Healing

James 5:14 “If any of you are sick, they should call for the elders of the church, and the elders should pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.”

We have all been sick at one time or another. Do we feel like being around people when you’re sick? Me neither. Most of the time, I like to be left alone because I don’t want to spread the infection and get other people sick around me. But, this verse is teaching the exact opposite of this mentality.

Instead of being by ourselves, or secluded from other people, this verse is showing there is a healing power when we are with our community. It is within the community, the people called the elders, the leaders of the church, to pray over them. The leaders represented the church, so the people would all be in agreement. This verse also does not say the elders were praying “for” the sick person; it says they pray “over the person.

This means that the pray was said with the sick person present, with the community present. The elders and the community would lay hands and use oil to anoint (touch) the person in need of healing.

Does this mean the laying on of hands and the oil has special powers? Not really. What it is doing is showing the power of community prayer. There is something special that happens when we pray together.

To do this, we may even have to pray “in front” of people. *Gasp* But, this is not really that difficult. It is not in the laying on of hands, the oil, or even the words we say that bring healing. God doesn’t need certain phrases for Him to intervene. God is more interested in the heart. When we combine our hearts, it is amazing what kind of healing that can happen, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, relationally.

Who can you get together with to pray over?