however, that the elders are part of v. 16, and surely we should give ἀλλήλων its usual sense unless the context demands otherwise, and it does not do so here.
καὶ εὔχεσθε ὑπὲρ ἀλλήλων. This supplies a contrast with 4:11 (καταλαλεῖτε ἀλλήλων) and 5:9 (στενάζετε … κατʼ ἀλλήλων). εὔχομαι (Jas: 1×) + ὑπὲρ ἀλλήλων was not a common idiom, although it does appear in Philostratus, Apoll. 6.38 (ὑπὲρ ἀλλήλων ηὔξαντο), and the LXX has προσεύχομαι ὑπέρ for several Hebrew expressions. Later Christian usage of εὔχομαι + ὑπὲρ ἀλλήλων stands under the influence of James. But perhaps Apost. Const. 8.10.19 ed. Funk, 492 (ὑπὲρ ἀλλήλων δεηθῶμεν) is independent, in which case that source and James might reflect a liturgical refrain.
The implication here seems to be that effective prayer requires reconciliation, an idea at home in the Jesus tradition. Matthew 6:14–15 juxtaposes the Lord’s Prayer with the insistence that one will be forgiven only if one has forgiven others. Mark 11:23–25 appends to the promise that ‘if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you’ the admonition, ‘Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses’. Luke 17:3–6 first implores forgiving seven times a day and then goes on to promise that faith the size of a mustard seed will uproot a tree and plant it in the sea.
ὅπως ἰαθῆτε. This may be the content of what readers ask for: εὔχεσθε ὅπως ἰαθῆτε, that is, ‘pray for healing’. But ὅπως (Jas: 1×) may also be consequential: ‘pray, and the result will be that you will be healed’. In this case the promise is large and unqualified, which recalls certain traditions attributed to Jesus. On either reading, interpreters have been quick to add qualification by observing the obvious: sometimes people are not healed. As regularly in the LXX, ἰάομαι (Jas: 1×) refers to the healing of the physical body, at least first of all, although nothing prohibits spiritual healing being included here.198 In the Greek world and the LXX, the verb is regularly used of divine healings. The attempt of Mussner, 225–29, to separate vv. 16–18 from 13–15, so that ‘will be healed’ refers exclusively to sins seems forced.
πολὺ ἰσχύει δέησις δικαίου ἐνεργουμένη. ‘If this means anything, it means that the more righteous a man is, the more potent is his prayer.’202 One recalls famous intercessory prayers of Moses (e.g. Exod 32:11–14).
Although the formulation is about prayer in general, the immediate application is to physical healing. The line sounds proverbial, but there is no evidence it was.204 Although ἰσχύω, δέησις (a stylistic variant of the ἡ εὐχή of v. 15), and ἐνεργέω, occur only here in James, and while δίκαιος—a general term that refers to anyone who upholds the norms of the author—appears only here and 5:6, the pithy formulation, with its emphatic placement of πολὺ ἰσχύει, could be that of our author. Gundry, 934, rightly notes that the ‘shift from the plural in “be praying for one another” (5:16a) to the singular of “a righteous person” prepares for the example of Elijah as one who prayed’.
