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.