James 5:19 KJV [19] “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;”      James mentions two men in our text. He first speaks of a careless backslider, and then a concerned brother is mentioned. We have witnessed both types of men, and honestly, we have been both. These are certainly two men to whom we can all relate.      Consider the first man in our text. He is a brother who has erred from the truth. He has made a conscious choice to go his own way. He drifted from what once held him …

James 5:18 KJV [18] “And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.”      The second prayer of Elijah brought about a second miracle. It was amazing to see the Lord shut up the heavens, but an even greater witness to see Him open them up again! The second prayer proved several things to Elijah and those who witnessed the event.      First, it proved that the Lord had not yet finished His work. For three and half years, there had been no rain, and some questioned if it would ever rain again, …

James 5:17 KJV [17] “Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.”     Elijah was not a superman, but he was a spiritual man. He was a man who believed in prayer. He prayed believing, he prayed persistently, and he prayed earnestly. That is how we should pray today for our nation and our churches. Earnest prayer is the greatest need of the hour. May the Lord burden our hearts to go deeper …

James 5:16 KJV [16] “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”      To be right with God, we must confess our sins to Him, but we must also confess our sins to one another. We do not hear a lot of teaching and preaching on that today. We promote testimony services, but what about confession services? If we had more confession services, we would have more testimonial services. I’m not talking about airing out our dirty laundry because there are things …

James 5:15 KJV [15] “and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.”      James is not giving us a blanket formula for healing the sick. Many believers have fallen sick with a terminal illness and passed away. It was the Father’s will for them to leave us, and no prayer was going to heal their body. Prayer is not to accomplish our will but to accomplish the Father’s will.      The key phrase in verse fifteen is “if he have committed …