Session 13

With Anticipation
Believers should turn to God when facing the trials of life.

JAMES 5:7-9,13-20
What are you anticipating right now? Maybe you picture a vacation
destination, a holiday, an addition to the family, or payday.
Anticipation adds spice to life. Those who have nothing to look
forward to in the future lack hope. Sometimes anticipation can
include thoughts of fear and worry, but sometimes it is the eager
expectation of something that will arrive in the future.

What are you looking forward to the most? What are you dreading the
most? What role, good and bad, can anticipation play in a person’s life?

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UNDERSTAND THE CONTEXT
JAMES 5:1-20
James, the half-brother of Jesus, became a respected leader in
the Jerusalem church. After the church scattered following the
martyrdom of Stephen, he continued to exert influence in the
lives of the believers dispersed throughout Judea and Samaria.
His letter was filled with practical, helpful advice for those who
had scattered. He told them how to endure trials, to live out
what they believed, and to care for those who could not care for
themselves. He spoke of controlling the tongue and choosing true
wisdom from above. James contrasted the prideful person with
the humble person.
In James 5:1-6, he described wealthy people who put their
trust in their riches and used their wealth to oppress others. Their
oppression involved withholding pay that was due to their workers,
living in luxury while others lived in poverty, and even murdering
to get what they wanted. These people lived as if the present life
was all that mattered and all that existed. James would challenge
that notion in this week’s focal passage.
As you read James 5, identify how James encourages prayer. What is the
connection between praying and anticipating the return of Jesus?

EXPLORE THE TEXT

PATIENCE (JAS. 5:7-9)
7
Therefore, brothers and sisters, be patient until the Lord’s
coming. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the
earth and is patient with it until it receives the early and the late
rains. 8 You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, because
the Lord’s coming is near. 9 Brothers and sisters, do not complain
about one another, so that you will not be judged. Look, the judge
stands at the door!

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VERSES 7-8
James contrasted his readers with the oppressive landowners of the
previous verses (vv. 1-6). Some of his readers were suffering as the
poor were in the previous verses. To the ones suffering in this life,
James encouraged patience. The Greek term for patience is made
up of two words—“long” and “passionate anger.” The situations
these believers endured and suffered for Christ certainly could have
caused anger to well up inside of them, but James cautioned against
an explosion of anger as they patiently awaited an event that would
set things right. That event was the Lord’s coming. At His return,
Jesus will judge the wicked and deliver the saints. Though the
scattered saints were experiencing persecution, and it would get
worse, they were to await patiently the return of Jesus.
James compared the expectant Christian with the anticipation
of a farmer. Rain is crucial to the farmer’s success. The early rains
in Palestine fell in October and November, and the late rains fell in
April and May. Little rain fell between those times, so farmers were
dependent on these rains to produce a harvest. During a drought,
they had no choice but to wait patiently for the rain so they could
see the precious fruit of the earth. In an agrarian society, the
absence of rain spelled doom, heightening the anticipation for rain.
Like the farmer, James encouraged his readers to be patient.
The farmer who patiently awaited harvest was not lazy and idle. He
still planted, weeded, and prepared for the harvest, all the while
looking to the sky for rain to fall and bless his efforts. Neither is the
believer to wait idly as he anticipates the return of Christ. James
encouraged his readers, strengthen your hearts. This word could
be translated as strengthen, confirm, or establish. It described
that which was firmly fixed. We sometimes describe anticipation
as setting our hearts on something. This was the idea in James’s
instruction to those awaiting the return of Christ.
The next big event on God’s calendar is the return of Jesus.
The reason for optimism was that the Lord’s coming is near.
This expression occurs throughout the New Testament (Rom.
13:12; Heb. 10:25; 1 Pet. 4:7). This may be questioned today since
over 2,000 years have passed since Jesus’ birth. In God’s eyes
a thousand years are as a day (2 Pet. 3:8; 2 Cor. 4:16-18), so the
passage emphasizes that the next big event on God’s calendar is the
return of Jesus. The fact that this much time has passed should not

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deter us into thinking His coming is not near. It should not cause
us to lose heart. Jesus is coming as He promised and God will set all
things as they should be.

