What We Should Pray For
You are attending the Wednesday night small group meeting, and it is time for prayer. As the group offers their prayer requests, what do they consist of? If you have real life experience to rely on you know that the list will be dominated by people who are sick or facing medical care of some sort. I get it. When I am sick or facing medical care that concerns me, I want people to pray. I’m thankful for such during my heart surgery last year. But as I examine prayer in the New Testament, I can’t help but ask: Why is praying for the sick not commonly seen?
Typically, when we look at the New Testament for guidance, we seek precept or precedent. Either a command or an example. When it comes to prayer as our topic, we will look hard to find either of these to guide us concerning prayer for the sick. There is one exception. In James 5:14-16 we find these words: “Is any among you sick? Let him call 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 one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”
Careful thought about these words from James 5 might conclude this isn’t a simple request to pray for someone who is sick, hoping they get better physically. There’s more going on here. Is this person on their deathbed possibly seeking to correct their relationship with the Lord, needing salvation? It talks about “the prayer of faith will save” and “if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” Whatever the case, this is not a simple prayer to be healed physically. We have learned over the years that internalizing guilt for wrongdoing can be harmful to a person’s body and mind, so confessing sins and praying for one another can provide healing to the person. Is that part of what’s going on here? Consider this scenario: the person is repenting on death’s bed, saved as a result with sins forgiven, and “the Lord will raise him up” references his resurrection one day in the future. Whatever it tells us, this is the lone verse I’ve found about praying for the sick.
Didn’t Jesus heal the sick? Indeed, but hopefully we realize that was very unique. Part of Jesus healing the sick provided proof of who he was. Certainly, he cared. Certainly he had compassion on the hurting (just like he does for you when hurting) but he didn’t heal all who were sick, and those who were healed would face more sickness, eventually death, so permanent healing awaits us in heaven, not in this life. Sin is the cause of all that’s bad this side of heaven. At the very least, sin indirectly has caused any sickness we have, so sin is the more important problem we need to address, wouldn’t you agree? And this seems to be part of what James 5 tells us.
If prayers for the sick are hard to find in the New Testament, what do we find that guides us in our prayer life? When Jesus was asked to teach his disciples to pray, what we call the Lord’s Prayer consists of these elements: we honor God’s name, we pray that God’s kingdom will come, his will done, we pray for our daily bread, we ask God to remind us that sins are forgiven similar to how we forgive, we pray not to be led into temptation (a prayer for awareness, that we avoid sin), we ask to be delivered from the evil one, and this prayer ends like it began, honoring God (his kingdom, his power, his glory). In addition to this, when we look to the apostle’s example in the New Testament, we find them praying for boldness to present the gospel, to stand strong against those who persecute them (Acts 4:23-31). Prayers of thanksgiving are encouraged (Colossians 4:2, Ephesians 5:20, I Thessalonians 1:2), along with prayers for opportunities to present the gospel, that doors may be opened, for strength with the bearer of good news in a hostile environment (Ephesians 6:19, Colossians 4:3, etc.).
Pray for the sick, by all means! Just as sin plays its part in all sickness, God plays his part in all healing, either directly or indirectly. To God be the glory! But as we take time to pray, please make thanksgiving and eternal things more important than the temporal things of this life. God encourages us through his word down that path.
Cross Point: “Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit… To that end, keep alert, making supplication for the saints, and for me, that words may be given to proclaim the gospel” Eph. 6.
Rick’s blog: rickwilliswrites.wordpress.com (Vetus Via)
Typically, when we look at the New Testament for guidance, we seek precept or precedent. Either a command or an example. When it comes to prayer as our topic, we will look hard to find either of these to guide us concerning prayer for the sick. There is one exception. In James 5:14-16 we find these words: “Is any among you sick? Let him call 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 one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”
Careful thought about these words from James 5 might conclude this isn’t a simple request to pray for someone who is sick, hoping they get better physically. There’s more going on here. Is this person on their deathbed possibly seeking to correct their relationship with the Lord, needing salvation? It talks about “the prayer of faith will save” and “if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” Whatever the case, this is not a simple prayer to be healed physically. We have learned over the years that internalizing guilt for wrongdoing can be harmful to a person’s body and mind, so confessing sins and praying for one another can provide healing to the person. Is that part of what’s going on here? Consider this scenario: the person is repenting on death’s bed, saved as a result with sins forgiven, and “the Lord will raise him up” references his resurrection one day in the future. Whatever it tells us, this is the lone verse I’ve found about praying for the sick.
Didn’t Jesus heal the sick? Indeed, but hopefully we realize that was very unique. Part of Jesus healing the sick provided proof of who he was. Certainly, he cared. Certainly he had compassion on the hurting (just like he does for you when hurting) but he didn’t heal all who were sick, and those who were healed would face more sickness, eventually death, so permanent healing awaits us in heaven, not in this life. Sin is the cause of all that’s bad this side of heaven. At the very least, sin indirectly has caused any sickness we have, so sin is the more important problem we need to address, wouldn’t you agree? And this seems to be part of what James 5 tells us.
If prayers for the sick are hard to find in the New Testament, what do we find that guides us in our prayer life? When Jesus was asked to teach his disciples to pray, what we call the Lord’s Prayer consists of these elements: we honor God’s name, we pray that God’s kingdom will come, his will done, we pray for our daily bread, we ask God to remind us that sins are forgiven similar to how we forgive, we pray not to be led into temptation (a prayer for awareness, that we avoid sin), we ask to be delivered from the evil one, and this prayer ends like it began, honoring God (his kingdom, his power, his glory). In addition to this, when we look to the apostle’s example in the New Testament, we find them praying for boldness to present the gospel, to stand strong against those who persecute them (Acts 4:23-31). Prayers of thanksgiving are encouraged (Colossians 4:2, Ephesians 5:20, I Thessalonians 1:2), along with prayers for opportunities to present the gospel, that doors may be opened, for strength with the bearer of good news in a hostile environment (Ephesians 6:19, Colossians 4:3, etc.).
Pray for the sick, by all means! Just as sin plays its part in all sickness, God plays his part in all healing, either directly or indirectly. To God be the glory! But as we take time to pray, please make thanksgiving and eternal things more important than the temporal things of this life. God encourages us through his word down that path.
Cross Point: “Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit… To that end, keep alert, making supplication for the saints, and for me, that words may be given to proclaim the gospel” Eph. 6.
Rick’s blog: rickwilliswrites.wordpress.com (Vetus Via)
Posted in Cross Points