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The prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up (James 5:15, NASB1995).
In chapter 5 of the Epistle of James (the last chapter of the book), reading verses 13 through 18, note that prayer is mentioned in every verse, and the focus is powerful praying. These verses provide a tutorial in praying for healing and miracles.
- If you are suffering, pray (v. 13)
- If sick, call for the elders to pray (v. 14)
- Pray in faith (v. 15)
- Confessing sin as a key to answered prayer (v. 16)
- Effective praying can have amazing results (v. 16)
- Be confident. Elijah prayed for drought, then for rain, and he is like us!! (vv. 17-18)
Many believe that prayers for healing and miracles, confined to the first century, could only be exhibited by the apostles and those on whom they laid their hands. Paul, of course, did miracles, and yes, to Timothy and Titus performing wonders as Paul’s direct disciples, but not for us since we were born a couple of thousand years later.
According to this theology, we become second-class citizens of the Kingdom when believing God for healing and miracles today.
But let’s not worry, this restricting doctrine isn’t what the Epistle of James teaches, and if James says “yes” to ongoing prayers for healing and miracles, we should increase our expectations of what God can do right now.
James 5:13-18 is the only passage in the Bible that directly addresses praying for the sick and miracles in common church life. Correctly interpreting James, we find that his byline for churches throughout history was: “The effective prayer of a righteous person has great power” (v. 16, ESV, emphasis added). As Douglas Moo writes in his commentary on the book of James…
While Calvin, Luther, and other expositors think that the practice of anointing, along with the power to heal, was meant to be confined to the apostolic age, it is doubtful that such a restriction can be maintained. James’ recommendation that regular church leaders carry out the practice would seem to imply its permanent validity in the church.
I believe in praying for healing and miracles today, but I’m not sure how “effective” we are. James shares several principles to help our effectiveness. When sick, we need to “call” (v. 14) for the elders; our requests must have “faith” (v. 15); and we should “confess” our sinful attitudes and behavior (v. 16).
Contextually, the final nail in the coffin of healing and miracles being limited to the first century is driven home when James uses the Old Testament prophet Elijah as his example, bypassing the first-century apostles entirely. In other words, don’t worry about the apostles and what they did or didn’t do, but look to Elijah from the Old Testament as the example for healing and miracles in the life of the church now!
James 5:17 says, “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours.” If Elijah can do it, so can we. Our prayers won’t always be answered, but we should strive for more “effective” praying.
You may have noted that I’ve emphasized the word “effective” several times in this Interruption. The Greek word used for “effective” is “energeo,” from which we get the English word “power.” This should describe the trajectory of our praying.
As we grow in Christ — more power with healing and miracles in our prayers!