James | April 30, 2026

Start your day with a short, Scripture-centered devotional from Paul Michael. In about seven minutes, you will hear the Word, reflect on its truth, and be encouraged to live it out in everyday life.

James 5:13-20

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Transcript

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Welcome to your daily devotional with me, PMB. Today we're going to finish the book of James. We'll be in James chapter 5, verses 13 to 20. And then beginning next time, we'll cover the last part of the book of Revelation. We'll have Revelation chapters 19 through 22 to go through. That's the third and final division of the book of Revelation. So today we'll finish James. Next time we'll pick up in Revelation where we left off at the beginning of Revelation chapter 19. Okay, but for today, let's look at James 5, beginning at verse 13, and we'll see that James gives us this victory, kind of a final note of victory tip on how to walk in the victory of the Christian life that Jesus has purchased for us by his blood. James has been talking about treating one another justly, watching our tongue, not showing favoritism. There are a lot of themes that have overlapped. They deal with the issues of the heart, but here he really focuses on the action of prayer. And it's in prayer that we truly find victory. He says, Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Look, you're going through this hard time? Pray. If anyone is cheerful, let him sing psalms. This is in the context of prayer, and it's saying, look, sing praises unto God. Praise him in your prayers. 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. The anointing of oil was nothing magical or mystic. In the Old Testament, anointing with oil was a symbol of things that were devoted unto God or anointed as a way of saying separated unto God or God's presence resting on someone. So what this is saying is they're going and they're praying in Christ's name, and they're saying, Lord, in your name, would you bring healing to this person? It's not their own strength, it's in the name of the Lord. And they're setting this person aside unto the purposes of God, committing them unto God in their prayer. And the prayer of faith will save the sick. The prayer of faith, God heals, but he calls us by faith to pray for this healing. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up. See how that works? We are to pray by faith. We don't always know God's will. It may not be God's will to heal someone at some certain time. But we can pray by faith, committing it unto the Lord, trusting it that if it is his will in that moment that they will be healed. We pray by faith, the Lord raises them up. We don't have the power in ourselves. It's all about God. It's about what he's doing, what he chooses to do in his time. We are simply called by faith to pray. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Again, we are called to just do what we can do. The person who's sick, if there is something that is in their life that is tied to this sickness, a sin, it doesn't mean that all sickness is related to individual sin. Now it could all go back to the fall, Adam and Eve, yes, to that sin, but just because somebody has a cold, it doesn't mean that they're sinning, right? But there could be times where there is a sickness in someone's life because, because it says here, if he has committed sins, he'll be forgiven. And so we are to call for people to pray for us, we are to confess our sins, we are to humble ourselves, we are to pray for one another by faith. But again, it's all about God. It's about God who forgives, it's about God who heals. Then verse 16, confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. I'm not trying to downplay the power of prayer. I'm elevating. God is calling us to pray, to pray a life of righteousness and faith, to pray according to his spirit, according to his leading and humility, trusting God to do what only He will do. Now, when it says the fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much, I think this goes back to John chapters 14, 15, and 16, where Jesus talked to his disciples about praying and praying according to his will, and whatever we ask in his name will be given. When you are walking with the Lord, if you are walking in righteousness, then your heart is attuned to him, and your prayers will be attuned to him, and what you pray will be much more according to the will of God. Therefore, it will be heard and answered then if you were not walking with God, if you were in rebellion against him, you're not going to know when you're sinning against him how to really pray according to his will. And so it's as we walk with the Lord, as we listen to his voice, as we walk in righteousness, that we know how to pray according to his will. And as we pray according to his will, then we see those results. We see him act on our behalf because we're praying according to what God wants. The fervent prayer of a righteous man availth much. Or woman. Then verse 17, he gives us an example of this. 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 land for three years and six months. He's saying, Look, remember Elijah? He was a man with a nature like ours. Yes, he was one of God's mightiest prophets, but he was still a man. He had his own struggles. But man, when he prayed, as he walked with God and he prayed earnestly, God heard him. This is a story going back to the Old Testament we don't have time for right now. But verse 18, it says, And he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. It's pointing back to the fact that Elijah was walking with God. He prayed according to God's will, and God act even in a miraculous way, even withholding and giving rain. So what we need to do is not put any limits on God. But it's not our job to go around healing people or doing the miraculous. It's our job to walk with God in righteousness and faith and pray and trust God and pray according to his will, and he will do the miraculous. Then verse 19 says, Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and somehow, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. So there's a theme in this passage of prayer and repentance from sin. Man, I think those just go together so well, you know, for our daily lives today, that how much of your prayer life is you just saying, Lord, forgive me for my sin, learning to have repentance be a daily part of your life, turning from this world, turning from your own flesh, turning from the things that would lead you astray, and turning back to God, giving him your whole heart, walking in righteousness, thinking about righteousness, setting your mind on things above, loving the Lord your God with all of your heart, your soul, your mind, and your strength. As James brings his epistle to a close, he's calling us to care for one another, to pray for one another, but also to walk in holiness ourselves. And prayer is a big part of that. If you want to truly walk with God, if you want to walk in righteousness, if you want to walk in holiness, spend time with God in his word and in prayer. Because this word earnestly is repeated. And it's not just that you, oh, you just really want it in the moment. It's that you are persisting in prayer. It is a part of your life. You are pleading with a God who you just have this ongoing relationship with. So as James closes again, he's writing to Christians that are being persecuted for their faith. He knew that even though they were suffering, they might be tempted to stray from the Lord, to not pray, to not treat one another right, to fall into sin. And he says, keep praying. Persist in praying for one another. Confess your sins, be humble, repent, continue to walk with the Lord, give it over to the Lord, and you will get the Lord's results. When we go our way, we get our results. When we go God's way, we get God's results. And the way that we go God's way is tied to prayer. I pray that this has been a blessing to you today. For more information, go to pmvministries.org. And as always, I hope you have a great day.