In James 5:16b-20 he wraps up his book by talking about the power of prayer. “….The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” In writing about the need for prayer for the suffering, for the sick, and for the sinning, James points to the effective nature of prayer – when it is fervent and offered by a righteous man. This is someone who recognizes the grounds of his righteousness reside in Jesus, and whose personal walk is generally consistent with the righteousness that he has in Jesus. Much of our prayer is not effective simply because it is not fervent. It is offered with a lukewarm attitude that virtually asks God to care about something that we care little about.
He then gives us an example of the power of prayer though the life of Elijah. “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. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.” Elijah is a model of earnest prayer that was answered by God. His effectiveness in prayer extended even to the weather! Yet this shows that Elijah’s heart was in tune with God’s. He prayed for the rain to stop and start only because he sensed it was in the heart of God in His dealings with Israel.
James ends his letter with guidance around how to help a sinning brother. “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” Having introduced the topics of sin and confession, James reminds us of the need to confront those who have wandered from the truth. Wanders from the truth is a good picture. Most people don’t wander deliberately – it just sort of happens. Nonetheless, it still gets them off track and possibly in danger.
God uses human instruments in turning sinners back from the errors of their ways. God does not need to use such human instruments, and sometimes He does not. One reason God uses human instruments is because it brings Him more glory than if He were to do His work by Himself. In this way God is like a skilled workman who makes incredible things using the worst of tools. After the same pattern, God uses earthen vessels to be containers of His glory. James concludes with this because this is exactly what he has endeavored to do through this challenging letter – to confront those who have wandered from a living faith, endeavoring to save their souls from death, by demanding that they not only hear the word, but do it, because a living faith will have its proof.
“Portions of this blog post have been taken from the Enduring Word commentary, (c) 2023 The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – ewm@enduringword.com“
“Scripture (bold and italicized) has been taken from the English Standard Version, © ESV.org – www.esv.org”
Arlin Sorensen's Thoughts on Scripture 