Can a Christian Drink Alcohol?

What Does the Bible Say?

by Frederick Hoehn, copyright 2014, all rights reserved.

Chapter 1

From the Holy Bible, Hoehn Version:

___Romans chapter 13

1 Let every soul be subject to the higher powers.  For there is no power but of God, the powers that exist are ordained by God.

2 Therefore whoever resists the power, resists the ordinances of God, and those who resist shall receive damnation for themselves.

3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.  Do you want to be free from fearing the government?  Do that which is good, and you'll have praise from them,

4 For he is the minister of God to you for good.  But if you do evil, be afraid, for he doesn't carry the sword for nothing, for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute anger on those who do evil.

5 So you must be subject, not only for anger, but also for conscience sake.

6 So, for this reason pay taxes also, for they are God's ministers, always at work on this very thing.

7 Therefore give to everyone what is due, taxes to whom taxes are due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

8 Don't owe anyone anything except to love each other, for he that loves someone else has fulfilled the law.

9 For this, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not tell lies, You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, it is briefly included in this saying, specifically, "You shall love you neighbor like yourself."

10 Love does no harm to its neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we became believers.

12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand, let us therefore throw off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.

13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in sex sins and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and don't make provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

___Romans chapter 14

1 Receive him that is weak in the faith, but not for doubtful arguments.

2 For one person believes he can eat all things, another, who is weak, eats vegetables.

3 Let him that eats, not despise him that doesn't eat, and let him who doesn't eat, not judge him that eats, for God has received him.

4 Who are you that judges another man's servant?  To his own master he stands or falls.  Yes, he shall be held upright, for God is able to make him stand.

5 One man esteems one day above another, another esteems every day alike.  Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

6 He that regards the day, regards it to the Lord, and he that doesn't regard the day, to the Lord he doesn't regard it.  He that eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks, and he that doesn't eat, to the Lord he doesn't eat, and gives God thanks.

7 For none of us lives to himself, and no man dies to himself.

8 For whether we live, we live to the Lord, and whether we die, we die to the Lord, whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.

9 For this purpose Christ died, and rose, and revived, so that he would be Lord both of the dead and living.

10 But why do you judge your brother?  Or why do you speak ill of your brother?  For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

11 For it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God."

12 So then everyone of us shall give account of himself to God.

13 Therefore, let us not judge each other anymore, but judge this rather, that no man puts a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.

14 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself, but to him that thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

15 But if your brother is grieved with your food, you're not walking in love.  Don't destroy him with your food, for whom Christ died.

16 So, don't let your good be spoken evil about,

17 For the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

18 For he that in these things serves Christ is acceptable to God, and approved by men.

19 Let us therefore pursue the things that make for peace, and things with which we edify each other.

20 Don't destroy the work of God for food.  All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for that man who eats with offense.

21 It is good to neither eat flesh, nor drink wine, nor anything by which your brother stumbles, or is offended, or is made weak.

22 Do you have faith?  Have it to yourself before God.  Happy is he that doesn't condemn himself in the thing that he allows.

23 And he that doubts is damned if he eats, because he doesn't eat in faith, for whatever is not of faith is sin.

___Romans chapter 15

1 We that are strong then, ought to carry the weaknesses of those who are weak, and not to please ourselves.

2 Let each one of us please his neighbor for his good for building up.

3 For even Christ didn't please himself, but, as it is written, "The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me."

Chapter 2

Notice above Romans 14:2,3---

"For one person believes he can eat all things, another, who is weak, eats vegetables.  Let him that eats, not despise him that doesn't eat, and let him who doesn't eat, not judge him that eats, for God has received him."

Is it O.K. for Christians to be Vegetarians?  Yes, of course.  And it's also O.K. for Christians to eat meat.

But if you believe it's wrong to eat meat, then don't eat meat.

Notice Rom 14:23,

"And he that doubts is damned if he eats, because he doesn't eat in faith, for whatever is not of faith is sin."

It says, "Whatever is not of faith is sin."  If you believe it's wrong to eat meat, then don't go against your conscience and eat meat.

If you believe it's wrong to drink alcohol, then don't go against your conscience and drink alcohol.

