The morning message concludes and the elders come forward during the final hymn. They gather on the chancel steps to pray with those who come forward from the congregation. Specific needs are shared, and as the people kneel, elders lay hands on them and pray for the release of the Lord’s healing power in them. Some come expressing a need to know Christ, others need assurance of forgiveness; some have concerns for loved ones who are ill or troubled. Many have physical illness and still others are facing challenges where they need the Lord’s guidance and strength. The results of these prayers have been astounding.
This is not a report from some kooky church on the fringe of reality, but from the very respectable Hollywood Presbyterian Church. Many Christians are confused over the issue of prayer and healing. Many churches refuse to offer the opportunity that Hollywood Pres does. Is God there when sickness enters our lives? Do miracles of healing still happen—or do we just read about them in the Bible?
Some insist that miracles and healings should always be the order of the day. They often compound the suffering of those who struggle with illness by claiming, “It’s never God’s will for Christians to suffer.” So the victim is blamed for his infirmity and accused either of sin or lack of faith.
The thread that ties verses 13-18 together in James 5 is the theme of prayer. Prayer is referenced repeatedly in this section. We can have no vital relationship with God until we learn to share of all life’s experiences with Him. In happiness or grief, in trouble or triumph, we are to pray. This week I received a note from a pastor who’s wife died in the spring after a lingering bout with cancer. Now in his grief, his own cancer, which had been in remission for years, has reoccurred. James gets specific in v. 14 and speaks to situations like that pastor’s when he identifies one source of Christian trouble as sickness. If prayer is appropriate for any context of life it is certainly relevant in times of physical affliction.
We often pray in terms of “why?” Why is this happening to me? The more appropriate prayer that of “what?” “Lord, what are you saying to me through these difficulties?” “Father, what do you want me to learn, or what do you wish for me to do?”
I. CAUSES OF SICKNESS
A. Violation of God’s Natural Laws
Many are sick because they pay too little attention to basic health principles such as sanitation, hygiene, diet, exercise, and rest. Illness is the natural result.
A well-balanced diet is essential to good health. God was Israel’s healer, but He was also their dietitian. We are not bound by all the restrictions of the Old Testament law, but we might well discover that the laws of hygiene and diet God established then are still helpful in maintaining health today. Israel was also commanded to rest one day out of seven and one year out of seven. A proper proportion of rest to labor continues to be an important factor to good health. We violate these laws to our physical detriment.
B. Violation of God’s Moral Laws
The Bible leaves no doubt that God occasionally uses physical infirmity to punish sin and chasten His children. There are numerous Old Testament references. We often consider 1 Corinthians 11:29-32 at the Lord’s Table: “For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.” Some were sick and others had died because of a sinful attitude concerning the body of the Lord. However, such sickness was not to be accepted passively. It was expected that they should stop sinning and be healed. The sickness was a strong encouragement to change their sinful behavior.
C. Brought by Satan and Permitted by God
Sickness is sometimes brought by Satan (though permitted by God). Job and the apostle Paul are examples. Paul asked God repeatedly to deliver him from his “thorn in the flesh,” which he described as “a messenger of Satan.” God allowed that affliction so that His power could be manifested in Paul’s weakness.
One writer says, “Let’s mark the conclusion in red letters. The disasters of the world do not have their origin in the will of God. The evil one is the author of adversity” [Robert Wise, When There is No Miracle, (Ventura: Regal Books, 1977), 128].
D. For God’s Glory and Our Good
Sickness is sometimes allowed for our own betterment and to bring God glory. The Psalmist knew this when he wrote, “It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees” (Psalm 119:71).
People like Joni Eareckson Tada testify from their wheelchairs that God has used their disease to minister His love to many. She says, “Satan schemed that a 17-year-old girl named Joni would break her neck, hoping to ruin her life; God sent the broken neck in answer to her prayer for a closer walk with Him and uses her wheelchair as a platform to display His sustaining grace” [Joni Eareckson Tada and Steve Estes, A Step Further, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1978), 140].
All sickness cannot be blamed on personal sin. Jesus made that very clear in the case of the blind man of John 9. Yet all sickness is related in an ultimate sense to sin, because there was no sickness before the fall.
II. CURES FOR SICKNESS
A. Healing with Medicine
Some suggest that the use of doctors and medicine indicates a “lack of faith.” This claim disregards both the testimony of the Bible and personal experience. Medicine is a gift from God. When King Hezekiah was ill, Isaiah offered a medical prescription and said, “apply it to the boil, and he will recover” (Isaiah 38:21). Out of consideration of Timothy’s stomach problems and the impure water supply, Paul prescribed the medicinal use of wine in 1 Timothy 5:23. God is surely not limited in His miraculous power, but He very often chooses to use human agencies. We should praise Him for trained, dedicated medical personnel.
B. Healing through Rest and Change
It is often a healing experience to have a change of pace and a thorough rest. Even our Lord needed times of withdrawal from people and times of refreshing with the Father. Evangelist Vance Havner used to say, “If you don’t come apart a while, you’ll soon come apart.”
C. Healing through Divine Intervention
Christians populate hospital wards, asylums, and cancer hospices just as non-Christians do. They roll in wheelchairs, face a silent world with unhearing ears, and experience the debility of spreading cancer in about the same proportions as the rest of the population. Many have prayed for healing or attended healing services where they felt a sudden rush of hope, and yet they are still unhealed. They desperately need the support of their church, but too often are taunted that they must not measure up spiritually any more than they do physically. They are haunted by the question, “Why doesn’t God intervene miraculously and heal the sick?”
