Will He Heal or Not?

535.  "Will He Heal or Not?"                June 6, 2012
James-Part 5
Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms. 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: 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.  James 5:13-15


LET IT GLOW

It's been 14 years since the deacons of our church took oil and annointed my mother inlaw and prayed for the healing of her cancer. She came to the realization that God was going to heal her, whether it was physically in this world or ultimately in the next, heaven. He chose the latter.
I have heard of other cases where God did heal. Doctors could not find the tumor, cancer, or problem that showed up in a test. James tells us that it came as a result of the prayer of faith.

How strong is my faith? Is it strong enough that God would heal a person for which I prayed?
If the sickness is a result of a person's sins, as the verse mentions, then they shall be forgiven them. Is that encouraging, or what?

Did you notice that the sick person called for the elders? They went to the sick person, not the sick person going to the elders. Does that mean the elders, mature spiritual leaders of the church, went to the sick person? Yes. The annointing did not take place in a worship service.

LET IT GROW

Shall we look closer at these verses. Here's the instructions that  I found:

1. If I am afflicted, I am to pray. Afflicted means to suffer (endure) evils (hardships, troubles); pray refers to pray to God. The antidoe to the suffering caused aby evil treatment or persecution is seeking God's comfort through prayer.
2. If I am merry, I am to sing psalms. Merry means to be joyful, be of good cheer, of good courage; psalms refers to sing a hymn, to celebrate the praises of God in song. The natural respoonse of a joyful heart is to sing praise to God.
3. If I am sick, I am to call for the elders of the church to pray over me and annoint me with oil in the name of the Lord. Sick means to toil, to tire, faint, be wearied. Call refers to call to one's self, to bid to come to one's self. The service takes place in the privacy of the home, since the needy person sumoned the elders to him. When oil is used in scriptures, it is in reference to the Holy Spirit. He and the elders strengthen, comfort, and encourage the weak one.

It is the prayers of faith that are offered up in behalf of the suffering one that calls on God to deliver them from the infirmity, not from their sin, which was confessed. Only God can forgive sins. It is with a repentant heart that their sins are confessed before this happens.

The "prayer offered in faith" is faith that God is able to heal. those who take faith healing to the unbiblical extreme, intimidate people with accusations of lack of faith. they calim that God will heal all who make requests "offered in faith."  (Blake)

In Matthew 18:19-20, Jesus says, Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. 

After it is all said and done, healing is in the hands and discression of the Lord Jesus. How strong is my faith?

[Resources: Liberty Bible Commentary; James, Practical and Authentic Living by Charles Swindoll; James and First and Second Peter by William Blake; The MacArthur Bible Commentary]

I don't know where you stand on this subject, dear friend, but I believe that God is all powerful and He sometimes chooses to use doctors, medicines, or miracles to heal a person. Then again, sometimes He chooses not to heal a person in this life, and their body dies, but a believer's soul lives forever with Him.

LET IT GO

Pray. Sing. Call.

Develop a strong prayer life.

Turn it over to Jesus.

"Your will, Your way, today, I pray."