And if you're younger than the drinking age in your state, don't break the law and drink.  The Bible says to obey every ordinance of man. (1 Pet 2:13)

You're not missing much.  And you'll no doubt reach the age when it will be legal, if you're trusting the Lord for His protection.

This matter about alcohol and Christians is a controversial issue.

Some say Christians can't drink alcohol.  Some say they can.  If you're a Christian who is a member of a certain church, perhaps your church already has a policy about this.

But I believe that people can make up their own minds about some things.  ("Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."  Phil 2:12)  Of course, you don't make up your own mind about adultery.

The Bible says adultery is sin, period.  It's one of the Ten Commandments in Exodus chapter 20, "You shall not commit adultery."

But every Christian should be reading the Bible for themselves.  Although lately, I don't read the Bible so much as listen to it being read on compact disks.

But as you study the Bible, watch what the Bible says on the subject.  And also pray about it, and ask the Lord to show you which way to go.

You can use a concordance to look up things in the Bible.  If you want to find scriptures on wine, find the word "wine" in the concordance, listed alphabetically, and it will give you scriptures with that word.

Some Bibles have a concordance at the back of the Bible.  There's also a Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.  Seems like the latest editon I've seen of that is called, "The Strongest Strong's."

And there's Hoehn's Concordance to the King James Bible, and Hoehn's Concordance to the Holy Bible, Hoehn Version, Kindle Editions.

Do you remember in the Bible what some people call, "The Last Supper?"  It was just prior to Jesus' arrest.

It's in Matthew chapter 26.  Jesus drank wine with the disciples.  But I believe they didn't get drunk.

Jesus didn't totally avoid wine when he lived on earth.

Another scripture says, "Don't be drunk with wine, in which is excess, but be filled with the spirit." (The Holy Spirit.) (Eph 5:18)

So the Lord doesn't want us to get drunk.  But if you drink a small amount of wine in moderation, a small amount of wine shouldn't make you drunk.

The police measure drunkenness by percentage of blood alcohol.  They have a gadget called a "breathalyzer."  The person breathes into the breathalyzer, and there's a readout of blood alcohol content.

If you have alcohol in your blood, some of it comes out in your breath.

But another measure is just how the person behaves.  The behavior changes after the person becomes intoxicated.

The police will sometimes ask a driver suspected of being intoxicated to walk a straight line.  If they can't walk in a straight line, they're drunk.

In 1 Tim 5:23, the Apostle Paul says to use a little wine for your stomach's sake.

I believe that some wine is good for our bodies.  But there is something more important than that, and that would be not violating your conscience.

If it would violate your conscience to drink alcohol, then don't drink alcohol.

"Therefore, let us not judge each other anymore, but judge this rather, that no man puts a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.  I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself, but to him that thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.  But if your brother is grieved with your food, you're not walking in love.  Don't destroy him with your food, for whom Christ died." (Rom 14:13--15)

I read somewhere that President Jimmy Carter determined that he would not be seen drinking alcohol in public.  Seems like Carter is a Baptist, and a Christian.

He was probably aware of the scripture, "He that digs a pit shall fall into it." (Prov 26:27)

And in Rom 14:13, it says don't put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in your bother's way.

I suspect that Carter's decision not to drink alcohol in public was so that he wouldn't hurt someone else, who might take that as a go-ahead to drink alcohol excessively, as many are doing these days.

And I believe alcoholism has sent many people to hell.

Who has woe?  Who has sorrow?  Who has contentions?  Who has babbling?  Who has unnecessary wounds?  Who has redness of eyes?  Those who spend a lot of time at the wine, those who go to seek mixed wine.  Don't look at the wine when it is red, when it gives its color in the cup, when it moves itself aright.  At the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like a snake.  Your eyes shall see strange women, and your heart shall utter perverse things.  Yes, you'll be like someone that lies down in the middle of the ocean, or like he that lies down at the top of a mast.  "They've struck me," you'll say, "and I wasn't sick, they've beaten me, and I didn't feel it, when will I wake up?  I'll seek it yet again." (Prov 23:29-35)

But Fred, how does that passage of scripture say that alcohol sends people to hell?

Notice the part where it says,  "your heart shall utter perverse things."

