5:13 Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises.
5:14 Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly,
and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord,
 

5:15 and the prayer of faith will heal him who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.
If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
5:16 Confess your offenses to one another,
and pray one for another, that you may be healed.
The effective, earnest prayer of a righteous man is powerfully effective.

5:17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours,
and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain,
and it didn't rain on the earth for three years and six months.
5:18 He prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit.

Col 3:16 "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."

vs 14 Mr 6:13 "And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them."

vs 15 Matt 9:22-24 "But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn."

vs 16 2Ch 7:14 "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

Ac 28:8 "And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him."

vs 17,18 1Ki 17:1 "And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not. And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel. And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel." (1Kings 18:41-46)

vs 19,20 1Jo 5:16 "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it."

Pr 11:30 "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise."

• Supplication - talking to God about our need
• Praise - talking to God about Himself
• Intercession - talking to God on behalf of others
• Confession - talking to God about our sin

vs 14 As is apparent in Mark 6:13 even under Jesus' ministry it was commonplace to anoint the sick with oil. Oil had been used in Jewish ceremonies for example in prophets anointing kings. It was used under the Law of Moses also in the sacrificial system. Oil is understood to represent the Holy Spirit. Today this ceremony of the elders anointing the sick with oil is not commonplace. In fact it is not particularly commonplace today for the sick to request a plurality of elders to visit them for the purpose of prayer. Most Christians may not even know who the elders of their church are. This ritual of putting oil on someone's head may seem bizzare or foreign for many an evangelical today. For what does it matter? What does the oil actually do? However I think that, much like water baptism, it was the symbolism behind it that helped to focus the prayers of faith on God's part in the healing process.

vs 15-16 There is a possible double meaning here. For the word "sozo" can mean both "save" and "heal". So here you have the threefold concept of salvation - Saved, Raised, and Forgiven. Christians are saved, raised with Christ, and forgiven of sin. Thus this could be referring to a nominal Christian whom God is bringing through the desert of nominalism and developing humility in him though physical suffering - the sickness. And the person comes to the point where he wants to be saved. He confesses his sins and through faith receives the Holy Spirit and experiences God's healing power as well as being forgiven of sin.

I infer this also because of the nature of forgiveness. Under the New Covenant all sins are forgiven automatically (Heb 10:17, Rom 4:4-8), and so they must be. For if one born of God dies with his sins not having been forgiven, such a person is subject to the wrath of God in accordance with God's justice. Now there are some in the Christian community with the concept that God only forgives those sins which one confesses, which is a misinterpretation of 1John 1:9. They end up with a purgatorial concept or a concept that one loses one's salvation each time one sins and only maintains their salvation status by their performance in confessing their sins and repenting, which is a works-based salvation concept. Whereas in fact it is simply natural for those born of God to repent, as this is an effect of their regeneration. But such acknowledging of sin by those born of God does not obtain for them any more forgiveness for such sins than they already had.

For sins committed against other people, there is a forgiveness that one should seek to heal the relationship. But here it seems to be speaking not of sins between people, but of sins against God in which one needs forgiveness from God. If a person is in need of his sins to be forgiven by God, such a person has not been saved and is in need of the justification that Christ offers through his atoning work on the cross. Therefore we are dealing with an unsaved person here - a nominal Christian.

This is also evident from verses 19,20 which I would take to mean turning a nominal Christian to back to the truth on his journey across the desert to the promise land. Such a person needs to be saved from eternal condemnation (death) and such a person needs to have his sins forgiven through the justification Christ offers freely through faith in Him.

Indeed the whole book of James is about dealing with Nominal Christians. For in it he distinguishes between the faith that saves and the "faith" that doesn't save, just as there are Christians who are saved and "Christians" who are not saved. And so it is appropriate to end the book this way. For he himself in this book in teaching by example is attempting to lead the wandering nominal Christians to genuine faith in Christ.

Thus we should not be so presumptuous neither of ourselves nor others with respect to the need for salvation and forgiveness of sins. Doesn't Paul write to the Corinthian Christians: "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you-- unless, of course, you fail the test?" 2Corinthians 13:5 Throughout this book James has been revealing the kind of tests whereby one can evaluate their faith and thus their salvation status. Let us take heed.

vs 16-18 And one final thing is the kind of attitude one should have in prayer if one can expect God to respond. The kind of pray often encouraged at the end of some evangelistic message is often merely an experimental sort which may only have the effect of introducing one to Christ, crossing the Red Sea and  having one enter the desert of nominalism which one has to cross before being saved. But the prayer to enter the promise land is one born of conviction - a conviction of one's genuine need not simply to be a better person nor simply for a better life, but a conviction that one needs their sins forgiven by God; and a conviction that Christ is the living Savior and Lord. Such prayers are prayed not like signing a fire insurance policy and walking away. But such prayers are prayed fervently and with a persistent attitude, with one's whole life in view. And this also should be the attitude of those righteous ones who pray in an intercessory manner. Prayers offered in faith have the power to qualify one for salvation.