# Question about James 5:14-16 - prayer and oil



## Mayflower (Apr 8, 2007)

James 5:14-16 
14 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. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.


Iam struggeling with this verses alot. Myself i have diabetes, and sometimes it gives me alot of stuggles (like being tired alot and having hypos). Because of my health problem, one of my pastor showed me James 5:14-16. To be clear he only showed me the vers and ask me if i ever taught about it to have the prayer and anoinment with oil by the elders of the church. Iam a cessationist ("spectacular" or "sign" gifts in 1 Corinthians 12-14 like prophecy, miraculous healing, tongues, etc. ceased with the apostolic age.). I know that men like Calvin and other reformers and puritans like Owen saw James 5:14-16 as the same as in 1 Corinthians 12-14, and John MacArthur view is that it only dealt with spiritueel suffering and not physical, and so they believed it ceased, but iam doubting, esspecially after i read and articel by an presbyterian pastor and also Rev. William Einwechter who both says that James 5:14-16 is different from 1 Corinthians 12-14 (one example is that James does not speaks about the gift of healing like in 1 Cor.), and so James 5 can still be appley in this age and day.

I believe in the full Sovereinty of God and that By His grace he can allowed suffering to be happen in the life of His childeren, to glorify Himself and to reveal his power in the weakness of His child, but does that mean that James 5 has no meaning or application for the church anyone more ?

Any help, advise or thoughts would be helpful!!!

Thanks!


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## KMK (Apr 8, 2007)

I think the whole passage must be taken into consideration. James is dealing with Christians who are suffering hardships, weakness, and sins. James' overall point is, if you are suffering, do something about it! Pray fervently! But do not do it alone, call for the elders and have them pray...Call for your brethren, confess your faults, and have them pray. James makes the point that the prayers of righteous Christians availeth much. Look at Elijah. He was just a man like you and I, and his prayer for no rain was answered and again his prayer for the rain to return was answered as well.

James is teaching us that we should not go through our trials alone. And when we go to our elders or other righteous Christians, we show humility before the Lord. No prideful man is going to go to the elders and admit that he has a problem too big to solve alone. It is the humility that the Lord desires. "He forgetteth not the cry of the humble." 

There is no miraculous gift in view here, unless you believe that intersessory prayer is only for the gifted.

I lived this passage of scripture. My 4th child was born very sick. He was in and out of the hospital his first year of life, and almost died. I was going to church, but was not a strong Christian. I kept trusting in the doctors and the specialists and the hospital as my son got worse and worse. I was happy to allow people to pray for my son, but I never humbled myself to ask for prayer. Then one day God confronted me with James 5 and with out much hope I called an elder at my church and asked him to come and pray for my son. He came over, prayed, anointed him with oil, and my son was healed on that day. He is 6 now and has never been back to the hospital. I have tears coming out of my eyes as I write this. 

I would also like to point out that this experience was the starting point for me becoming a preacher. James 5:13 says, "Is any merry? Let him sing psalms." When the Lord does help the humble the humble cannot help but burst out with words of joy. You can't keep it in!


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## Mayflower (Apr 8, 2007)

KMK said:


> I lived this passage of scripture. My 4th child was born very sick. He was in and out of the hospital his first year of life, and almost died. I was going to church, but was not a strong Christian. I kept trusting in the doctors and the specialists and the hospital as my son got worse and worse. I was happy to allow people to pray for my son, but I never humbled myself to ask for prayer. Then one day God confronted me with James 5 and with out much hope I called an elder at my church and asked him to come and pray for my son. He came over, prayed, anointed him with oil, and my son was healed on that day. He is 6 now and has never been back to the hospital. I have tears coming out of my eyes as I write this.



Thanks brother for your testimony in the way how the Lord has work in this way to heal your son, glory to Him!!!!!


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