You don't know what you're going to say if you get drunk, and afterward, you're likely not to remember what you said.  Your words can send you to hell.

And also, the lifestyle of an alcoholic is simply not Christian.

The Apostle Paul said he wouldn't eat meat if it would cause trouble for his brother.  Meat is food, and alcohol is beverage, but I believe this same scripture applies to alcohol just as it does to meat.

I knew a man in El Paso, TX who was on Probation.  He wore an electronic device around one of his ankles so that the authorities would know where he was.  He could only go away from his dwelling place on certain days.

He believes it was alcohol that caused him to commit the crime that he committed that put him in prison.

He said that once he starts drinking alcohol, he can't stop.

If you're a person who can't stop drinking alcohol once you start, then don't start with alcohol.

And there are lots of other beverages, including fruit and vegetable juices, many different flavors of hot and iced tea, lemonade, fruit punch, CapriSun, Kool Aid, sodas, and flavored waters.

Chapter 3

But, if you're a person who, once they start drinking alcohol, can't stop, then it looks like there's a demon that needs to be cast out.  The best person to cast out that demon or those demons is probably you, if you're a Christian.

A demon is a fallen angel that rebelled against God when Satan did.  Demons are spirit beings.  They don't have flesh and blood bodies like we do.  Though they are present in the world, we don't normally see them with our natural eyes.

Demons can get into people and cause those people to do things that they ought not to do.

In Luke 10:19, Jesus gives us Christians authority over all the power of the enemy.  "See, I give you power...over all the power of the enemy."

And in Mark 16:17, "These signs shall follow those who believe, In my name they'll cast out demons..."

To cast out a demon, first be a Christian, then speak words out of your mouth, commanding the demon or demons to go out of the person, in Jesus' name.

But if you're wondering what will happen, then you're not in faith.

First read those passages in the Bible that give us Christians authority over demons.

When you see that you have the authority, then use that authority, and cast out the demons.

But Jesus did say that there's a kind of demon that doesn't go out except with prayer and fasting.

Fasting is, you just don't eat for a period of time.

When Lester Sumrall was going to go and cast the demons out of the woman who had been "bitten by demons" in the Philippines, he first fasted for twenty four hours, as I recall.

See Sumrall's book, "Demons, The Answer Book."  I think there's a website for LESEA Broadcasting.  You can Google it at Google.com, one of the Internet search engines.  LESEA is Lester Sumrall Evangelistic Association.

But I believe you'll have better results in casting out demons, as Pastor Win Worley found, if you'll ask Jesus for, and receive the Baptism with the Holy Ghost with the speaking in unknown tongues (languages).

But first, make sure you're a Christian, as per Romans chapter 10, verses 9 and 10.

When you pray, believe you receive the things you ask for, and you shall have them. (Mark 11:24)

Jesus said, "You'll receive power after the Holy Ghost has come on you." (Acts 1:8)

But some of these "energy drinks" can be hazardous to your health.  Seems like I heard of one or more people that died from the beverage "Red Bull."  But I don't know how many cans of that beverage it would take to kill someone.

For me, I'll just not drink Red Bull.

I had a friend in Northern California.  I worked in the Maintenance Department as a Journeyman Electrician.  He was my boss.

I believe he was a Christian.  He told me that he had high blood pressure.  His doctor told him, when he got home from work, to make himself a cocktail and have it.

Personally, I don't use cocktails.  Cocktails are made with the "hard stuff."  With the hard liquor.

The alcohol content is measured by "proof."  The proof of a beverage is twice the percentage of alcohol.

Thus, a beverage that is one hundred proof is fifty percent alcohol.

It is the hard liquors that have the high proofs.  Liquors like whiskey, vodka, rum.

But with those hard liquors, the taste is unpleasant to me.  So, you "cut it" with something else, such as soda pop.  But that adds more calories, and I'm fat enough already.

So, I pretty much stick with wine or beer, which are down around ten percent alcohol or less (twenty proof).

Now for me, my doctor is not a man.  My doctor is doctor Jesus, and I'm pretty sure my blood pressure is O.K.

And I hope no one reads that my boss's doctor advised him to start having cocktails, and then the reader starts doing that himself, and goes crazy with cocktails, becomes an alcoholic, and winds up in hell.

