SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7
Scripture: James 5:14-20

James 5:14:15 states, “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 of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” It is obvious that God’s will is health and healing for every believer. We know that from passages like this and from Jesus’ response to everyone who needed healing. In this passage, the elders of the church are to pray over any believer who is sick, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. James 5:15 says that the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up. It goes on to say that if he has committed sins they will be forgiven. The elders of the church have to know how to pray the prayer of faith and they have to be discerning enough where there is true repentance to bring forgiveness to any impediment to healing. I trust we all have such churches and if not, let’s pray until we find one. It is obvious that God intends His body of believers to be healthy. In order to be healthy we have to seek out a culture of transparency where people are redemptive. These ‘safe’ are those people with whom we have the freedom to confess our trespasses one to another and be able to pray for one another so we may be healed. Elijah is our example how he prayed earnestly it would not rain for three and a half years and it did not rain. Then at the appointed time he prayed again and it rained. This whole process was to turn the nation back to God when it was in rebellion. This shows us that God often uses adversity and sickness as affliction to open people up to correction so that they can turn and be healed.