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James 5:14-18
James asks his third question in James 5:14 (NKJV), “Is anyone among you sick?” And once again he gives instruction for those who may be sick. James instructs those who may be sick to invite the elders of the church to gather around them and pray for their healing, having also to be anointed with oil in the name of the Lord. We must understand that the oil does not have healing power in itself but is a sign of our faith and obedience to God in taking action to follow Him. The healing power at work is our faith in God to do the healing (James 5:15). This is the same faith that is unto our salvation as one believes in Jesus. Jesus heals a woman in Matthew 9:18-22, and in verse 22 states, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And in Matthew 9:27-31 Jesus heals two blind men as He states, “According to your faith let it be to you.”
James gives instruction in James 5:16 to, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” He goes on in James 5:16 to state, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” He then gives an example of a righteous man in that of Elijah and that he prayed “earnestly” (James 5:17) that it would not rain, and there was no rain. He then prayed for rain, and it began to rain.
This is a command/instruction for those who are sick.
As we bring our prayers to God, we must also acknowledge that God’s will is greater than our will and our will is not always in line with God’s will for us. 1 John 5:14-15 (NIV) states, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him.” The part that we cannot overlook here is, “according to his will,” and that is greater than we are and too hard for us to understand and truly grasp in God’s Almighty authority. But through our faith in Christ Jesus we find strength in our weaknesses as the Apostle Paul states in 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (KJV), “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” God does not always heal us from the sickness and disease of this world, and we do not understand why, but God has a way of working through our weaknesses, sicknesses, and diseases to allow us to touch the lives of others – in Christ.
Dear LORD,
Your ways are beyond our comprehension, but we know that you work through our weaknesses, sicknesses, and diseases to draw us closer to You and to touch the lives of others in drawing us all to Jesus and salvation that is found only in Him. Please help us in our lack of understanding to draw closer to You in our faith in Jesus to save us from the infirmities of this world that will lead us to a perfect world in which our new bodies in Christ will be free of the weaknesses, diseases, and sicknesses of this sinful world. In Jesus name I pray, amen.