You have to use some restraint.  You have to use some moderation.

I only mentioned it to show that some alcohol can be helpful to your body.

But better no alcohol at all than alcohol used in great excess.

But even with wine or beer, you can overdo it.  The Bible says we should use moderation. (Phil 4:5)

I met a man in Indiana who believed it was wrong to drink any alcohol.  We were going to do a task together until he learned that I use some alcohol.  He believed that was wrong, so he lost interest in doing the task.

But, you see, that man is a former alcoholic.  He doesn't want to drink any alcohol so that he doesn't go back to being an alcoholic.

I can understand that, and I think it's a good policy for him.  But he shouldn't be making rules for me.  If I drink a little wine with my dinner, it won't make me an alcoholic.

To my own master I stand or fall.  And that master is the Lord, not this guy who is a former alcoholic.

I know that some wine is good for my stomach, so I'll have a little wine.

But I try not to drink in public.  Just at home.

There was another man who was an employee at a place I lived.  I tried to be friendly with him.  Things seem to go smoother when there's a friendly atmosphere.

But that man had an alcohol problem.  He would even drink his beer while on duty.

One time, he decided he wanted to drink with me.  Shall I get drunk with someone just for the sake of friendship?

And shall I give up Jesus for the sake of friendship with someone?  No, sorry, I can't do that.

I explained to that man that it's my policy that I'm not going to get drunk with anyone.

Now if that policy of mine means that I can't have a certain person as my friend, then I'll just have to do without that person's friendship.

You see, I'm going to try to make sure that I do all that is necessary to get myself to heaven.  If someone doesn't like that, they have a right to their opinion.

___James chapter 1

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes that are dispersed around, greetings.

2 My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations,

3 Knowing this, that the testing of your faith works patience.

4 But let patience have its perfect work, so you'll be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God for it, who gives to all men liberally, and won't find fault, and it shall be given to him.

6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.  For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.

7 For let that man not think that he'll receive anything from the Lord.

8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted,

10 But the rich, in that he is made low, because as the flower of the grass he'll pass away.

11 For the sun has no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withers the grass, and the flower of it falls, and the grace of the fashion of it perishes, so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

12 Blessed is the man that endures temptation, for after he's been tested, he'll receive the crown of life, that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God," for God can't be tempted with evil, nor does he tempt any man,

14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.

15 Then when lust has conceived, it produces sin, and sin when it's finished, produces death.

16 Do not err, my beloved brothers.

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, nor shadow of turning.

18 He chose to father us with the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

19 So, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger,

20 For the anger of man doesn't accomplish the righteousness of God.

21 So, lay apart all filthiness and the unnecessary naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man seeing his natural face in a mirror,

24 For he sees himself, and goes his way, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

25 But whoever looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues in it, 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 seems to be religious, and doesn't bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is for nothing.

27 Pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

___James chapter 2

1 My brothers, don't have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

2 For if a man with a gold ring comes to your assembly in fancy clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes comes in also,

3 And you have respect to him that wears the fancy clothes, and say to him, "Sit here in a good place," and say to the poor, "Stand there, or sit here under my footstool,"

4 Aren't you then partial in yourselves, and have become judges with evil thoughts?

5 Listen, my beloved brothers, hasn't God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?

6 But you have despised the poor.  Don't rich men oppress you, and bring you before the judgment seats?

7 Don't they blaspheme that worthy name by which you're called?

8 If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor like yourself," you do well,

9 But if you have respect of persons, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as sinners.

10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

11 For he that said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not kill."  Now if you don't commit adultery, yet if you kill, you've become a breaker of the law.

12 Speak in such a way, and do, as those who'll be judged by the law of liberty.

13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that has shown no mercy, and mercy rejoices against judgment.

14 What does it profit, my brothers, though a man says he has faith, and doesn't have works?  Can faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister needs clothes, and lacks daily food,

16 And one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you don't give them the things that are needed for the body, what good is that?

17 Even so faith, if it doesn't have works, is dead, being alone.

18 Yes, a man could say, "You have faith, and I have works, show me your faith without your works, and I'll show you my faith by my works."

