Prayer should be our first response, not our last resort, in every life circumstance. James 5:13-18 identifies three specific situations calling for prayer: when suffering misfortune, experiencing joy, and facing serious illness. For serious illness, we should call church elders to pray and anoint with oil, examine our lives for unconfessed sin, and trust God's sovereignty. While God doesn't always heal physically, He always responds according to His perfect will—sometimes with physical healing, sometimes with grace to endure, and sometimes with the ultimate healing of heaven.