In the concluding exhortations of the letter, the teaching given has to be understood as intended to help the readers continue in a state of preparedness for the return of the Lord. 5: 12 follows closely the teaching of Matthew 5:33-37 and is linked with James' previous teaching a control of speech. A man should always speak the truth, without having to swear that he does so. 5: 13-18 is an exhortation to the full and proper use of prayer. James tells those who are in trouble to pray and those are happy to praise God. In what James says about praying for anointing those who are ill, a connection is seen between sin and illness. When Jesus healed a paralyzed man, he told him that his sins were f given (Mark 2:3-11). The prayer of intercession and confession of are seen by James to be necessary for the restoration of health (5:16)

When Jesus sent out his disciples, they anointed the sick and healed them (Mark 6: 13) and this practice was continued in the early Church. We see from what James says that healing is not attributed to the oil but to the loving response of God to the prayer of faith (5: 15). Anointing the sick in the name of the Lord and praying over them for restoration to health, if the Lord wills, and for the forgiveness of sin, is regarded as a sacrament by the Roman Catholic Church today, and is also practiced in other Churches.

In what James says about prayer, we are reminded of the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 7:7-11, Luke 11:5-8 and Luke 18:1-8. James illustrates what he has said about prayer by referring to Elijah (I Kings 17 and 18).

The letter ends with an exhortation to remember an important Christian responsibility, to turn the wrongdoer from his wrong way. This reminds us of the teaching of Jesus as recorded in Luke 15, Matthew 18: 15, Mark 2: 17, and the teaching of Paul in Galatians 6: 1.

There is no personal conclusion to the letter.

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