19 You believe that there is one God, you do well, the devils also believe, and tremble.

20 But don't you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

21 Wasn't Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son on the altar?

22 Do you see how faith worked with his deeds, and by works faith was made perfect?

23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God."

24 You see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

25 Likewise also wasn't Rahab the prostitute justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

26 For like the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

___James chapter 3

1 My brothers, don't be many masters, knowing that we'll receive the greater condemnation.

2 For in many things we offend all.  If any man doesn't offend in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.

3 See, we put bits in the horses' mouths, so they'll obey us, and we turn around their whole bodies.

4 Look also at the ships, which though they're so large, and are driven by fierce winds, yet they're turned around by a very small helm, wherever the captain wants.

5 Even so, the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things.  See how great a matter a little fire kindles!

6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of sin, so is the tongue among our members that it makes dirty the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell.

7 For every kind of animals, and of birds, and of snakes, and of things in the sea, gets tamed, and has been tamed by mankind,

8 But no man can tame the tongue, it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

9 With it we bless God, the Father, and with it we curse men, who are made after the likeness of God.

10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing.  My brothers, these things ought not to be.

11 Does a fountain send out at the same place sweet water and bitter?

12 Can the fig tree, my brothers, produce olive berries?  Or a vine, figs?  So no fountain can yield both salt water and fresh.

13 Who is a wise man, possessing knowledge among you?  Let him show out of a good lifestyle his works with meekness of wisdom.

14 But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, don't glory, and don't lie against the truth.

15 This wisdom doesn't descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be reasoned with, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

18 And the fruit of righteousness is planted in peace by those who make peace.

___James chapter 4

1 Where do wars and fightings among you come from?  Don't they come from your lusts that war in your members?

2 You lust, and don't have, you kill, and desire to have, and can't obtain, you fight and war, yet you don't have, because you don't ask.

3 You ask, and don't receive, because you ask wrongly, so you can consume it on your lusts.

4 You adulterers and adulteresses, don't you know that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God?  Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world is an enemy of God.

5 Do you think that the scripture says for nothing, "The spirit that lives in us lusts to envy?"

6 But he gives more grace.  So he says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he'll run away from you.

8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.  Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded.

9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and cry, let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he'll lift you up.

11 Don't speak evil about each other, brothers.  He that speaks evil about his brother, and judges his brother, speaks evil about the law, and judges the law, but if you judge the law, you're not a doer of the law, but a judge.

12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy, who are you that judges someone else?

13 Go on now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we'll go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and make a profit,"

14 Actually, you don't know what will happen tomorrow.  For what is your life?  It is a puff of steam, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.

15 For you ought to say, "Lord willing, we'll live, and do this, or that."

16 But now you rejoice in your boastings, all such rejoicing is evil.

17 Therefore to him that knows to do good, and doesn't do it, to him it is sin.

___James chapter 5

1 Go on now, you rich men, cry and howl for your miseries that shall come on you.

2 Your riches are corrupted, and your clothes are moth eaten.

3 Your gold and silver are rusted, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh like fire.  You've heaped treasure together for the last days.

4 See, the wages of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which you've kept back by fraud, shouts, and the shouts of those who've reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath.

5 You've lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton, you've nourished your hearts, like in a day of slaughter.

6 You've condemned and killed the just, and he doesn't resist you.

7 Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.  See, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receives the early and latter rain.

8 You also be patient.  Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is getting near.

9 Don't grudge against each other, brothers, so you won't be condemned, see, the judge stands at the door.

10 Take, my brothers, the prophets, who've spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

11 See, we count them happy that endure.  You've heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

12 But above all things, my brothers, don't swear, not by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath, but let your yes be yes, and your no, no, so that you don't fall into condemnation.

13 Is anyone among you afflicted?  Let him pray.  Is anyone merry?  Let him sing psalms.

14 Is anyone 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 has committed sins, he'll be forgiven.

16 Confess your faults to each other, and pray for each other so you'll be healed.  The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man is does a lot of good.

17 Elijah was a man subject to the same kind of passions that we are, and he prayed earnestly that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't rain on the earth for three years and six months.

18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

19 Brothers, if any of you strays from the truth, and someone converts him,

20 Let him know, that he that converts the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.