δέησις δικαίου appears to have no pre-Christian Greek parallels. Surely we have here another formulation indebted to Hebrew. תפלת צדיקים appears in Prov 15:29 (LXX: εὐχαὶς δικαίων), תפלת צדקם in CD 11.21, תפלת הצדיקים in Mek. on Exod 15:25, תפלת צדיק in b. Yeb. 64a, תפלתן של צדיקים in b. Yoma 29a; b. Suk. 14a.
ἐνεργουμένη has often been understood as a middle: ‘effective prayer’, or ‘prayer in its working’. This, however, seems redundant, as though James were saying that effective prayer is effective. The passive is attested in 1 Esd 2:16 (ἐπεὶ ἐνεργεῖται τὰ κατὰ τὸν ναόν), in Let. Aris. 78(τῶν ἐνηργημένων τὴν πολυτεχνίαν), in patristic texts, and perhaps in some Pauline texts.212 So some have suggested that James’ ἐνεργουμένη is a passive: ‘The supplication of a righteous man availeth much if it is wrought in him’. The Spirit might in this case be the implicit subject; cf. Rom 8:26. Yet the context hardly suggests this. Maybe a vaguer ‘inspired’ would be more appropriate. Or maybe one should follow those, such as Dibelius, 256, who interpret ἐνεργουμένη as ‘almost an adjective’. It then means ‘energetic’ or ‘forceful’ or some such, in which case one might compare 2 Bar. 84.10 (‘pray diligently’) and the rabbinic imperative to utter the Amidah with ‘deep earnestness’. This at least matches the characterization of Elijah’s prayer in v. 17, and there would then be a parallel of content with 1 Clem. 59.2: ἐκτενῆ τὴν δέησιν καὶ ἱκεσίαν ποιοῦμενοι—‘making earnest prayer and supplication’.
What precisely makes prayer ἐνεργουμένη has given rise to many suggestions, beyond those already noted. As usual, James’ silence has been the opportunity for readers to fill in the gaps. Some have found here a recommendation of ascetical practices such as fasting: discipline will make prayer powerful. Others have imagined faith to be the crucial factor.218 Or sincerity. Or the virtues of one’s whole life.220 Or praying with others.
The so-called Epistle of the Apostles has this at one point: ‘I will hear the prayer of the righteous (ⲡϣⲗⲏⲗ ⲛⲛⲇⲓⲕⲁⲓⲟⲥ) that they make for them’, that is, ‘sinners’. Given the rarity of the expression, ‘prayer of the righteous’, in Christian circles, given that James underlines the efficacy of such prayer, given that, in this connection, he speaks of ‘sin’ (v. 16), and given the close parallels between Jas 5:20 and Ep. Apost. 47 (see below), we could have here an early witness to the circulation of James—if, that is, the Epistle of the Apostles was, as so often thought, composed in the third quarter of the second century.
Hegesippus (ca. 110–180) reports that, during James’ martyrdom, someone called out, ‘Stop what you are doing. The just one (ὁ δίκαιος) is praying (εὔχεται) for you.’ The parallel with our text may be coincidence. Or Hegesippus may preserve a tradition that influenced the author of James. Or—less likely—perhaps the legend was influenced by our book, in which case we would have here another second-century witness to James.