The New Testament is full of instances when Jesus and His followers healed men, women, and children. James counsels that healing is still to be expected today.
III. THE COUNSEL OF JAMES
A. The Sick Should Call
“He should call the elders of the church,” indicates that the initial step is to be taken by the sick person. Confined to bed by the sickness, he or someone representing him is to summon the church leaders. When seriously ill, with a body racked by pain, it is not always easy to pray effectively for ourselves. Then it is important to remember that we belong to a body and are not alone. We can call for the prayer support of stronger members. The elders are called because they are men of faith, who believe that God can heal. He may not heal in every case, but these men are convinced that He is a healing God and that He can make a sick person whole.
The leaders are invited to the sick man’s home because he is not well enough to gather with the church. Had he been fit enough prayers could have been offered for him there. In fact, effective prayer could be offered any time the church gathered, but in his misery and loneliness, he would feel especially loved as Christian friends gathered in his home to pray for him. Even so, they came in response to his call. Someone has well said, “It is not the business of the elders of the Church to go scouting for the sick.”
B. Elders Should Pray
The elders were called as the leaders of the local church because they should be spiritually mature and experienced in intercessory prayer. Another title for their function was “overseers” because they were responsible for pastoral oversight and spiritual direction. They were “to pray over him.” Prayer is their main ministry on behalf of the sick person. “Pray” is the main verb, while “anoint” is a participle. The anointing with oil was completely subsidiary to the praying.
The anointing is to be done in the name of the Lord, calling on divine authority for the results. But what is the purpose of this anointing with oil? Oil was one of the most common medicines of biblical times. James seems to be prescribing prayer along with medicine, suggesting that we should avail ourselves of both spiritual and natural resources. Someone has said, “I have found the best combination for healing is a healthy blend of penicillin and prayer.” Charismatic leader, Jack Hayford says, “We should always be people who know the receiving of medical help is not a rejection of divine healing” [Jack Hayford, “Healing for Today,” Charisma, (September, 1984), 43].
Nelda and I discovered this when our oldest daughter was only eight months old. One day her neck was limp and she was unable to hold her head up. She was admitted to Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas where she was placed in traction and hospitalized for two weeks. Some of the finest orthopedic surgeons examined Tammy’s X-rays, and concluded that nothing could be done for her. We took Tammy home with the knowledge that she might remain in a neck-brace the rest of her life. It was then that our impassioned prayers touched the throne of God, and our daughter was healed almost immediately in the name of the Lord—and has never been bothered again after more than forty years.
Some teach that the power to heal was confined to the apostolic age. God has imposed no such limits upon Himself. James recommends that regular church officers, not apostles should carry out the practice. This implies that the ministry to the sick is not limited to apostles, or even to those with gifts of healing as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:30. James’ counsel has permanent validity in the church. However, this is the only mention of anointing a sick person in the New Testament letters. Since many were healed without anointing, it is apparent that anointing is not required for healing prayer to be effective.
C. The Lord will Heal
It is God’s power that heals. The prayer, anointing, and the calling out of Jesus’ name are not a magical rite. It is an opening for God’s power to intervene. Alec Motyer speaks of the advance of medical knowledge, and says “the discovery of medicines and the perfecting of surgical techniques are without doubt examples of the providential goodness of God. We must be careful lest we over-value the marvelous and the miraculous at the expense of the mundane and the providential” [The Message of James, (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 192].
If we acknowledge God’s sovereign hand in our bad times as well as the good, then our eyes should be on the Lord even when we go to the doctor. If an aspirin works, it is the Lord who makes it work. When a broken bone is set and it mends, it is the Lord who makes it mend. Every good gift is from above! Pay the doctor and praise the Lord!
Genuine prayer is always a commitment to the will of God, and it is best expressed in patience as we wait to see what He will do. The statement is without qualification: the prayer of faith will save the sick! This stands among the great prayer promises of the Bible. Jesus said, “I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:19). He also promised His disciples, “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father” (John 14:13).
These promises are given so that we might come with confidence to the place of prayer. They tell of an omnipotent God who can do all things, who is so generous that He will not withhold good from us, and whose ears are open to our every word. They do not allow us come with a stubborn insistence that we’ve got it right, and our will must be done. We are not to try to whip up a believing spirit, or pretend that we have it when we do not.
Prayers for healing are qualified by the recognition that God’s will is supreme. In the New Testament, for one reason or another God did not always heal even great people of faith. Paul’s thorn in the flesh, and the sickness of some of his friends are examples. Our faith must always be in the God whose will is supreme and best. To pray ‘in Jesus’ name’ is not just an incantation, but also a submission to His will and authority.
We should pray for the sick with confidence that God will answer that prayer and bring healing. Such faith cannot be manufactured, no matter how gifted, insistent, or righteous we are. Our responsibility is to pray and to leave the results with God.
Jesus Christ has placed in the hands of the church the keys of the kingdom (Mt 16:19). One of these keys will set men and women free from the power and authority of Satan. We need to use this key wisely but resolutely. It will not fit every lock. But the locks it does fit will spring open at the name of Jesus Christ. The authority Jesus had to deliver people from satanic powers has been bequeathed to the church. It may be used wherever and whenever it is appropriate [Michael Harper, The Healings of Jesus (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1986), 51].
Some have abused and sensationalized healing ministries. Others have abandoned them altogether. Our responsibility is to be faithful to the teaching of God’s Word and we will therefore be responsive to the clear counsel of James.
