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 sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. (16) Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. (17) Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. (18) And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
James 5:14-18 NKJV
This instruction in James is the only place in the Bible specifically targeted at sick believers. The questions James asked was, “Is anyone among you sick?” His expectation was that sickness among believers would be rare. He put the responsibility for receiving healing squarely on the sick person. They needed to ask for help. This help was to come from a specific source and apply a specific method. The outcome was clearly expected to be positive: the prayer of faith WILL save the sick, and the Lord WILL raise him up. No room for “maybe” here, no, “If it be thy will.” You call, they pray, God heals. If this is not what’s happening, then we need to find out why. Let’s learn together how to effectively pray for one another.
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