The Prayer of Faith

James tells us that if anyone is sick to call for the elders of the church to pray and anoint with oil and the prayer of faith shall save the sick and the Lord will raise him up James 5 v 14-15.

What is the prayer of faith?

Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11 v 1).

James also tells us when we ask for such as wisdom, we need to ask in faith, nothing doubting. If we have a doubt we will not receive anything from the Lord (James 1 v 5-8).

John tells us that if we ask anything according to God’s will we know that He hears us, and we know that if He hears us He will give us what we ask for (1 John 5 v 14-15).

So to pray in faith nothing doubting means we need to know if what we are asking for is according to His will.  His will concerning the sick is written in Holy Scripture so we have no excuse, unless we are blind and deaf.   For anything not specific we pray that God will have His way.

How do we build up our faith muscles?

Romans 10 v 17 says that faith cometh by hearing God’s word.

So how do we pray the prayer of faith over a sick person?

We study the word of God to find out what God has to say about sickness and disease.

If we find out it is God’s will to heal the sick then we can pray according to His will, in faith.

Once we have faith we still need a word from the Lord for each individual.

When Jesus came He came specifically to do God’s will and He healed all that were oppressed of the devil (Acts 10 v 38).

Jesus said that the thief , “comes to steal, kill and destroy, but He has come to give us life and that more abundantly” John 10 v 10

1 John 3 v 8 tells us that the purpose Jesus came for was to destroy the works of the devil.

God says, I am the Lord who healeth thee, who healeth all thy diseases (Exodus 15 v 26, Psalm 103 v 3).

Isaiah 53 v 4 says that He (Jesus), bore our griefs and carried our sorrows.  The Hebrew word for grief denotes sickness or disease for most of its 24 occurrences.   Sorrow is suffering indicating both mental and physical anguish.

Matthew 8 v 17 interprets Isaiah 53 v 4 as, “Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses”.  So Isaiah is talking about Jesus taking our sickness and disease.

Peter quotes from Isaiah 53 v 5 when he says “By whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2 v 24).  He is looking back to what Jesus has done for us by His suffering and death on the cross, he puts his faith in God’s word and declares that we have already been healed by the stripes of Jesus.

Jesus Christ did the job when He walked the earth.  When He died He said, “it is finished”.  He paid the price in full in order that we could carry on His work.  He said “greater works than these shall you do because I go to me Father” (John 14 v 12).

Yet Jesus couldn’t do many mighty works where people didn’t believe.  If we doubt we will not receive anything from the Lord.

It can be difficult to know what to say when we pray for the sick, everyone is an individual and the reason for the sickness will also be different.  When God heals the sick He also forgives them for any sins which may be the reason for the sickness.  When Jesus prayed for the sick He prayed according to what the Father showed or told Him.  He healed all who came to Him for healing even when they didn’t have much faith.  He sent us to do the same works as He did and even greater works.

Some methods that people use to pray for the sick may not be orthodox but may not be wrong and may be the best way they can express their faith.  If it is done in faith then who is to say it is wrong.

Jesus said that we shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.  We are also told that if anyone is sick to call for the elders of the Church who will anoint with oil and pray the prayer of faith and the Lord will raise them up and forgive them any sins.  However if we don’t believe it, we will not receive anything from the Lord. 

We are often told that God answers prayers but that we may have to wait till we get to heaven for the fulfilment.  However, we don’t need prayer for us to be healed when we get to heaven, if we are sick we need prayer for healing now while we are here living on the earth.  If we die from a sickness then obviously when we get to heaven we will not have that sickness, even without prayer now, because there is no sickness or disability in heaven.  Our prayer should be that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Prayer for healing should be for now, here on earth.  We are automatically healed when we are raised from the dead, so that doesn’t take any faith for a believing Christian, that is just a fact.

I do recognise that many Christians remain sick even after prayer. I don’t have the answer for that.

For further details please read the article “The Healing Debate” by Mark Greenwood. 

Mark Greenwood: November 2009