Advent Devotional for Dec. 5
Friday, December 5 James 5:13-18
Healing comes through prayer.
This little passage makes it sound so simple, doesn’t it? Is anyone sick? Just call for the elders of the church, anoint them with oil and pray in faith and they will be “raised up.” So we are to pray for one another that we might be healed, and we are promised that the prayer of the righteous is “powerful and effective.”
While we might not be comfortable using the word “contradiction” to describe the Bible, there is at least a sharp contrast between this passage and the one we read yesterday, where the righteous man Job cried out again and again for healing and God did not simply “raise him up.” If anyone’s prayer should have resulted in simple, easy healing, it was Job’s.
So what are we to make of this passage from James? Well, I wish I could say with certainty. I will simply note two things. First, the church is called on to offer a “prayer of faith,” not a “prayer of what seems reasonable to us.” Faith implies that we are letting go of our own agendas, and pursuing God’s agenda even when it doesn’t make sense to us. So a prayer of faith is one that acknowledges God’s supremacy and asks God that His will be done in a sick person’s life, even when that for some reason would result in that person’s not getting well. If we don’t understand it, well, that’s OK; it is a prayer of faith, not a prayer of reason. God will have healing in God’s way even if it does not look like healing to us.
The other thing we should see here is that we are to pray boldly. While we do not know God’s will for our lives completely, we can tell God what we believe is right, as long as we are prepared to accept whatever God does. Elijah boldly prayed that it would not rain, and it didn’t. We too can boldly pray for healing, and do not need to be afraid that God will reprimand us for telling Him what to do. So when we or those we love are sick, we do not need to hold back our feelings; we pray boldly for healing, but we pray in faith in God who is bigger than us and knows more than we do what we need.
Healing comes through prayer.
This little passage makes it sound so simple, doesn’t it? Is anyone sick? Just call for the elders of the church, anoint them with oil and pray in faith and they will be “raised up.” So we are to pray for one another that we might be healed, and we are promised that the prayer of the righteous is “powerful and effective.”
While we might not be comfortable using the word “contradiction” to describe the Bible, there is at least a sharp contrast between this passage and the one we read yesterday, where the righteous man Job cried out again and again for healing and God did not simply “raise him up.” If anyone’s prayer should have resulted in simple, easy healing, it was Job’s.
So what are we to make of this passage from James? Well, I wish I could say with certainty. I will simply note two things. First, the church is called on to offer a “prayer of faith,” not a “prayer of what seems reasonable to us.” Faith implies that we are letting go of our own agendas, and pursuing God’s agenda even when it doesn’t make sense to us. So a prayer of faith is one that acknowledges God’s supremacy and asks God that His will be done in a sick person’s life, even when that for some reason would result in that person’s not getting well. If we don’t understand it, well, that’s OK; it is a prayer of faith, not a prayer of reason. God will have healing in God’s way even if it does not look like healing to us.
The other thing we should see here is that we are to pray boldly. While we do not know God’s will for our lives completely, we can tell God what we believe is right, as long as we are prepared to accept whatever God does. Elijah boldly prayed that it would not rain, and it didn’t. We too can boldly pray for healing, and do not need to be afraid that God will reprimand us for telling Him what to do. So when we or those we love are sick, we do not need to hold back our feelings; we pray boldly for healing, but we pray in faith in God who is bigger than us and knows more than we do what we need.
posted by Michael Jordan at 6:00 AM
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