Healing

James 5:13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.

James 5:14 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:

James 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.

James 5:13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.

James 5:14 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:

James 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.

The point is, no matter what you are going through, God is the answer.

So often, we see prayer as last resort. I’ve done everything I know to do, so let’s pray.

Prayer isn’t giving up!

There is no situation in life where God does not invite us to Himself.

When we pray, we deepen our relationship with Him, we invite Him into our lives and acknowledge our need for His strength and His wisdom.

James 5:14 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:

After James encourages us to pray for the sick, he then gives specific instruction about how to pray for sickness.

James in the previous verse is addressing individuals, here he continues to address individuals, but he stresses the importance of prayer in the local church.

Off course we could pray for ourselves, and worship at home by ourselves.

However, James tells us that we need the prayer of other Believers.

In vs 13 the command to pray was in reference to affliction in general, James says when we face the “various” trails of life we should pray.

Here James is addressing sickness, if we are seriously ill, we should pray, and get others to pray for us as well.

Who are we to ask to pray for us?

James 5:14 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:

Who are the elders?

These are called by God to a local community to lead that community spiritually.

Here at Harvest Bible church, we use the terms elder and pastor interchangeably.

There are times when someone in the church is seriously ill, and they call the elders to pray over them.

The oil.

We are told that the elders are to “anoint” the sick person with oil which is symbolic of God’s presence.

The sick person is to be anointed with oil to symbolize that that the sick person is being set apart for God’s special care and attention.

The oil is symbolic; In the same sense the bread and the cup are symbolic, however they are not merely symbolic because they provide real spiritual encouragement.

When a person acts in obedience to Scripture, in this case calling the elders for anointing God blesses, there is a real spiritual blessing.

The prayer.

James 5:14 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:

We are told that they are to pray in the name of the Lord.

That is, the healing is to be done solely by the will and power of God.

To pray in the name of Jesus is to invoke the power of the resurrection. James doesn’t advice his listeners to go to a “faith-healer” or find a person with the “gift of healing”.

They are to call the elders in order that they might pray for them in the name of Jesus.

Warning.

There are two things we should be aware of, not trusting God, and trying to test God.

When we are seriously ill, we could fall into the trap of not trusting God.

Example.

2Chronicles 16:12-13 And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians. And Asa slept with his fathers and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign.

The issue here was not him seeking the help of medical professionals, the issue was his unbelief.

We need to remember, “Just because you live well, doesn’t mean you will end well.”

Asa did many great things for God:

He was a catalyst for revival among the people of God.
He was a great leader for his people.

However, all this was ruined because of his unbelief in his later years.

This gives valuable truth about healing, “it is not sin to go to the doctor, but it is sin to go to the doctor instead of praying to God.”

Seeking medical assistance is not inherently sinful, but prioritizing medical treatment over prayer is unbelief and therefore sinful.

Example of God using medicine to heal.

We do find examples Of God using medicine to heal as a response to prayer:

The story of Hezekiah comes to mind, the king is sick and is about to die he prays to God and God tells Isaiah to “bring a cake of figs and place it on is boil.” (2 kings 20:7)

However, we should not test God.

When we refuse medicine and insist on God performing a miracle, we are testing God instead of trusting God.

Trusting God is to rely on his will and his timing.
Testing God is you insisting on your will and your timing.

Three mistakes concerning healing:

Not praying for healing at all. Some people believe that God can heal, but they simply don’t pray. They follow the instructions laid in James 5, and because they don’t ask, they don’t get.
Assuming God doesn't heal. There are some people who believe that for whatever reason that God doesn’t heal anymore. This is a lack of faith which is sin.
Assuming God always heals. There are those who say that it is God’s will that everyone be healed. Unfortunately, God doesn't heal everyone.

Examples of people who weren't miraculously healed in the New Testament.

Paul had a physical element that he speaks about in his letter to the Galatians that God did not miraculously heal. In fact, Paul says that the reason he went to that region was because of sickness (Gal 4:13).
We are told that Epaphroditus was sick to the point of all most dying, he was in Paul's presence and wasn't healed. Paul makes no mention that Epaphroditus was healed through a miracle. Instead, Paul tells us that he sensed the “hand of God’s mercy.” (Phil 2:27).
Paul tells us that Timothy suffered from a stomach issue and counsels him to drink wine to relieve his symptoms, but he doesn't heal Timothy (1Tim 5:23). This proves that Paul couldn’t heal at well, healing occurred through the prompting of the Holy Spirit. This is further proof that it is not God’s well to heal everyone instantly. Instead, natural remedies were used, in this case wine.

What about faith healers?

1 Chronicles 12:9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit.

Is Paul talking about an Individual or individuals in the church who have a specific gift to heal?

I've read what several scholars have to say about this portion of scripture, and there are many disagreements.

But one thing most agree on is the literal translation here: it should be, “gifts of healings.”

The point here is that God, according to his sovereign will chooses at times to give gifts of healings to the church.

How to pursue healing James chapter 5:

he asked the question is anyone sick among you?
Then they are to go to the elders of the church (this is a reference to the pastors)
the elders are to anoint them with oil.
They are to pray in the name of the Lord (in the name of Jesus) this is to pray according to his will.
Then we are to leave it God’s hands.

Notice how God gives the blessing of healing, through the prayer of other believers.

This could be meant to draw attention to the fact that we need God’s grace in our lives. And the most usual way that God shows us his grace is through his people gathered as a church.

Sometimes God doesn’t heal, in this age.

We must remember there is this world and the world to come. God has given us the promise of healing; however, we will never experience full and complete healing until we get to Heaven.