Prayer For The Sick 2/24/2017

Good Morning,

This day might bring rain and it might bring snow. It will be what it will be. So time to drink a cup of Door County Chocolate Cherry Coffee and pray for a couple of my friends laid low with illnesses.

I have several friends who are laid up with surgical recoveries, some are needing surgery, several are fighting with cancer and some are fighting off the flu. I actually have one friend suffering from shingles.

The Bible does give us clear direction on what to do for those who are ill and need prayer. It all starts with their faith and their desire to be prayed over.

The Prayer of Faith James 5:13-20

¹³ Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them 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 them up. If they have sinned, they 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 person is powerful and effective.
¹⁷ Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. ¹⁸ Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
¹⁹ My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, ²⁰ remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

But how do you explain when a person is prayed for and does not recover? The answer is simple. Every believer is always healed but not always in our time nor in the way we desire. When a believer in Jesus Christ who has been saved by His atonement for our sins dies, they go straight to heaven where there is no sickness. They no longer suffer and are cured. Not the way we desired, but it is how God determined they would be healed and when.

Also the Bible says that we can expect Earthly death.

Psalm 39:4-5

⁴ “Show me, Lord, my life’s end
    and the number of my days;
    let me know how fleeting my life is.
⁵ You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
    the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Everyone is but a breath,
    even those who seem secure.

God knows the number of our days. He chooses to heal all of His children in His way and His time.

We re still to pray, call on the elders and have faith. Miracles still happen. And at times God uses physicians to help in our healing.

How are you today? Need prayer?

Marty