James 5:16

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James 5:14–18 · Berean Standard Bible

14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.

15 And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.

17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.

18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth yielded its crops.

Greek words

Data created by STEPBible.org based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

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Cross-references

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge lists these related verses. Scripture text comes from the Berean Standard Bible.

Genesis 41:9

Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I recall my failures.

Genesis 41:10

Pharaoh was once angry with his servants, and he put me and the chief baker in the custody of the captain of the guard.

2 Samuel 19:19

and said, “My lord, do not hold me guilty, and do not remember your servant’s wrongdoing on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem. May the king not take it to heart.

Matthew 3:6

Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

Matthew 18:15

If your brother sins against you, go and confront him privately. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.

Matthew 18:16

But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’

Matthew 18:17

If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, regard him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

Luke 7:3

When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to ask Him to come and heal his servant.

Luke 7:4

They came to Jesus and pleaded with Him earnestly, “This man is worthy to have You grant this,

Acts 19:18

Many who had believed now came forward, confessing and disclosing their deeds.

Colossians 1:9

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

1 Thessalonians 5:17

Pray without ceasing.

1 Thessalonians 5:23

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your entire spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:25

Brothers, pray for us as well.

Hebrews 13:18

Pray for us; we are convinced that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.

Genesis 20:17

Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants, so that they could again bear children—

2 Chronicles 30:20

And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people.

Luke 9:6

So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.

Acts 10:38

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him.

Genesis 18:23

Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

Genesis 18:24

What if there are fifty righteous ones in the city? Will You really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous ones who are there?

Genesis 18:25

Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”

Genesis 18:26

So the LORD replied, “If I find fifty righteous ones within the city of Sodom, on their account I will spare the whole place.”

Genesis 18:27

Then Abraham answered, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord—though I am but dust and ashes—

Genesis 18:28

suppose the fifty righteous ones lack five. Will You destroy the whole city for the lack of five?” He replied, “If I find forty-five there, I will not destroy it.”

Genesis 18:29

Once again Abraham spoke to the LORD, “Suppose forty are found there?” He answered, “On account of the forty, I will not do it.”

Genesis 18:30

Then Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak further. Suppose thirty are found there?” He replied, “If I find thirty there, I will not do it.”

Genesis 18:31

And Abraham said, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord, suppose twenty are found there?” He answered, “On account of the twenty, I will not destroy it.”

Genesis 18:32

Finally, Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak once more. Suppose ten are found there?” And He answered, “On account of the ten, I will not destroy it.”

Genesis 19:29

So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham, and He brought Lot out of the catastrophe that destroyed the cities where he had lived.

Genesis 20:7

Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet; he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not restore her, be aware that you will surely die—you and all who belong to you.”

Genesis 32:28

Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men, and you have prevailed.”

Exodus 9:28

Pray to the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go; you do not need to stay any longer.”

Exodus 9:29

Moses said to him, “When I have left the city, I will spread out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the LORD’s.

Exodus 9:33

Then Moses departed from Pharaoh, went out of the city, and spread out his hands to the LORD. The thunder and hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured down on the land.

Exodus 17:11

As long as Moses held up his hands, Israel prevailed; but when he lowered them, Amalek prevailed.

Exodus 32:10

Now leave Me alone, so that My anger may burn against them and consume them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

Exodus 32:11

But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God, saying, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people, whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?

Exodus 32:12

Why should the Egyptians declare, ‘He brought them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce anger and relent from doing harm to Your people.

Exodus 32:13

Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to whom You swore by Your very self when You declared, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all this land that I have promised, and it shall be their inheritance forever.’”

Exodus 32:14

So the LORD relented from the calamity He had threatened to bring on His people.

Numbers 11:2

And the people cried out to Moses, and he prayed to the LORD, and the fire died down.

Numbers 14:13

But Moses said to the LORD, “The Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought this people from among them.

Numbers 14:14

And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have already heard that You, O LORD, are in the midst of this people, that You, O LORD, have been seen face to face, that Your cloud stands over them, and that You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

Numbers 14:15

If You kill this people as one man, the nations who have heard of Your fame will say,

Numbers 14:16

‘Because the LORD was unable to bring this people into the land He swore to give them, He has slaughtered them in the wilderness.’

Numbers 14:17

So now I pray, may the power of my Lord be magnified, just as You have declared:

Numbers 14:18

‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation.’

Numbers 14:19

Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people, in keeping with the greatness of Your loving devotion, just as You have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt.”

Numbers 14:20

“I have pardoned them as you requested,” the LORD replied.

Numbers 21:7

Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Intercede with the LORD so He will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses interceded for the people.

Numbers 21:8

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.”

Numbers 21:9

So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. If anyone who was bitten looked at the bronze snake, he would live.

Deuteronomy 9:18

Then I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, as I had done the first time. I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD and provoking Him to anger.

Deuteronomy 9:19

For I was afraid of the anger and wrath that the LORD had directed against you, enough to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me this time as well.

Deuteronomy 9:20

The LORD was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I also prayed for Aaron.

Joshua 10:12

On the day that the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the LORD in the presence of Israel: “O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”

1 Samuel 12:18

So Samuel called to the LORD, and on that day the LORD sent thunder and rain. As a result, all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.

1 Kings 13:6

Then the king responded to the man of God, “Intercede with the LORD your God and pray that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored to him as it was before.

1 Kings 17:18

“O man of God,” said the woman to Elijah, “what have you done to me? Have you come to remind me of my iniquity and cause the death of my son?”

1 Kings 17:19

But Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.” So he took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed.

1 Kings 17:20

Then he cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have You also brought tragedy on this widow who has opened her home to me, by causing her son to die?”

