Healing
and the Prayer of Faith Part 1
The General Epistle of James, Chapter 5:13-18
13) Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray.
Is any merry? let him sing psalms. 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: 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. 16) Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye
may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
17) Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly
that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three
years and six months. 18) And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and
the earth brought forth her fruit.
Seven
aspects to prayer in this passage
1. Individual prayer (Let him pray.) Vs 13 –
Begin with your own petition / Psalm 30:2; 147:3
2. United prayer (let them pray) Vs 14 –
Invite others to pray / II Chronicles 7:14 ,15
3. Believing prayer (the prayer of faith shall
save the sick) Vs 16 – The disciples were unable to heal a lunatic because of
their unbelief according to Jesus (Matthew 17:14 -21)
4. Intercessory prayer (pray for one another)
Vs 16 / Job 42:10
5. Effectual prayer (effectual fervent prayer)
Vs 16 / “effectual” a legal term for “...with power”
6. Definite, specific prayer (Elias... prayed
earnestly that it might not rain) Vs 17
7. Repeated prayer (And he prayed again) Vs 18.
Healing
and the Prayer of Faith Part 2
The General Epistle of James, Chapter 5:14,15
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: 15) And the
prayer of faith shall save the sick...
Seven
critiques for modern so-called “faith healing”
1. Selective healings – in which the
applicants are screened before they are allowed into the service
2. Chicanery – simple trickery on the part of
the faith healers
3. Undocumented, doubtful or demonstrably
false claims
4. Spontaneous remission of the disease – due
to natural processes and not the power of the faith healer
5. Remission due to medical or surgical
intervention
6. Miracles by Satan – Revelation 16:4
7. Healing which comes as a result of faith in
God and not in the faith healer. (And the prayer of faith shall save the sick,
and the Lord shall raise him up) vs 15 (Give God the credit... Psalm 115:1
says, “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy
mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.”)
(Reprinted from: Lionel Hartley, Dayspring Health Guide, Dayspring Health Services, 1991, p137)