Dale C. Allison Jr., A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on The Epistle of James, ed. G. I. Davies and C. M. Tuckett, International Critical Commentary (New York; London; New Delhi; Sydney: Bloomsbury, 2013), 768–774.

16. As a consequence (oun) of the promise that God responds to prayer (vv. 14–15a) and forgives sin (v. 15b), believers should be committed to confessing their sins to one another and praying for one another. Mutual confession of sins, which James encourages as a habitual practice (this is suggested by the present tense of the imperative), is greatly beneficial to the spiritual vitality of a church. This was seen at the time of the Methodist movement in eighteenth-century England. The suggested ‘rule’ for the small meetings of believers that spiritually fuelled that movement had at its head the encouragement to mutual confession and prayer from James 5:16a.
What kinds of sins are to be confessed? It may be that James thinks only of those sins which have brought harm to others (cf. Matt. 5:25–26). But the end of the sentence makes it probable that specifically those sins which may have caused illness are intended. That you may be healed expresses the purpose of mutual confession and prayer. Many take this ‘healing’ to be spiritual in nature, or perhaps a general healing, including both the physical and spiritual spheres. In this case, verse 16a is to be seen as a general deduction drawn from the specific situation of verses 14–15. But it is better to take this sentence as a concluding exhortation to the discussion of physical illness. This is because the verb heal (iaomai) is consistently applied to physical afflictions. To be sure, it is used in the Septuagint to describe the ‘healing’ of sin or faithlessness (cf. Deut. 30:3; Isa. 6:10; 53:5; Jer. 3:22), but in these contexts it is usually the case that sin has already been explicitly compared to a ‘wound’. In the New Testament iaomai is used with spiritual application only in quotations from these Old Testament texts. Therefore, since the purpose of this confession and prayer is physical healing, it is best to understand the confession as involving any sins which may hinder that healing, and the prayers to be specifically for the cure of bodily afflictions. It is striking that, while in verse 14 the elders are to pray for the healing, here the whole church body is to be involved in prayer for healing. As Davids says, James ‘consciously generalizes, making the specific case of 5:14–15 into a general principle of preventive medicine …’ This verse also demonstrates that the power to heal is invested in prayer, not the elder. And while it is appropriate that those charged with the spiritual oversight of the community should be called to intercede for those seriously ill, James makes clear that all believers have the privilege and responsibility to pray for healing.
James’ reminder of the great power of prayer in the last part of verse 16 provides a basis for the exhortations to pray which he has given in verses 13–16a. The power possessed by prayer is not limited to ‘supersaints’; the righteous person simply designates one who is wholeheartedly committed to God and sincerely seeking to do his will. James employs a third word for prayer here (deēsis), but he apparently uses it without any difference in meaning from the other two words for prayer used in this paragraph (cf. proseuchomai in vv. 13–14, 17–18; euchomai in vv. 15–16a). The prayer of the righteous person, James affirms, is powerful and effective. The two adjectives in the NIV translate a complicated Greek construction. The first part of the construction (poly ischuei) pretty clearly means something like ‘is very strong or powerful’. But James later adds a participle, energoumenē, that is harder to understand. This participle could be passive, in which case the meaning could be ‘prayer is very powerful when it is energized (by God or the Spirit)’. Thus there would be introduced a specific qualification on the effectiveness of prayer from the standpoint of the will of God. However, the participle is more likely to be middle (as most of the modern translations presume), with the meaning ‘prayer is very powerful in its working, or in its effect’.12


Douglas J. Moo, James: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. Eckhard J. Schnabel, Second edition., vol. 16, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2015), 229–231.

James 5:16

This verse continues the themes of prayer and healing. In verse 15 it is the elders who are to pray for the sick, and here in verse 16 it is the members of the community who are encouraged to pray for each other and confess to each other.

Therefore: the conjunction connects the thought of verse 16 with that of verse 15. It suggests that the discussion of the restoration of physical health and the forgiveness of sin that started in verse 15 is continued in verse 16. This particle may also be rendered “So then …” (TEV). Its function is to provide a formal link between what the author has said and what he is going to say. This link may also be rendered as “Consequently …” As far as the theme is concerned, the link is in the power of prayer. If we wish to express this link, we may render the conjunction as “Since prayer has such power …” or “Because God answers prayer …” Following an inferior text, KJV does not have this connective. The adopted text, which has the connective, makes better sense as it is drawing out an important consequence here.

Confess your sins to one another: the imperative confess is in the present tense, suggesting that continual or habitual practice may be meant. If so, it may be rendered “You should get into the habit of admitting your sins to each other” (Phps). It is not exactly clear what kind of sins are to be confessed. It is equally unclear who the confession of sin is to be made to. The end of the sentence, where the reference is to healing, makes it probable that the sins may be related to those that have caused the sickness. The phrase to one another certainly does not suggest that the confession is to be addressed to the elders, as the role of the elders is not mentioned in this verse. It may be a confession made to the person against whom sin has been committed. It is perhaps best understood as a confession addressed to God in the presence of other Christians in the Christian community, as this is a practice known to the early church (compare Mark 1:5; Matt 3:6; Acts 19:18). In any case it is unlikely to affect the translation in any significant way if we stay close to the literal rendering.

