James 5:13-15 - World English Bible

13 Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises. 14 Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, 15 and the prayer of faith will heal him who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

  James 5:13-15 (web) written by (Jesus Half-Brother) is broken into 3 parts.

1. If you are Suffering, pray.

2. If you are Cheerful, sing praises.

3. If you are Sick, call on the elders to pray for you.

I want to focus my attention on part 3 calling on the elders to pray for you. 

I think it is a wonderful thing to have people pray for you when you are sick. I know first hand because I was terribly sick and in need of emergency surgery and was grateful for the many people that prayed for me.

On the other hand I am a firm believer that you have to be careful of who you are asking to pray for you. The bible says call on the elders and I would take it one step further and say ask a spiritually mature or godly person or leader who you have some kind of a relationship with to intercede for you.

If you simply ask anyone to pray for you, you don’t know if they are really praying for your good health or your downfall. 

How many times have you heard a person explain some difficulty they are going through and the other person say I will pray for you. If they are really serious about praying for you they should do it right then and there rather than going through the motion to be nice and forgetting to pray until later on.

The bible also mentions anointing the person with oil. This is symbolic in The Name of Jesus Christ. It does not have to be physical oil.

When we are going through sickness we may or may not be healed but either way, we need to be reminded of God’s Love for us and not let Satan get us upset by poisoning our mind and soul. Satan hates progress and will do everything he can to discourage us.

                By Rev Ann Hampton, D.D; P.S.