K E Y DOC T RI N E: Salvation
Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and
abiding state of the redeemed (1 John 3:2).

VERSE 9
Returning to themes he had already covered, James encouraged
believers not to complain about one another. He had already covered
the power of the tongue (Jas. 3:1-12) and the danger of judging
others (4:11-12). The word complain was commonly translated as a
sigh or groan rather than a public, outright complaint. Suffering
might cause believers to groan against one another under the heavy
weight of trials. Those who did so would be judged.
Furthermore, James revealed that the judge stands at the door.
Christians did not have time to complain about one another. Their
returning Savior was standing outside the door with His hand on
the knob, ready to enter at any time.
What impact should the promised return of Jesus have on a believer? On
an unbeliever?

PRAYER (JAS. 5:13-18)

13
Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone
cheerful? He should sing praises. 14 Is anyone among you sick?
He should call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray
over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 The
prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise
him up; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore,
confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so
that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very

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powerful in its effect. 17 Elijah was a human being as we are, and
he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and
six months it did not rain on the land. 18 Then he prayed again, and
the sky gave rain and the land produced its fruit.

VERSES 13-15
As we patiently anticipate the return of Christ, prayer is a
valuable tool and weapon. In verses 13-18, James demonstrated
how powerful a weapon prayer is for those who were hurting.
He addressed those who were suffering. James’s readers had
experienced persecution that caused them to scatter (1:1). He
recommended that the suffering person should pray. He could pray
for deliverance from the trial or for strength to endure it. James
also encouraged believers to sing praises when they were cheerful,
which was yet another form of prayer. Whether in good spirits or
suffering, prayer was the first option.
James called upon the sick to pray as well. Sickness could
include all types of weaknesses—physical, mental, or spiritual.
The sick person is encouraged to summon the elders of the church
to pray over him. These were clearly leaders in the church, whether
they were pastors or a separate group of people who asserted
administrative and spiritual guidance over the congregation. The
fact that the sick must call for the elders may indicate the depth
of the sickness he was enduring. He was too ill to go to the elders.
The elders came anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. This
oil did not have healing power in itself but was a symbol of God’s
nearness and power available to His people through prayer.
God can save a sick person by healing his sickness
temporarily on earth or by taking that person to be with Him
in a place where sickness doesn’t exist.
James declared that the prayers for the sick will save that
person and the Lord would raise him up. This prayer was offered
with the confidence that God can and wants to heal. God can save
a sick person by healing his sickness temporarily on earth or by
taking that person to be with Him in a place where sickness doesn’t
exist. He can raise up a person by lifting him from his sick bed to
live again on this earth or resurrecting him to eternal life. Either
way, the prayer of faith is dependent upon the will of God and

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is not a blank check for all physical healing on earth. Ultimately
it is more important that a person’s sins are forgiven than their
body healed.
Why should prayer be our first course of action, rather than our last? Why
might a person fail to start with prayer? What does who a person turns to
first reveal about that person’s beliefs?

VERSE 16
Since forgiveness outranks physical healing in importance, James
encouraged his readers to confess their sins to one another. To
confess sin is to agree with God about sin. It happened in the
context of prayer, not the context of public worship. It is not a show
or a sacrament of the church. It is a cry for help that causes others
to join in prayer with the sinner. Some might say that the rule of
thumb is to confess as widely as the sin is known. However, in light
of this passage it might be best to confess only in circles where
genuine prayer would be the result of the confession. As people
prayed for one another, spiritual healing would take place.
Having sins confessed and forgiven, the praying person has
great power. James stated that the prayer of a righteous person, one
who has confessed and received forgiveness, is very powerful in its
effect. Effective prayer comes from a heart that is humble enough
to admit its own faults, seek forgiveness from God, and intercede
for others.
Why might a group place little emphasis upon confession of sin to one
another? How can that emphasis be retained? What safeguards need to
be in place for this to be done in a God honoring way?