1 Kings 17:21

Then he stretched himself out over the child three times and cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, please let this boy’s life return to him!”

1 Kings 17:22

And the LORD listened to the voice of Elijah, and the child’s life returned to him, and he lived.

1 Kings 17:23

Then Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. “Look, your son is alive,” Elijah declared.

1 Kings 17:24

Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is truth.”

2 Kings 4:33

So he went in, closed the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the LORD.

2 Kings 4:34

Then Elisha got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eye to eye, and hand to hand. As he stretched himself out over him, the boy’s body became warm.

2 Kings 4:35

Elisha turned away and paced back and forth across the room. Then he got on the bed and stretched himself out over the boy again, and the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

2 Kings 19:15

And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD: “O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.

2 Kings 19:16

Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see. Listen to the words that Sennacherib has sent to defy the living God.

2 Kings 19:17

Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste these nations and their lands.

2 Kings 19:18

They have cast their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods, but only wood and stone—the work of human hands.

2 Kings 19:19

And now, O LORD our God, please save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.”

2 Kings 19:20

Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria.

2 Kings 20:2

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying,

2 Kings 20:3

“Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

2 Kings 20:4

Before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, the word of the LORD came to him, saying,

2 Kings 20:5

“Go back and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. I will surely heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the house of the LORD.

2 Chronicles 14:11

Then Asa cried out to the LORD his God: “O LORD, there is no one besides You to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on You, and in Your name we have come against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God. Do not let a mere mortal prevail against You.”

2 Chronicles 14:12

So the LORD struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah, and the Cushites fled.

2 Chronicles 32:20

In response, King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out to heaven in prayer,

2 Chronicles 32:21

and the LORD sent an angel who annihilated every mighty man of valor and every leader and commander in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons struck him down with the sword.

2 Chronicles 32:22

So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hands of King Sennacherib of Assyria and all the others, and He gave them rest on every side.

Job 42:8

So now, take seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. Then My servant Job will pray for you, for I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken accurately about Me, as My servant Job has.”

Psalms 10:17

You have heard, O LORD, the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their hearts. You will incline Your ear,

Psalms 10:18

to vindicate the fatherless and oppressed, that the men of the earth may strike terror no more.

Psalms 34:15

The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their cry.

Psalms 145:18

The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth.

Psalms 145:19

He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.

Proverbs 15:8

The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.

Proverbs 15:29

The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.

Proverbs 28:9

Whoever turns his ear away from hearing the law, even his prayer is detestable.

Jeremiah 15:1

Then the LORD said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My heart would not go out to this people. Send them from My presence, and let them go.

Jeremiah 29:12

Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

Jeremiah 29:13

You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 33:3

Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

Daniel 2:18

urging them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be killed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

Daniel 2:19

During the night, the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision, and he blessed the God of heaven

Daniel 2:20

and declared: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him.

Daniel 2:21

He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.

Daniel 2:22

He reveals the deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him.

Daniel 2:23

To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, because You have given me wisdom and power. And now You have made known to me what we have requested, for You have made known to us the dream of the king.”

Daniel 9:20

While I was speaking, praying, confessing my sin and that of my people Israel, and presenting my petition before the LORD my God concerning His holy mountain—

Daniel 9:21

while I was still praying, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice.

Daniel 9:22

He instructed me and spoke with me, saying: “O Daniel, I have come now to give you insight and understanding.

Hosea 12:3

In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel, and in his vigor he wrestled with God.

Hosea 12:4

Yes, he struggled with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought His favor; he found Him at Bethel and spoke with Him there —

Matthew 7:7

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.

Matthew 7:8

For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Matthew 7:9

Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?

Matthew 7:10

Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?

Matthew 7:11

So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Matthew 21:22

If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Luke 11:11

What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?

Luke 11:12

Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?

Luke 11:13

So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

Luke 18:1

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart:

Luke 18:2

“In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected men.

Luke 18:3

And there was a widow in that town who kept appealing to him, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’

Luke 18:4

For a while he refused, but later he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect men,

Luke 18:5

yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice. Then she will stop wearing me out with her perpetual requests.’”

Luke 18:6

And the Lord said, “Listen to the words of the unjust judge.

Luke 18:7

Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He continue to defer their help?

Luke 18:8

I tell you, He will promptly carry out justice on their behalf. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”

John 9:31

We know that God does not listen to sinners, but He does listen to the one who worships Him and does His will.

Acts 4:24

When the believers heard this, they lifted up their voices to God with one accord. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “You made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them.

Acts 4:25

You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Your servant, our father David: ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

Acts 4:26

The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His Anointed One.’

Acts 4:27

In fact, this is the very city where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed.

Acts 4:28

They carried out what Your hand and will had decided beforehand would happen.

Acts 4:29

And now, Lord, consider their threats, and enable Your servants to speak Your word with complete boldness,

Acts 4:30

as You stretch out Your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.”

Acts 4:31

After they had prayed, their meeting place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

Acts 12:5

So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was fervently praying to God for him.

Acts 12:6

On the night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, with sentries standing guard at the entrance to the prison.

Acts 12:7

Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his wrists.

Acts 12:8

“Get dressed and put on your sandals,” said the angel. Peter did so, and the angel told him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”

Acts 12:9

So Peter followed him out, but he was unaware that what the angel was doing was real. He thought he was only seeing a vision.

Acts 12:10

They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city, which opened for them by itself. When they had gone outside and walked the length of one block, the angel suddenly left him.

Acts 12:11

Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.”

1 John 3:22

and we will receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight.

Romans 3:10

As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one.

Romans 5:19

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

Hebrews 11:4

By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God gave approval to his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

Hebrews 11:7

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.