Does Praying For the Sick Really Work? James 5:14-15

"Is anyone among you sick? 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; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him." James 5:14-15

When the issue of prayer and healing comes up, one of the first Scriptures usually mentioned is James 5:14-15. This is one of the very few passages in the New Testament epistles that addresses the issue of healing, and in this passage it is linked not to spiritual gifts or "healers", but the elders of a local church. Believers are exhorted if "sick" to call for the leaders of their church to pray for them. This passage seems very clear and straight-forward about the results if the prayer is "offered in faith". The text explicitly says that this kind of prayer "will restore the one who is sick". There is no ambiguity in this passage at all. Healing will happen. But this leads to a real dilemma. A lot of prayers have been prayed for sick people with a lot more faith than a mustard seed (see Matthew 17:20), but unfortunately most of the people prayed for have not been healed. This should not be disputed as even the Vineyard pastor, John Wimber, admitted in writing that his church only saw about 2% of the people prayed for healed. So what's the problem?

If one studies the word "sick" in verse fourteen, it becomes clear that this word means "weakness" and it can be physical (see Matthew 10:8) or spiritual (see Romans 14:1). The work "sick" in verse fifteen is a different word from the one in verse fourteen, and it refers to physical or spiritual fatigue (see Hebrews 12:3). The point is that one cannot say with certainty that the healing spoken of here is physical. It could be spiritual healing. I lean towards the idea that it is both. I believe that James is addressing the issue of people who are physically ill because of spiritual issues, and in particular, unconfessed sin. This fits great with the following verse, "Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed" (vs. 16). It also fits well with the last part of verse fifteen which says that the person's sins will be forgiven.

So what I am saying is that when someone has sinned and as a result of that sin there are physical consequences (see I Corinthians 11:30, for example), that person needs to call for the elders, be willing to confess any known sin, and trust the Lord to heal them physically and spiritually.

This explains why this procedure doesn't work more often than it does. First, there may not be in this age of grace that many people suffering physically because of unconfessed sin, or perhaps, the sins that are causing the illness are not being confessed. There may be a lack of faith occasionally, but as pointed out earlier, only a mustard seed worth is required for healing to take place.

Now this raises the question of whether or not it is right and appropriate to pray for those who are sick simply because God has allowed it. My answer, even in light of this passage correctly interpreted, is yes!

Prayer is always appropriate. We may not have a promise that God will heal in these cases, but it is always right o ask for it. Our God is a merciful and gracious God who responds to the prayers of His people. That is why at our church we encourage people to have the elders pray for them even if it is not a case of sin-induced illness. One never knows for sure what God will do, or when. The best thing is always to pray. May God help us to do so!