James also encourages his readers to pray for one another. We note again that the church members, not only the elders, are encouraged to take part in the ministry of intercession. The object of mutual confession and intercession is that you may be healed. The verb “to heal” is most often used in the sense of physical healing, and that may be understood to be the primary meaning intended here. Yet in the present context, where confession of sins is encouraged, the sense of restoring the spiritual health of the Christian community cannot be ruled out. The one who does the healing is God, and it may be desirable to make this clear in some languages; for example, “so that God may heal you.”

The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effect: James emphasizes the power of prayer. This sentence can be taken as a final comment on the prayer of intercession in the first part of this verse. In this case we may wish to link it to the previous statement; for example, “… and pray for one another to be cured; the heartfelt prayer of someone upright works very powerfully” (NJB). However, most other translations see this sentence as introducing a new line of thought about the power of prayer, as seen in the example of Elijah, and have therefore structured the relationship differently. They place a full stop at the end of the previous sentence, making a complete break. The new sentence then serves as a transition to what is to follow. The French Jerusalem Bible (La Bible de Jérusalem) and Phps have in fact chosen to make the new sentence the beginning of a new paragraph. In any case it is desirable to show a break between verse 16a and the new sentence.

In Greek the word for prayer used here is from a different root than that of the verb “to pray” used in the previous sentence, but it is difficult to see if any difference in meaning is intended. A righteous man is not to be understood as a special type of person whose prayer is more effective than others. Rather, this person is someone who is faithful to God and living in harmony with God’s will, and therefore his prayer is indeed effective. See the discussion in 5:6. In this context the phrase may simply be rendered as “an upright person” (similarly Gspd, NJB), “a good person” (TEV; similarly also Brc, REB), or “an innocent person” (CEV).

To underline the power of prayer, James uses two qualifiers to modify the verb has … power, which is literally “is strong” or “is powerful.” The first qualifier is “much” and the second “working” or “being effective.” The second is a participle that can be taken as passive or as middle voice. If it is passive we can translate the sentence as “the prayer is powerful when it is put into effect.” Making it clear that God is the one who puts prayer into effect, TNT has rendered the sentence as “The good man’s prayer is very powerful because God is at work in it.” If the qualifier is a middle, the sentence is normally rendered as “the prayer is powerful when it is exercised” or “the prayer is powerful in its effect.” More scholars and translations appear to favor the second possibility. Yet another possibility is to take the participle as an adjective modifying prayer, resulting in renderings like “Tremendous power is made available through a good man’s earnest prayer” (Phps) or “The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful” (NAB). On the whole it is probably best to follow the majority of scholars. The meaning of this sentence, then, may be most effectively brought out by rendering it as:

• The prayer of a good person is very [or, most] powerful and effective.
• The prayer of a good person has a [very] powerful effect (TEV).
• The prayer of an innocent person is powerful, and it can help a lot (CEV).


I-Jin Loh and Howard Hatton, A Handbook on the Letter from James, UBS Handbook Series (New York: United Bible Societies, 1997), 192–194.

Prayer in Confession of Sin (v. 16a)

5:16a. Because God hears the prayers of penitent people and forgives sin, Christians should confess their sins to one another and pray for one another. The mention of “healing” at the conclusion of this verse makes it likely that the sins to be confessed are those which have caused illness. The healing shows the purpose of the mutual confession and prayer.
Since the intent of the confession of sins is to experience physical healing, it seems best to refer the command to the confession of sins which may hinder healing. The confessor of sins is seeking healing by the act of admitting sins.
Two interesting observations come from this verse. First, the entire church is to be involved in this praying. It is not confined to the elders. Second, the power to heal appears in the act of praying, not in the elder or other one praying.
Confess means “to say the same thing.” It suggests that in confessing, we must identify the sin by its true name and call it what it is. We must acknowledge and repent of specific sins, not merely offer a general confession of guilt.
Placed so close to the discussion of prayer for the sick, this verse likely has its primary application in confession of sin by people who are sick. However, the application is easily extended to confession of sin in any of life’s situations.
This confession of sin seeks to secure faithful prayer support for stumbling Christians from trusted spiritual friends. It is not urging a careless confession to just anybody. Such a type of confession might cause more harm than good. It is confession to dedicated, trusted prayer warriors who will intercede for you with God.
Roman Catholics have used this verse to justify confession of sins to a priest. It is important to note that this verse discusses confession and intercession among Christians and not between a believer and a priest.


