Count it all Joy! (James 5:13-20)

13 Is any among you afflicted ? let him pray . Is any merry ? let him sing psalms . 14 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: 15 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. 16 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. 17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain : and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. 19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; 20 Let him know , that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS:
1) What are suffering believers to do (v.13)? 
2) What are cheerful believers to do (v.13)?
3) What are the elders of the church to do for the sick (v.14)?
4) What will heal the sick and how will the sinful be forgiven (v. 15)?
5) What two things should believers do for one another? Why? (v.16)
6) What happened as a result of Elijah’s prayers (v.17-18)?
7) What will be the results of turning a backslider from their errors (v.19-20)?

APPLICATION QUESTIONS:
1) What do you do when you are suffering, cheerful or sick? 
2) How likely are you to confess your sins to other believers? Why?
3) What do you do when a fellow believer is in error?

LIFE LESSONS:
1) As children of God we are to pray for ourselves and one another.
2) Prayer is effective when it is offered by righteous believers.
3) Believers need each other to live this life of faith.

Count it all Joy! (James 1:19-27)

19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear , slow to speak , slow to wrath: 20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. 21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way , and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was . 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. 26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS:
1) What three character traits must we possess to endure life’s trials (v.19)? 
2) What does not produce the righteousness of God (v.20)
3) What must we to lay aside and receive to save our souls when tempted (v.21)?
4) How do we deceive ourselves into believing that we are in the faith (v.22)? 
5) When we do not apply God’s word in our lives, what are we like (v.23-24)?
6) Who is blessed in what they do by faith (v.25)?
7) What makes one’s professed faith in God useless (v. 26)?
8) What two activities prove the genuineness of our faith before God (v.27)?

APPLICATION QUESTIONS:
1) Do you talk about your faith in God or do you act upon your faith in God?
2) How do you react when faced with situations that are unfair or unjust?
3) What do you do to hide the Word of God in your heart? 
4) What do you do that demonstrates your faith in God?

LIFE LESSONS:
1) God is not impressed with what you say, but with what you do.
2) Our actions reveal more about our faith than our professions of faith.
3) The blessings and favor of God are for those who act upon their faith in Him.
4) Faith in God is evident in our demonstration of love for the least among us.
5) Genuine faith in God only seeks approval from God, not man.