James: A Letter from Jesus’ Brother
Prayer for Healing – James
It is astonishing to think that you, and the people sitting around you, will live forever. We are all eternal beings. And God’s Word teaches that because we have all turned our backs on God, we all face eternal punishment from Him. But in amazing love, God sent Jesus to be punished for our sins in our place, so if we bend the knee in faith to Him, we are completely forgiven and will have the joy of knowing and loving and worshiping Jesus forever.
Which means that our most important concern is for each other’s faith – that we are all genuinely trusting Jesus. That’s our most important concern – and so we pray for each other, we encourage each other, we bear each other’s burdens, we speak the truth of God’s Word to each other. Our most important concern is for each other’s faith.
But that’s not our only concern. God’s Word calls also us to be concerned for each other when we are sick. When your brother or sister is sick, God’s Word calls us to be concerned, and tells us what to do.
And that’s James’ next topic as he is bringing his letter to a conclusion. So let’s turn to see what he says – in James 5:14-18. If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and we’ll bring one to you. James 5 is on page 1013 in the Bibles we are passing out.
Before we look at this passage, ask yourself – what do we usually do when we find ourselves sick? Reach for the Vitamin C, or the Airborne, right? Call the doctor. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But if that’s all we do, then we are neglecting what James calls us to do.
And what do we usually do when we hear that a brother or sister is sick? We express our concern, we tell them about our latest remedy, we tell them we’ll pray for them. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But if that’s all we do, then we are neglecting what James call us to do.
So what does James call us to do? Look at what he says in James 5:14-18 --
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 of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.
18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
As I studied this passage I saw six main points that James is making – points which I hope will change the way we respond to sickness.
First, when you are sick, have others pray for you, either the elders, or anyone in the Body of Christ. In v.14 James says that you should call for the elders of the church. But notice that in v.16 James says that we should confess our sins to one another and pray for one another that we may be healed. So it’s not just the elders who pray for healing – we are all to pray for each other for healing.
So when are you supposed to call the elders? Notice that James envisions the sick person calling for the elders to come to him, which might mean that he’s not healthy enough to go to them. So probably the principle is that if you are seriously sick you should call the elders and we will come to you. But if you are not that seriously sick – and can make it to home group – have them pray for you.
But this means that normal church life involves each sickness being prayed for, either by the elders or by others. So normal church life involves all of us praying for each other for healing. So when you are sick, have others pray for you, either the elders, or anyone in the Body of Christ.
Then second, anointing with oil is encouraged, probably as a sign of God’s favor upon the person (but it’s not an essential New Testament practice). Read v. 14 again --
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.
The reason I say that anointing with oil is not essential, is because there’s many supernatural healings in the Bible where there’s no anointing with oil. But James does encourage it, probably because, as in the Old Testament, it’s a sign of God’s favor coming upon a person.
So if you ask the elders to come pray for you, we’ll anoint you with oil as a sign of how – as we pray – God’s favor is coming upon you.
Third, sometimes when we pray God will give us a supernatural certainty that He is going to heal the person — that’s the spiritual gift of faith (1 Cor 12:9) which enables you to pray the “prayer of faith.” That’s what James is talking about in v.15 -- And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.
So there’s a special “prayer of faith,” and whenever someone prays this prayer of faith, the person is supernaturally healed. So what is this prayer of faith?
Some people think this means that every time we pray we’re supposed to have faith that God will heal the person, and that if we can believe that strongly enough, then the person will get healed. But I don’t think that’s what James means, because the Bible does not teach that it’s always God’s will to heal right now. One obvious example is how Paul prayed three times that Jesus would take away his thorn in the flesh, but God’s answer was “no” – because God was going to give Paul something even better – a deeper experience of His grace.
So the prayer of faith doesn’t mean that when we pray, we’re always supposed to have faith that God will heal this person. So what does it mean?
The Bible teaches that there’s two kinds of faith. There’s saving faith, which we are all called to have, where we trust Jesus as Savior, Lord, and all-satisfying Treasure. That’s saving faith, and we all seek to live each day trusting Jesus to save us, guide us, and satisfy us. But the Bible also teaches that there’s a spiritual gift of faith. This is not something we are commanded to have. This is something that God sometimes gives us while we are praying.
There will be times when you are praying for someone to be healed, and all of a sudden you just know that God is going to heal this person. It’s not you trying to be optimistic; it’s that you suddenly just know that God is going to heal.
I remember one time praying for a young man with a very swollen ankle. And as we prayed for him, I just knew that God was going to heal him. I wasn’t trying to be optimistic – I was just praying; and as I prayed, I suddenly felt this confidence that God was going to heal him. So we kept praying, and sure enough, as we prayed – we watched with astonishment as the swelling went down.
That’s what James is talking about.
But, fourth, we don’t wait for this gift of faith before we pray; we go ahead and pray, trusting that Jesus will give whatever spiritual gifts he want us to have to help this person. We might think that because there’s a gift of faith, we should not pray until we have this gift of faith. We might think that if someone in your home group has migraines, we should not pray until we are certain that God will heal them.
But that’s not what James says. He doesn’t say: have the elders pray for you if they have the prayer of faith. He just says: have the elders pray. He doesn’t say: pray for each other if you have the prayer of faith. He just says: pray for each other.
So let’s say someone in your home group has migraines. James would say – you should pray for them. Even if you don’t have “the prayer of faith,” even if you don’t have any sense that God will heal them – you should pray for them. And then as you pray, a couple things could happen.
