The Prayer of Faith and the Healing of the Sick

THE PRAYER OF FAITH AND THE HEALING OF THE SICK

The subject of healing is prominent in the

James 5:15 “The Prayer modern church. Many have bought into
of Faith shall heal the the “Health Wealth and Prosperity
sick”
Gospel” that flourished in the 1980’s and
90’s and teaches that salvation is the door to health and wealth and
that God intended us to live in physical and material prosperity. The
‘Faith Healing’ movement also has greatly damaged the church’s
understanding of this all sort of apparent healings in the Church and
its matter-of-fact, shallow, and isolated use of specific Scripture texts.
Any sincere and thoughtful approach to Scripture therefore, in the
milieu of such abuses, has to grapple with texts like James 5:14-15.
This text has been, and continues to be the subject of debate and
contention; many and varied are the interpretations.

Different Views

The Roman Catholic Church uses this verse to teach the Sacrament
of Extreme Unction (Last Rites). The Douay Version, the official
English translation from the Latin Vulgate, rejects the Vulgate here
and replaces the word elders with the word Priests. In a foot note they
state, "See here a plain warrant of Scripture for the Sacrament of Extreme
Unction that any controversy against its institution would be against the
express words of the sacred text in the plainest terms." It is clear to any
honest approach that this interpretation is to be rejected out of hand,
and that in order to teach this the text has been not only manipulated
but unconscionably changed.

Hamartiagenic View: Another view that is offered is that the

sickness spoken of here is Hamartiagenic (sin-engendered) and the
importance is laid therefore on the confession of sin. i While there
may be, on the face of it, warrant for this approach because of the
reference to confession at the end of Vs. 15, there are great difficulties
with this interpretation. It is clear that there are cases in the Scripture
where sickness is directly associated with sin in the life, (Mark 2:2-11;

1
 The Prayer of Faith and the Healing of the Sick

I Corinthians 11:30) but the Scriptures do not teach that all sickness
or physical suffering is a result of particular sin (John 9:1-3). Such a
comprehensive approach however, does not deal adequately with all
the issues of the verse. The use of the plural “sins” indicates that this
sickness is not the result of one particular sin and the conditional
statement "if he have committed sins" at the end of the Vs. 15 shows
that James is speaking hypothetically and definitely not of every
case. Any case built on a hypothetical situation is suppositional and
problematic. Furthermore, if confession of sin is the issue to be dealt
with then it follows that the elder’s “prayer of faith” would not be
predominant in the sentence structure of the verse; confession of sin
would be stressed.

Cessationists: Another opinion formed on this verse and offered by

John Calvin and some of the puritans (Thomas Manton and John
Owen,ii) is that this anointing and prayer of faith for the sick and
promise of healing has reference only to the apostolic office and gifts.
John Calvin says "the gift was temporary and immediately ceased [with
the apostles].”iii Calvin goes on to say that by the symbol of oil the
apostles openly declared that the power was not in themselves but in
the power of the Holy Ghost.” iv This view is a legitimate one and in
line, although not a vital constituent of the view that the
supernatural gifts of the apostolic church have indeed ceased. There
are, however limitations with the position in that it fails to recognize
the fact that this verse is spoken of in the context of the organized
church, (πρεσβυτέρους τῆς ἐκκλησίας) not the itinerant ministry of
the apostles in their sign miracles. This is not a sign to the
unbelieving world, but rather a comfort to the Church, to be
administered in and by the Church.

Normative View: Among those who are agreed that the anointing
with oil and praying over the sick is a part of the normative work of
the church today there remains a variety of opinion. To take this
position is by no means the easy way out of difficult situation. There
are many difficulties to deal with in the text.

Difficulties with the Normative View Answered

2
 The Prayer of Faith and the Healing of the Sick

The first difficulty is the issue of the use of oil. Is anointing with oil
an Instrument or a Symbol of healing? Is James using the word is as a
symbol of healing rather than a medicinal instrument for healing?