VERSES 17-18
To demonstrate the power of prayer, James referenced the example
of Elijah. Though he was merely a human being, he prayed for the
rain to stop, and it did for three-and-a-half years (1 Kings 17:1).

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When Elijah prayed again at the end of that time the sky gave rain
and the land produced its fruit. Elijah, a righteous man, prayed a
powerful and effective prayer. If Elijah was just a man who lived
righteously before God, then what was stopping his readers from
seeing the power of God in response to their prayers?

BIB LE SK I L L : Use multiple Scripture passages to understand a

major doctrine.
Read the following Bible passages and take note of some things the Bible
teaches about prayer during troubled times: 2 Kings 20:5; Psalm 102:1-2;
Matthew 26:41; Romans 8:26; and Philippians 4:6. How can you relate these
passages to James 5:13-18?

PROTECTION (JAS. 5:19-20)

19
My brothers and sisters, if any among you strays from the truth,
and someone turns him back, 20 let that person know that whoever
turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from
death and cover a multitude of sins.

VERSES 19-20
While anticipating the return of Christ, James encouraged his
readers to protect those who may have fallen astray from their
faith. Certainly this was a possibility since they were experiencing
persecution and had been scattered from their faith community in
Jerusalem. James implored fellow Christians to reach out to those
who had strayed from their faith or crumbled under the difficulties
of persecution.
James was addressing the situation of a person who strays from
the truth. The Greek word used here for strays conveyed the picture
of a person who was deceived, misled, or carried astray, whether
by demonic forces, false teachers, or self-induced deception.

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This person clearly knew the truth but for some reason strayed
from it. Truth probably means more than doctrine but the totality
of what God’s Word has produced in them. It could have involved
belief and practice.
Those who see a fellow believer straying have a responsibility to
turn him back. This word literally meant to change direction, and
it figuratively indicated a change of mind or course of action. The
responsibility of the believer who remained on the right path was
not to judge the straying member (see 4:11-12) but to seek a way
to restore the straying person back to the right path. This shows a
genuine love for one another.
How can a person help a straying believer without being judgmental?
Where is the line between being helpful and being judgmental?

Why should a person turn back one who strays? James said
that returning the straying person accomplished two things.
First, it would save his soul from death. Two possibilities exist in
interpreting this phrase. It could mean that those who turn back
a wanderer help him avoid physical death. The word soul often
indicates the whole person, and it would mean that if the wanderer
kept going down the wrong path of sin, he would face physical
death. A second option for interpreting this phrase sees death as
spiritual death. Since a person cannot lose salvation, this passage
would indicate the wanderer was never a genuine believer.
A second result of turning the straying person back to God is
that it would cover a multitude of sins. Certainly this passage did
not intend to say that the actions of one believer atoned for the
sins of another; only the atonement of Jesus Christ can do that.
Peter used this expression: “Above all, maintain constant love for
one another, since love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet. 4:8). This
was said with Proverbs 10:12 as the background: “Hatred stirs up
conflicts, but love covers all offenses.” James, with his extensive
use of Proverbs, certainly would have had this in mind as he
encouraged believers to turn the straying away from the error of
their ways as an act of love for one another. God alone does the
saving and the covering of sins, but He uses faithful ones to turn
the unfaithful to Himself.

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IN MY CONTEXT
• Believers can live expectantly in anticipation of the return of Christ.
• Believers should take all matters to God in prayer, trusting Him
to provide an answer.
• Believers can offer grace to faltering believers, helping them
rejuvenate their faith in Jesus.

What things are you doing to strengthen your faith in preparation for
Christ’s return?

Discuss with the group ways of strengthening the group’s ministry to

others through prayer. How can the group more effectively pray for
others in the group? How can the group involve others in prayer and
ministry to those who voice a prayer need?

Identify other believers who need encouragement to remain faithful to

Christ. What steps can you take to help those who have strayed from
the faith?

Prayer Needs

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