James Call the Elders

 

James

Call the Elders

 

God is the Healer

The elders can only do their part

Encourage in faith, teach God’s Word, listen for God’s voice

But in the end it is not faith in my faith

It is faith in the “I am the LORD, who heals you” Exodus 15:26

Your physical health matters to God

God assigns the elders of the church “to pray”, to listen and petition

To “anoint with oil”, to care and bring remedy

To do it all “in the name of the Lord”

Give God praise and credit for your health

When you need a healing prayer

Remember the Elders and the Church are willing to pray with you

To the Lord who heals

 

 

Call the Elders

 

What is the first call you

make when you get sick?

 

James says…

 

 Call the elders of the church.

 

Please don’t call your pastor and elders

every time you get a sniffle or a pain.

 

 

Our first call should be to the Healer.

 

God is our Healer.

 

 We see this in Exodus 15:26…

 

 “For I am the LORD, who heals you.”

 

If we take this verse to remind us

 God is our Healer…

 

 We should also takes some

notes from the rest of the verse.   

 

Exodus 15:26…

 

He said, "If you listen carefully to

the voice of the LORD your God.”

 

Listen carefully to God’s voice.

 

Careful listeners “do what is right in His eyes”

 

“If you pay attention to His commands

 and keep all His decrees,

I will not bring on you any of the

diseases I brought on the Egyptians.”

 

This is “preventive medicine”.

 

Listening and paying attention.

 

The Old Testament priest taught the people about diet

and personal hygiene as well as spiritual matters.

 

Paul says…

 

 The spiritual did not come first, but the

natural, and after that the spiritual.

1 Corinthians 15:46

 

This principle is seen over and over again…

 

 Because God made us with flesh and bones.

 

 He cares about our physical well being

as well as our spiritual well being.

 

There are both natural and spiritual reasons we get sick.

These reasons are important to our healing.

 

After we have prayed, we have listened

and paid attention to God’s voice and

we are still sick…

 

 James says call for the elders of the church.

 

Remember who the church is…

 

It is the Bride of Christ.

 

Jesus does not want you,

His Bride sick and weak.

 

The elders are to prepare God's people for works of service,

so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith

and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature,

attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Ephesians 4:12-13

 

This is “whole healing”.

 

 You will have difficulty doing the work,

 if you are physically or spiritual unhealthy.

 

I have many times stood in front of long prayer lines

and anointed with oil and prayed for the sick.

 

I have seen God take away afflictions just

like we read about Jesus doing in the Gospels.

 

I remember as a young minister,

 a man who had kidney failure come for prayer

as he and his family were moving out of the area. 

 

I remember these words in my head…

 

“Get your house in order.”

 

This person loved the Lord and I loved him.

 

 I never shared those words,

but a few months later he died.

 

 There were affairs in his family that did

not get the attention that was needed.

 

Sometimes when we pray

 we get answers we do not expect.

 

Exodus 15:26 says…

 

 I will not bring on you any of the

diseases I brought on the Egyptians.

 

When we call for the elders of

the church, they are to “pray”.

 

This is more than saying…

 

 “Be healed in the name of Jesus” as we

lay our hands on a sick person’s head.

 

Prayer is listening and paying attention.

 

 Maybe it will be saying a word

and the sick person will be healed.

 

Or, maybe God will have us do something

we don’t understand…

 

 Like the time Jesus put mud

 on the blind man’s eyes.

 

Job’s friends did not understand why Job was afflicted

and so they turned to the reasoning he must have sinned.

 

What if Job’s friends prayed until

they heard from the Lord.

 

 What if they had compassion on him

as if it were them who was sick.

 

Sometimes elders come and pray…

 

 They anoint with oil in the name of

the Lord and we do not see results.

 

I have had many times I was

called to pray and anoint with oil.

 

I left the sick person and fasted and prayed more.

 

I felt the pressure of James’ words…

 

 “The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well.”

 

As an elder/pastor, I

 realized I was not the healer.

 

Only God can heal.

 

The elders can only do their part…

 

Encourage in faith, teach God’s Word,

listen for God’s voice, be compassionate.

But in the end it is not faith in our faith,

it is faith in the “I am the LORD, who heals you.”

Exodus 15:26

 

Your physical health matters to God.

 

God assigns the elders of the church

“to pray”, to listen and petition…

 

To “anoint with oil”, to care and bring remedy.

 

And to do it all “in the name of the Lord”.

 

Give God praise and credit for your health.

 

When you need a healing prayer...

 

Remember the Elders and the Church

are willing to pray with you,

to the Lord who heals.

 

 

 

Scripture Reading

 

James 5:13-16 NIV

 

13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14 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. 15 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. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.