by Marti Fischer

Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins. – James 5:13-20

James doesn’t end his letter with a conclusion. He ends it with people.

After everything he’s said — about faith and works, humility and justice, patience and endurance — James lands on prayer, confession, healing, and community. Not because those are softer themes, but because that’s where real faith lives.

James assumes life is messy. Some people are suffering. Some are joyful. Some are sick. Some are drifting. Faith, he says, has room for all of it. And the response is surprisingly ordinary.

Pray when life hurts.
Sing when life is good.
Ask for help when you’re weak.
Don’t isolate. Don’t pretend. Don’t disappear.

James treats prayer not as a religious event, but as a way of staying connected — to God and to one another. Prayer keeps faith from becoming theoretical. It grounds belief in the events of our lives together.

That’s why James talks about confession and healing together. Not because everyone needs public disclosure, but because hidden wounds don’t heal. When truth is shared in a safe community, grace has space to work.

Then James closes with a quiet but powerful reminder: faith looks out for people who wander. Not to control them. Not to shame them. But to restore them.

James believes faith is not proven by perfection, but by presence.

Showing up. Praying together. Walking with one another. Refusing to let people drift alone. That’s how the letter ends. Not with answers to every question. Not with a formula for success, but with hope rooted in community.

Faith that is acted upon will stumble. It will wait. It will wrestle. But it won’t walk alone.

And that, James says, is how faith stays alive.