One is that you pray you suddenly have this sense from the Holy Spirit that God is going to heal them. That’s the prayer of faith. And sure enough, as you pray, their migraine disappears. That’s one possibility.
Another possibility is that as you pray, you have no sense from the Holy Spirit that God is going to heal them. But you still pray, and earnestly ask God to heal them. And suddenly, their migraine disappears. God can heal people even if there’s no prayer of faith. That’s another possibility. So even if you have no prayer of faith, go ahead and pray.
Another possibility is that as you pray, you don’t have the prayer of faith, and the person is not healed. But even though the person is not healed, the person will receive much benefit. I remember the night when our home group prayed for Lisa Strouss who had severe back pain. And Jesus did not heal her back. But Jesus did something even more precious: He poured His love into Lisa’s heart in a way she had not felt before.
Then fifth, when we are sick, it’s important to confess any unconfessed sin, because your sickness might be caused by your sin (but not every sickness is caused by sin – John 9:1-3). You can see that in vv.15-16 –
15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.
Don’t think you have to confess your sins to another person in order to be forgiven. That’s not what James is saying. There’s only one thing we must do to be forgiven: confess our sins to Jesus and turn back to trusting Him. When we do that, we are completely forgiven.
But James is describing a situation in which you have not confessed sin to Jesus – in which you are continuing in willful sin. And sometimes – not always, but sometimes -- unconfessed sin leads to sickness. Remember how in 1 Corinthians 11 Paul talks about people who made a mockery of Communion and got sick and some died? In the same way, unconfessed sin can sometimes result in physical sickness.
But not all sickness is caused by sin. In John 9 Jesus’ disciples bring him a man blind from birth, and ask him who is was that sinned, him or his parents, so that he would be blind? And Jesus answered that it was not his or his parents sin, but this sickness was for the glory of God. So it’s not the case that every sickness is caused by sin.
So what should you do if you are sick? Here’s what I think James is saying: if you are sick, you have unconfessed sin and unrepented sin in your life, and you have your brothers and sisters around you ready to pray for your healing, then you should confess that sin to Jesus and to your brothers and sisters who are ready to pray for you.
You don’t need to go into a lot of detail. That’s not the point. But the point is that you are confessing your sin before Jesus and your brothers and sisters – and because you have confessed to Jesus you are forgiven, and then as your brothers and sisters pray for you, the path will be cleared for God to heal you if that is His will.
So don’t miss this picture of church life. Normal church life includes all of us asking each other for prayer, confessing our sins to each other, and praying for each other for healing. That’s normal church life.
But at this point James anticipates a problem. He’s thinking that some of his readers are saying – “Who am I to pray for someone to be healed?” I’m not very spiritual. I’m no super-star. Who am I to pray for healing?
That’s answered by James’ sixth point – if we are righteous through trusting Jesus, we can ask for miracles and will see God work miracles. Start with the second half of v.16. Look at what James says --
16b The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
First of all, you need to be a righteous person. That does not mean you are perfect. It means you are genuinely trusting Jesus. If you are trusting Jesus, then you are clothed with His perfect righteousness, and by His power you are growing in actual righteousness. So if you are trusting Jesus – then you are a righteous person.
And if you are a righteous person, James says your prayer has great power as it is working. Because you are trusting Jesus, every time you pray God hears and releases His great power to go to work. And James illustrates this in vv.17-18 with the story of Elijah:
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.
18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
“Elijah was a man with a nature like ours.” In other words, Elijah was just like you and me. And Elijah – who was just like you and me -- prayed that it would not rain. And it did not rain for three and a half years. Then Elijah – who was just like you and me – prayed that it would rain. And the rain came.
That’s why we can all pray for each other’s healing. Because if you are trusting Jesus, then every time you pray fervently, from the heart, God’s great power will come. It might come with healing. It might come with comforting. It might come with encouraging. But it will come.
Lab Session
So this morning I want us to do exactly what James has called us to do. In a moment we’ll find out who here this morning is sick. Then we’ll stand up and gather around you to pray for you. And here’s the steps I’d like us to follow.
First, share briefly what your sickness is. For the sake of time, and for the sake of your privacy, just keep it very short and simple.
Second, pray and confess any unconfessed sin to God before your brothers and sisters. Again, for the sake of time, and for your privacy, you don’t need to go into a lot of detail. Maybe just one word: pride, unforgiveness, jealousy – something like that.
Then have the group start praying for you. Lay hands on the person. Pray one at a time – and ask God to heal. It’s better if no one person prays for a long time – have many people pray briefly.
Pray for healing, strength, comfort, encouragement – but especially for healing. Pray and directly ask God to heal.
As you pray, give it time. Ask the Holy Spirit for any gifts He wants to give you. He might give you a verse to share, a vision to explain, a revelation that will encourage. He might give you a gift of faith where you suddenly and inexplicably know that God is going to heal this person.
And after you have prayed for a while, stop and ask the person what God is doing in them. Has God healed them? Has God encouraged them? What has God done. At that point you can either complete the prayer time, or you can pray again.
Conclusion
There’s nothing more important than each other’s trust in Jesus, because there’s nothing more important that eternity. But God also calls us to care for each other’s sickness. Which is why a normal part of church life is praying for the sick.
When you are sick, ask others in your home group to pray for you. And when others in your home group are sick, offer to pray for them. Do that Sunday mornings, at home group gatherings, as you are at Starbucks.
The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.