¹⁵. . . if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. ¹⁶Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

Whether James teaches us to seek healing for all illness or not, we do know that God can and will heal some sicknesses. However, we must face the reality that He does not heal every one of our physical maladies. Many so-called faith healers wear glasses, catch a cold, or contract a virus. Though death has lost its sting for believers (1 Cor. 15:55–56), believers still die; this is not because faith is lacking. Nor are we trying to discourage anyone from believing God for a miracle. But we must caution against a distortion of Scripture that can leave some shipwrecked in their faith when God doesn’t heal.

Yet God does heal some illness, and here James focuses on sickness that is sin-related. In this case, calling the elders implicitly recognizes the sin-cause behind the struggle, whether the sickness is psychosomatic—caused by a person’s guilt or stress over a conflict with others—or a direct consequence from God, as the Corinthian believers experienced for their abuse of the Lord’s Supper:

For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. (1 Cor. 11:29–30)

The apostle John’s teaching harmonizes with this:

If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this. (1 John 5:16)

This emphasis on prayer for healing now extends, it seems, to ordinary human interaction. We should make a habit of confessing our sins against each other, praying for each other, and forgiving one another. How much healthier would we be, individually and corporately, if we would live as James instructs? This practice is the ultimate antidote to the “quarrels and conflicts” of James 4.

The righteous man is the one who controls his anger (James 1:20), who seeks peace (James 3:18), and who is abused by those who mimic faith with their words but not with their deeds (James 5:6). This is the man whose prayers accomplish much, a man of genuine faith who is genuinely a friend of God, like Abraham (James 2:23). It is a great accomplishment when righteous people admit their own sin, for it leads to relational healing.

Lord, help me say these words, “Brother, I have sinned, please forgive me.”