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
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