James 5:13-20
Food for Thought
Ice Breaker: Have you ever been “off the rails” at some point in your life, but look back now with gratitude at someone who stepped in to set you straight? What happened?
Were you grateful for that person in the moment?
What did it cost you to get back on track?
James seems awfully confident that God will answer us when we turn to him. Do you have this kind of confidence when you turn to him? Why or why not?
In light of this focal passage, how do you make sense prayers that seem to go unanswered - or answered differently than you’d hoped?
Do you find James’ reference to Elijah encouraging or discouraging? Why?
Read Deuteronomy 11:16-17 and 1 Kings 18:1-2. Does this offer any helpful context to James’ reference of Elijah?
Besides being a human, in what ways are we just like Elijah? Does that change your confidence in turning to the Lord?
Take a minute and reflect on James’ whole letter. What were the themes? What stuck out as memorable? Based on your reading of it, what was James’ main thrust?
Now consider James’ conclusion this week. If you could summarize his words to everyone among the church - the suffering, the cheerful, the sick, the sinner, and the strayer - how would you boil it down?
Of all the ways James could’ve ended this letter, why do you think he ended it this way? Does it feel like a fitting conclusion?
In what way has James as a whole - or even this passage - spurred you to turn to the Lord with greater confidence?
Reflection Questions
Where is this finding you today: suffering, cheerful, sick, sinning, or straying?
🠆 What response is God prescribing you?
Is anything shaking your confidence in God?
🠆 What expectations are underneath that?
🠆 Which promises can you root yourself in?
Who do you need to turn towards the Lord?