Praying for the Sick

It is interesting to see how the Bible leads us to walk through difficult situations.  In James 5:7-12 there are seven references to patience, waiting, and endurance and in 5:13-18 there are seven references to prayer.  Motyer said, “The positive way forward in situations demanding endurance is the way of prayer.”

James says three things will happen when we pray and when we call the elders to pray, “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.” (5:15).  The prayer will:


You can see why some see this as spiritual sickness and that is true here, but also physical sickness.  The elders come to them because they can’t come to them.  The elders come to the one who is sick and pray over him…it would seem they are in their sick bed.  They anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord and God heals.

One of the reasons we have a hard time with this passage is that it looks like James is saying…He heals every time.  Some take that to say if the prayer wasn’t in faith that’s the reason, they weren’t healed…either the one praying or the one being prayed for didn’t have enough faith.  Is that what the Bible in its entirety says?

Paul healed the sick…they laid his work handkerchiefs on the sick and they were healed…he even raised the dead.  But he didn’t heal everyone.  He didn’t heal Epaphroditus who was sick...near to death, he left Trophimus who was ill, when Timothy was sick to his stomach…Paul told him to add some wine to his water…he didn’t just heal him.  So, I think we can say these four things as we seek healing through prayer:


We pray, we ask God, we praise no matter what, and we trust Him to do what is best.  He always does what is best!