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James 5:13-15: elders healing with prayer and oil

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Steve Nyenhuis on Thu, 07/21/2011 - 6:56pm

James 5:13-15

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

I am an elder beginning my third year of my first term and I have never heard this topic mentioned in our elder meetings. In fact, I haven't seen it mentioned in any of the blogs on this network. I don't know about you, but these verses bring up a lot of questions for me. The verses don't imply that only certain elders have this gift of healing. Does this mean that I should be able to heal someone as long as I pray and have enough faith?

I'm curious. Have any of you as elders prayed over someone, annointed them with oil and as a result, they were healed? If so, what was it like?

Steve

Mitogo Opira on Fri, 07/22/2011 - 12:47am

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Hi Steve,

Good question and I agree with you that our churches do not talk a lot of about all questions that we have in this text. I know that our God is the healer and we do not have in our own the power to heal. As the text said, when we pray over someone and amoint oil the person will heal.

I do not use oil most of the time, but when I pray over someone, I ask God to anoint the person, to forgive him/ her, and I proclaim the healing from God. I command the power of disease to leave. If I feel like I must rebuke the power of darkness in the person life, I do so without hesitation. I saw miracle happened and the person healed...

I am looking forward to see our churches talk about it. Last Sunday night in Fuller Avenue CRC, we had healing service. The pastors prayed over people.

The Bible said it, as children of God, we must obey and practice it sometimes.

Rev. Mitogo Opira

John Zylstra on Thu, 07/28/2011 - 2:58pm

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"Certain demons could not come out except by prayer and fasting".

I agree with Mitogo that it is God who heals, not us. God answers our prayers, if our desire is God's will. That means we must understand God's will and pray in accordance with God's will. We must pray for his glory, not for our glory. We must see and understand God;s purpose in the healing, not just our own wishes and desires. The anointing with oil is the same as anointing with oil for ordination or "setting apart". The oil does nothing, but it is like the water of baptism in that it signifies something. Something from outside is healing, just as it is Jesus who died, and the Spirit who sanctifies.

Jonathan Wilson on Thu, 10/20/2011 - 10:57am

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FYI,

Neil De Koning the Elders Guide has written a blog post about this subject (inspired by this thread):

The Ministry of Healing and the Work of ElderCheck out Neil's thoughts and offer your own.

Carl Kelley on Tue, 03/19/2013 - 9:43pm

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Are there any Churches of Christ near Mt Juliet that believe in the healing process described in James 5?

Please let me know. Carl Kelley 615-390-5009 or email kelleyc12@gmail.com

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