"Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
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.
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."
James 5:13-16
There are some cool ideas in here. First, that prayer is the answer to affliction, as singing is to happiness... an expression of emotion that does our hearts good, gets the emotion out there in a positive way, and helps us progress to addressing what is next... where to go and how to improve things from here.
I really like the idea here that confessing our faults and praying for each other also helps us heal... not only physically, but spiritually, as it mentions sin as well as sickness. Maybe the selflessness of humility and the other-focus required to seek the good of others helps us escape the pride that so often leads to sin and error.
Today, let's pray, and sing, and confess, and pray for each other... let's trust in God that all of these things will lead to better things for all of us.
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