![]() ![]() No one had ever asked me to do that before, and I didn’t know what to say. One day a woman named Libby asked if the elders would anoint her with oil and pray over her as taught in James 5. My story goes back to the church I pastored in Garland, Texas. We all have a story to tell in this regard. And yet if you ask around, it’s evident God can and sometimes does work miracles in answer to prayer. God can and does work miracles in answer to prayerĪll these concerns are quite valid. Above all, we don’t want to lose our focus on the gospel as our central message. Perhaps we are embarrassed by the possibility of failure. Some people are frightened of the perceived excesses of others (I’m thinking of certain flamboyant practices of the “healing evangelists” on late-night Christian television). It’s also fair to say that in some circles there has been ambivalence on this subject. In recent years many churches have put renewed emphasis on the importance of praying for the sick. From Chittagong to Galmi and from Seoul to Asuncion, Christians have prayed and given and sacrificed to help the suffering in the name of Jesus. The followers of Jesus have started missionary clinics, hospitals, sanitariums, rest homes, leprosariums, pharmacies, and medical schools, and we have worked to provide clean food and water for those without it. Luke (the beloved physician who wrote Acts) emphasized the spread of the gospel across the Roman Empire.Ī brief survey of 2000 years of church history reveals that from the very beginning, Christians have believed in ministering to the sick and the dying. Healing receives relatively little mention because Dr. We read about Peter and John and the lame man in Acts 3, signs and wonders in Acts 2 and 5, Peter and Dorcas in Acts 9, and Paul and Eutychus in Acts 20. Some miracles of healing are recorded, but not very many. Christians have cared for the sick and dying for 2000 yearsĪs we move into the book of Acts the situation changes. ![]() This means the total number of healing miracles must be far larger than the 41 specifically mentioned. Jesus never failed to heal anyone who was brought to him. ![]() Some were blind, others deaf, some were demonized, some paralyzed, and still others were sick with various diseases. Matthew 4:23-24 tells us that people with various maladies were brought to Jesus from Galilee and Syria, and he healed them all. The Gospels record 41 separate healing miracles during Christ’s ministry on earth. Let’s start by considering a few preliminary facts. When we pray for the sick, we are doing what God told us to do.īut that raises several questions. The church should pray for the sick that God would raise them up. What should we do for the sick? The answer is simple and profound. James 5:14-15 tells us how a Bible-believing church ought to respond to sickness in its midst. After all, we know God can do anything he wants to do. I am happy to stipulate that all those things are true.įurthermore, the focus is not on what God can do. The question is not, Does God sometimes answer in ways that seem miraculous? Again, the answer is yes.The question is not, Does God answer prayer for the sick? The answer is also yes.The question is not, Does God answer prayer? The answer is yes. Let me state up front what the question is not: Does God answer prayer? Yes! The fact that we are often asked to pray for the sick makes this topic very personal. It could be a church member who had a heart attack, or it might be someone struggling with chronic pain. It might be someone with cancer, or it might be a child with some strange fever, or perhaps a friend was in a car wreck. ![]() At what point do medicine and prayer intersect? How should they work together to provide healing?Įvery prayer meeting always includes a list of the sick. Medicine hangs from every branch of my family tree, which is part of the reason I find the topic of praying for the sick so fascinating. My uncle was a surgeon, and my three brothers are all medical doctors. My father was a surgeon, and my mother was a nurse (they met while doing medical service in the army during World War II). If he has sinned, he will be forgiven (James 5:14-15). And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well the Lord will raise him up. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. ![]()
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