Powerful Prayer

James 5:13-18

Prayer is as a solid rope, not as a wispy vapor.

Pray when you’re afflicted (James 5:13). The Greek term translated is afflicted here is used only three other times in the New Testament. Notice how its use in those contexts seems to restrict the meaning:

• endure hardness (2 Timothy 2:3)
• suffer trouble (2 Timothy 2:9)
• endure afflictions (2 Timothy 4:5)

Why pray during affliction?

• deliverance and glory (Psalm 50:15)
• divine answers, presence, deliverance, and honor (Psalm 91:15)

Notice this connection between affliction, prayer, and humility: “And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers” (2 Chronicles 33:12).

Is the anointing of James 5 a measure of last resort, first resort, or only resort?

It is very important that we not put the anointing in this passage in the wrong category. The term used here (aleipho) is the same term used in passages like Matthew 6:17, Mark 6:13 and 16:1, and Luke 7:38. This word has been called the mundane and common word for anoint. On the other hand we have chrio, which some designate as the sacred and religious word for anoint, used in verses like Luke 4:18 and Acts 10:38. What implications do you see in the distinctive uses for these terms?

How are verses 14 and 15 statements of security?

Trust in my brother allows me to confidently recognize my needs and failings to him (James 5:16).

The prayer of James 5:16 is prayer that works. It is active and efficient. Learn more about it by looking up 1754 (energeo) in Strong’s Concordance. Over half the times it’s used in the New Testament, it is translated as a derivative of work.

The effective prayer of the righteous can do a lot.

Now an excerpt from a piece at Anabaptists that I wrote back in 2008: