Prayer for the Sick (James 5:14-16)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

                                                                                                                        Date:  11-18-03

 

My Worship Time      Focus:  Prayer for the Sick

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  James 5:14-16

 

            1.  Message of the verses:  “14  Is anyone among you sick? 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 offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. 16  Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. (NASB)  “14  Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.  15  And their prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make them well. And anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.  16  Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results.”  (NLT)

 

Prayer for the Sick

Dr. Wiersbe gives a different view on this passage than I have ever read about it before, but I do believe that his view does make sense when you look at it.  I believe that there have been many times that this portion of Scripture has been taken out of the context in which James intended it to be.  It is good to remember that we cannot and must not demand things of God when we do not know what His will for us is.  A friend of mine told me very early in my Christian life that God heals you every time except the last time, and when you think about that it has a lot of truth in it. 

 

What are the special characteristics of this case that James is describing?

1. The person is sick because of sin (15b-16).  “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 is powerful and effective.”  (NIV)  Dr. Wiersbe tells us that the Greek reads as follows “if he has been constantly sinning.”  This is the reason that he believes that the person is sick, because of sinning constantly and cites 1Corthian 11:30 as a parallel passage.  “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.”  Now as we continue to follow how Dr. Wiersbe explains this passage we see that this person was sick because of sin and is being disciplined by the Church, and now he has realized his error and is calling upon the elders of the Church so he can confess his sin. 
2. The person confesses his sins (5:16).  “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”  In the NIV and the NASB translations the word “therefore” is used, but not in the AV.  Also the NIV uses the word sin instead of fault, which is used in the AV.  Dr. Wiersbe says that the same Greek word is used in verse 16 for sin as in James 1:15, however when I looked it up on my Online Bible these were two different words so I do not understand how he came up with that.
3. The person is healed by the prayer of faith (5:15).  “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.”  It is the Lord who heals the person through prayer and not the anointing.  I have read several peoples commentary on this verse and they say that the oil was used as a medicine.  “This may be an indication that James suggests using available means for healing along with asking the Lord for His divine touch. God can heal with or without means; in each case, it is God who does the healing.”  

The question is asked what is the prayer of faith that will heal the sick?  Someone read 1John 5:14,15.  “The “prayer of faith” is a prayer offered when you know the will of God. The elders would seek the mind of God in the matter, and then pray according to His will.”  As we look at the verse from 1John we can see that if we pray for something that is in the Lord’s will He will hear us.  But is it always God’s will that someone should be healed?  Of course the answer to that question is no, it is not always the Lord’s will for someone to be healed.  I will ask you to answer why it is not always the Lord’s will for us to be healed?  Dr. Wiersbe goes on to say this, “But where we have the inner conviction from the Word and the Spirit that it is God’s will to heal, then we can pray “the prayer of faith” and expect God to work.” 

Dr. Wiersbe lists some practical lessons we can learn from this section.  1.  By disobeying God it can lead to sin.  2.  Sin has an affect on the entire church.  3.  There is both physical and spiritual healing when sin is dealt with.  Keep a short list with God. 

Another practical application that can be learned from this lesson is found at the top of page 170 where it says, “We confess our sins first of all to the Lord (1 John 1:9), but we must also confess them to those who have been affected by them. We must never confess sin beyond the circle of that sin’s influence. Private sin requires private confession; public sin requires public confession. It is wrong for Christians to “hang dirty wash in public,” for such “confessing” might do more harm than the original sin.”