4. Prayer in Working Out the Will of God (vv. 16b–18)

5:16b. This verse concludes by showing the powerful effect of prayer. Translators have disagreed widely over the translation of the last half of this verse. Some translators emphasize that James was commenting on the effect of the prayers of righteous people. Other translators emphasize that James taught that righteousness and earnestness were requirements for uttering powerful prayers. The translation of the NIV emphasizes the former.
We learn two features of effective prayer in this verse. First, prayer must come from righteous people. A person must have a living faith shown by an obedient life. Second, effective prayer must have energy or persistence. Effective prayer comes from the heart of a believer whose passion is to see the will of God worked out in life.
5:17. Elijah is spotlighted as one who prayed earnestly with power. A man just like us teaches us that Elijah had human weaknesses and frailties just like our own. The exact length of the drought in Elijah’s time was not mentioned in the Old Testament (see 1 Kgs. 18:1). Jesus mentioned the same length of time as James (Luke 4:25).
5:18. Elijah knew the will of God so intimately that he could understand the exact time when the divine purposes were to occur. He was able to perceive when God wanted to begin and end the drought. The example of Elijah in determining God’s will challenges us to seek a closeness in our walk with God so that we know and follow his will. Those prayers which accord with the will of God will always be answered (see 1 John 5:14–15). We must so walk in God’s will that we love what God loves and reject what he rejects.


Thomas D. Lea, Hebrews, James, vol. 10, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 349–350.

 

[Lori Jane]

N.T. Wright​

JAMES 5:13–20
Praying in Faith

13 Are any among you suffering? Let them pray. Are any cheerful? Let them sing psalms.
14 Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church, and they should pray over the sick person, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.
15 Faithful prayer will rescue the sick person, and the Lord will raise them up. If they have committed any sin, it will be forgiven them.
16 So confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. When a righteous person prays, that prayer carries great power.
17 Elijah was a man with passions like ours, and he prayed and prayed that it might not rain—and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.
18 Then he prayed again, the sky gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
19 My dear family, if someone in your company has wandered from the truth, and someone turns them back, 20 know this: the one who turns back a sinner from wandering off into error will rescue that person’s life from death, and cover a multitude of sins.

There are many things in life which look extremely odd to someone who doesn’t know what’s going on. Imagine watching someone making a musical instrument if you’d never heard music in your life. What, you might think, can such an object possibly be for? Why waste such time and effort on it? Or imagine a child, who has no idea about babies and where they come from, or of the fact that his mother is expecting one soon, watching her get the room ready for the new arrival. It makes no sense. Why this little cot? Why these new decorations?

Of course, when the moment comes all is explained. But sometimes you have to wait; to be patient (that theme again); to trust that things will come clear. James has used other examples, too, the farmer and the harvest being the obvious one. This theme of patience, which has run through the whole letter, marks his thinking out from the ordinary moralism of his day. James is constantly aware of living within a story—living, in fact, within God’s story; and of the fact that this story has already reached its climax in his brother Jesus and will one day complete what he had so solidly begun.

This is the setting within which prayer, that most incomprehensible of activities, makes sense. To someone with no idea of God, of there being a world other than what we can touch and see, prayer looks at best like an odd superstition and at worst like serious self-deception. Fancy just talking to yourself and thinking it will make a difference to anything! But almost all human traditions, right across history and culture, have been aware of other dimensions which seem mysteriously to intersect with our own. The ancient Jewish tradition, which comes to fresh and vital expression in Jesus himself and in his early followers and family, sharpens up this general vague awareness of Something Else into not only Someone Else but a named Someone: the God we know in, through and as Jesus himself. Then, suddenly, prayer, and the patience which it involves, make all the sense in the world.

