Today I, Miz Pink, shall take you to the Book of Jimmy…I mean, James, chapter 5, verses 13-18. (We’re going in a way different direction than Deke on this twofer tuesday topic)

People who love faith healing love this passage. And I really resent them for that and for abusing this poor little bit of God’s word so badly. Are ye sick? Get them elders togather to pray over ye and ye shall be healed. And if ye ain’t, ye must not have enough faith.

Deke has complained about the word of faith folks enough (here and here and here for example) and this is just a variation on that.

Dont get it twisted because James does want to show us the importance of prayer. I don’t think he wants us to warp his meaning all to heck though. Let me copy here what he said in the bible:

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 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. 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. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 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. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

Where praytell, did James say the person would be healed? Saved, yes, healed no. (For some other thoughts on what St. Jimmy wrote, if you care, go here or here or here as some starting points)

There is no promise that having a bunch of folks prayer over you and slather oil on you is going to cure your disease or injury. If that were the case, why did Paul have that “thorn in his side” that he couldn’t get to go away and that God told him he didn’t need to be cured of anyway? God never promised that we could pray our way out of sickness on the regular. If so, we wouldn’t be dying, would we, except by fatal accidents with large cliffs or speeding cars or whatever. We’ll get sick sometimes; that’s life.

Seeking prayer when we are sick or suffering is to find some relief. Maybe healing but maybe not. Strength, yes. Support, yes. Forgiveness, yes. Cure? Not always. Maybe not even often.

If you’re really, really sick I suggest maybe you go to the doctor first, and on the way to her office maybe ask some of the elders to pray for your good doc to do some good diagnostic work with you. Then after your appointment is over maybe the prayers and whooping and hollering and oil and whatnot.

Just a thought.