James 5:13-16

v13: “In times of suffering nothing is more timely than prayer,” and times of “prosperity should make us full of praise.” This doesn’t mean that prayer should be “confined to times of trouble, nor singing” to times of happiness. Yet it is true that “times of adversity should be prayerful times,” where we pray for ourselves as well as seek the prayers of others, and times of cheer should lead to us singing and giving God our praise in private “devotions as well as public meetings.”

v14-15: Elders have a duty to pray for and with the sick, and “it is the responsibility of sick people to send for [the elders] and seek their help and prayers.” In times of sickness we should seek for ourselves and others forgiveness of sin. If the sickness has been “sent as a punishment for some particular sin, that sin will be pardoned, and as a sign of that forgiveness, the sickness will be removed.” Though it is most common to pray when we are sick and in pain, “O give me some relief! Please restore me to health!” we must also pray, “O that God would forgive my sins!”

v16: Confession of sin “is necessary for our reconciliation with those we disagree with, or to make reparation for wrongs done to anyone, or to obtain information on any point of conscience in order to make our own spirits quiet and at ease.” There are also times when it may be useful to disclose our faults and “individual weaknesses to one another where there is a deep, trusting friendship, and where friends may by their prayers help each other” plead with God for mercy and forgiveness.