The Prayer Of Faith ! Series

INTRODUCTION #35

1. Please open your bibles to James 5:15.

2. In a previous lesson, from James 5:14, we discussed three different instructions that James gave to those who were sick and living during the days of miraculous healing of the sick. Those three instructions were first to be applied for the sick in the days of miracles. The same three instructions can be applied to the sick that have been and are living since miracles have stopped.

(1) Instruction #1, If you are sick call for the elders of the church. Today, sick people, can call for the elders and/or other members of the church.

(2) Instruction #2, The sick in the days of miraculous healing were to welcome prayers from the elders of a local congregation and hope for a miraculous healing. Today, the sick are to welcome and want prayers, but they are to understand that even though God will be involved in divine healing, they are not to expect miraculous healing.

(3) Instruction #3, The sick in the days of miraculous healing were to allow the elders to anoint them with oil for the purpose of symbolically showing that the power of God was going to bring about their miraculous healing. Today, the sick would not want to receive any anointing of oil since the N. T. teaches that there is not going to be any miraculous healing take place.

3. Today, the sick should let as many members of the church, as possible, know that they are sick. The sick should encourage all to pray for them. The sick, instead of using any oil in a symbolic way to suggest that God is fixing to perform a miracle, should use as good of doctors, medication and/or therapy as possible to try and get well.

4. Let’s begin a discussion of James 5:15 which refers to “the prayer of faith” that was for the “saving of the sick” and “the raising up of the sick” and “for the being forgiven of their sins”.

5. Let’s read James 5:15, “15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”

DISCUSSION

I. FIRST, JAMES 5:15a SAYS, “AND THE PRAYER OF FAITH WILL SAVE THE SICK”.

1. This is a prayer that is offered from a person [in James 5:14&15, specifically prayer offered by an elder] in the first century that had “the miraculous gift of faith” mentioned in 1 Cor. 12:9 and 1 Cor. 13.2. “The prayer of faith” would have been a prayer that would haved “saved the sick” because of the faith of the ones doing the praying.

(1) Turn to 1 Cor. 12:7-11. This passage informs us that one of the nine spiritual gifts identified in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 is “the gift of faith”. Let’s read this passage, “7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:{ Let me make a comment: In the first century different miraculous gifts were given to different members in local congregations for the profit of all or for the profit of the entire congregation. Local congregations had one member with one miraculous gift and then two to eight other members with tow to eight other miraculous gifts. Some members might have more than one spiritual gift. The apostles each had all nine of the spiritual gifts.) 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.”

1) The apostles received all of these gifts and would transfer the power for others in the congregations to have them by laying their hands on them.

2) Most likely the elders that had been appointed in each local congregation would have been privileged to have had the apostles to lay their hands on the most of them.

3) Brother Guy N. Woods made the following comment in his commentary relating to James 5:15 and the phrase “the prayer of faith”: “It should be observed that James declares that it is the prayer of faith which accomplishes this; not prayer and oil; not prayer and medicinal treatment; not prayer and the laying on of hands. The “prayer of faith” was that prayed by the elders in which, of course, the interested one, who called for the elders, joined”. (p.302).

2. Turn to Matt. 17:14-21. This passage reports that the apostles were not able to heal a sick child with epilepsy and a demon and it was because, even though they had been given miraculous faith, they had not prayed and fasted properly to maintain the faith that they should have had. Let’s read Matt. 17:14-21, “14 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.” 17 Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”