SECTION C: THEMES FROM SELECTED EPISTLES (a) Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed... What other teac...

(a) Other teachings of James on effective prayer (James 5:13-18)

Beyond confessing sins to one another and praying for one another so that they may be healed, James gave the following teachings on prayer:

• Prayer should suit every circumstance of life: anyone suffering should pray, and anyone cheerful should sing praise.
• If anyone is sick, he should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.
• The prayer of faith will save the sick person, the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Faith is therefore essential in prayer.
• The prayer of a righteous person has great power in its effects; effective prayer must come from a righteous life.
• He gave Elijah as an example: Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, yet he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it did not rain for three years and six months; then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth bore its fruit. This shows that fervent, earnest prayer produces results.

(b) Three ways Christians misuse prayers today

• Using prayer to curse, harm or invoke evil upon enemies rather than to seek God's blessing.
• Praying for selfish, materialistic or vain requests driven by greed and covetousness.
• Turning prayer into a noisy, showy performance or empty repetition without faith, sincerity or a righteous life.