To finish this letter, then, with a call to prayer, though perhaps unexpected, is quite appropriate. Prayer must surround everything else that we do, whether sad or happy, suffering or cheerful. The Psalms are there, to this day, as the natural prayer book of Jesus’ followers (verse 13), even though many Christians today seem to ignore them altogether. Anointing with oil is there, to this day, as a very simple yet profound and effective sign of God’s longing to heal people. Like prayer itself, such an act is mysterious; yet, for those who take what James says seriously, it is full of meaning and power. And forgiveness is there, to this day, as the great open door, the fresh possibility, the chance of a new start, for all who will confess the sin which is dragging them down, and will join in prayer for healing.

James seems, again like Jesus himself, to have seen a connection between sin and ill-health. Jesus warned (in John 9) against making too close a link, but at other times, for instance in Mark 2:1–12, it seems that forgiveness and healing went hand in hand. Maybe these are the two things which push to the fore when we take our stand in the place where prayer makes sense, at the place where heaven and earth overlap, and at the place where our own present time and God’s future time overlap.

That is, after all, what Christian prayer, and for that matter Christian sacraments, are all about. Prayer isn’t just me calling out in the dark to a distant or unknown God. It means what it means and does what it does because God is, as James promised, very near to those who draw near to him. Heaven and earth meet when, in the spirit, someone calls on the name of the Lord. And it means what it means and does what it does because God’s new time has broken into the continuing time of this sad old world, so that the person praying stands with one foot in the place of trouble, sickness and sin and with the other foot in the place of healing, forgiveness and hope. Prayer then brings the latter to bear on the former.

To understand all this may require some effort of the imagination. But once you’ve grasped it, prayer, like that puzzling musical instrument, can begin to play the tune it was designed to play. Suddenly it all makes sense.

That is why James alerts us to the great example of prayer, the archetypal prophet Elijah. There are many lessons one might draw from the story in 1 Kings chapters 17 and 18, but we might not have grasped the point that James is making: that the drought which came as judgment on the people of Israel, and the rain which came when they returned to the Lord and abandoned their idols, all happened in the context of Elijah’s prayer. And prayer, of course, is not only a task for the ‘professionals’, the clergy and Christian leaders. Every Christian has not only the right but the vocation to engage in prayer like that, prayer for one another, prayer for the sick, prayer for the sinners, prayer for the nation and the world. If everyone who reads these words were to determine to devote half an hour every day to this task, the effect could be incalculable.

As ever, James brings things right down to the practical level as he finishes. Once the lesson has been grasped, that in prayer the Christian stands at the overlap-point of heaven and earth, of the present and the future, there is pastoral work to be done. To see someone wandering off in a dangerous direction and do nothing about it is a tragic dereliction of duty. It may be hard to turn them back—they may insist that they are right and we are wrong!—but the effort must be made, precisely in the humility and patience which James has been urging all through. When that is done, a bit of heaven arrives on earth; a bit of God’s future becomes real in the present. New life and forgiveness are there in person.

We shouldn’t be surprised at this. James knew that his older brother, Jesus himself, had embodied new life and forgiveness. He had hung at the place where new life and forgiveness came bursting through from God’s world to ours. Everything James has been saying flows from that astonishing fact. To learn, with James, to understand and obey ‘the royal law’ of love is to get to know Jesus himself. And as that happens, so the patience and humility, the love and the prayer, the wisdom and the true speech on which he has been insisting will become part of our lives. These are the ‘works’ which will demonstrate our faith.


Tom Wright, Early Christian Letters for Everyone: James, Peter, John and Judah, For Everyone Bible Study Guides (London; Louisville, KY: SPCK; Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), 40–44.

 

[Lori Jane]