James 5:14-18 (ESV)

[14] 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. [15] 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. [16] Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. [17] Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. [18] Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

I was teaching somewhere the other day about our position in Christ. Someone asked, “Do we have all authority in Christ?” I asked what they meant and they said, “Can we lay hands on anyone and heal them like Jesus did?” James talks about praying for the sick and seeing them healed in this passage. He connects the concept to the power of a righteous person’s prayer, using Elijah as an example. In thinking through this passage around the question of healing we need to consider three facts related to this passage.

First, notice that this passage does not say that whenever anyone is sick we should run out and pray for their healing. Yes, Jesus gave his disciples authority to heal and cast out demons when he sent them out, but notice that Jesus did not heal every sick person he came in contact with. Not even Jesus exercised authority over sickness all the time. Jesus, of all people, could have done that, but he didn’t. In this passage in James says that the one who is sick is to call for the elders. Those praying here have some position of spiritual authority. Those praying here are called for. They don’t initiate the prayer. This passage is not teaching that Christians have the power or authority to pray for any sick at any time and expect them to be healed.

Second, not only are they to call for the elders, but they are to confess any sin that may be the cause of their sickness. When someone who is sick asks me to come and anoint them with oil and pray for their healing, I want to know whether there is any sin in their life that may be the cause of their illness. If so, it needs to be confessed. In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul warns the Corinthian believers that because of their abuse of the Lord’s supper some of them are sick, “and some have died” (1 Cor 11:30). Not all illness is the result of sin, but sin may result in illness. If we are to pray for the healing of someone we should at least explore the possibility that there may be sin involved. Confession of sin is a part of the process in this passage in James.

Third, Elijah is the example used in this passage to demonstrate the power of prayer. Here is what we miss when we read this: Elijah prayed when God directed him to pray. As an appointed prophet of God, he prophesied drought in 1 Kings 17. 1 Kings 18:1 says, “After many days the word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, ‘Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth.’” In other words, Elijah prayed for rain when God told him to pray for rain. We sometimes read James as though he is saying that Elijah’s powerful prayer caused the rain. We forget that Elijah didn’t pray until God told him to. Part of the power of prayer must be connected to a heart that is listening well to the Spirit of God. “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours” (Jas 5:17). The power of Elijah’s prayer was not the person of Elijah, but the plan and purpose of God.

So, do we have the authority to lay hands on anyone at any time and heal them like Jesus did? That is hardly the point of this passage, or any other passage that addresses healing in the scriptures. What we do learn is that Church Elders have the authority to pray for the sick when those who are sick call for them. Elders have the responsibility to ask about sin in the life of those for whom they are praying. We have the responsibility to pray as God clearly leads. Our part is to listen well and follow closely. God’s part is to answer prayer according to his purpose and plan. Prayer, then, is not about learning to manipulate God to do our will. It is about listening well to God so that we might be involved in his will. Ultimately it is all about him.