James is speaking here of “any” sickness, not just those sicknesses

where oil might be used medicinally. Oil, in the Scripture was
always seen to be emblematic of divine influence, and for this reason
the Son of God is called the Anointed One (Christ) as having the Spirit
poured out on Him without measure (John 3:34). As Richard Lenki
points out, to make the oil here medicinal would make the Church
elders physicians.v We do not believe this to be so.
 
It is clear that the oil is not used here as a medicine. If it was
medicinal properties and benefits James wished to convey, there is a
word in the Greek for medicine he could have used. Why would he
confuse the issue with medicinal oil, if it was not used for every
illness (as it is here implied). For James to use this word medicinally
seems to add unnecessary confusion to the text which could have
been avoided. Furthermore the use of the oil is secondary to the
prayer of faith; the verse says “the prayer of faith shall save the sick,”
not the use of oil. The only other reference to healing by the
anointing of oil is in Mark 7:13 where it is clearly a miraculous
healing. Here, in James 5:14-15 the power of God is displayed also in
an extraordinary manner as it is occasioned by an extraordinary
ceremony.

Another difficulty with the text is the phrase “prayer of faith.” In

this whole situation the emphasis is laid on the prayer. Is the "prayer
of faith" to be differentiated from the more general "ask[ing] in faith"
(James 1:6), or is this a technical phrase which speaks of a special
prayer related to a confidence in a particular case? I.e., is it a case
that the elders, or the individual requesting the elders prayer would
know a specific guidance to perform this anointing and praying over
the patient with the belief that “this is the Lord's will” for this
situation. Some hold that this "prayer of faith" is not simply an
intellectual conviction that God heals but a faith that is in response to
God's revelation for this situation, either subjectively or by the
objective reading of God's Word they have the conviction that if this
anointing is performed and prayer is offered then that very thing
will be done.vi According to Thomas Manton, the apostles "… only

3
 The Prayer of Faith and the Healing of the Sick

anointed those whose recovery they were assured by the Holy Ghost as
James here seemeth to restrain it to such an object where they could pray in
faith." Manton continues “…they anointed none but those of whom they
were persuaded that they would recover otherwise the apostle Paul would
never have left Trophimus sick at Miletum (II Timothy 4:20) or sorrowed so
much for Epaphroditus' sickness if he could so easily have helped it by
anointing with oil (Philippians 2:27).” vii Although Manton took a
cessationist view, he makes a very valid point and one that can be
applied to the use of ceremony in any age.

Another question that needs to be address is how is “the prayer of

faith” answered? Is this an unconditional, universal, promise that if
there is the anointing with oil, as a symbol of the power of the Spirit,
and if there is prayer offered by the elders in faith that the individual
is going to recover from the sickness.

The word “sick” (ka,mnw) in Vs. 15 means ‘to grow weary’ or ‘to be
sick’. This is not the same word that is used in Vs. 14 for “sick”
(avsqene,w), which means to be weak, feeble or powerless. This may
go some way to answer the question, by raising another question; is
this promise for the healing of the body or is it speaking of a
physiological and/or spiritual healing? Some would hold that this is
not necessarily speaking of a physical healing but an acceptance of
and a “coming to terms with” the sickness such as the case of Paul (II
Corinthians 12:9). In other words, the sick person is anointed with oil
and prayed for by the elders and, while there might be no physical
healing there is a healing of the “weary” (ka,mnw) mind and heart in
the ailment and an acquiescing with the will of God through it all.

There is a lot of merit in dealing with the passage in this way and
good scriptural warrant. It was this “healing” that Paul received
when he prayed for the removal of the thorn in the flesh; the thorn
remained but the Lord gave grace to endure it (II Corinthians 12:8-9).
Indeed Paul had already leaned that his infirmities were causes for
rejoicing (Vs. 5).

The Psalmist also in Psalm 77:10 turns a corner in his own experience
when he owns his infirmities as from the Lord. Having reconciled
himself to this he comes from doubt and despair (V’s. 1-9) to great
rejoicing (Vs. 11-20).

4
 The Prayer of Faith and the Healing of the Sick

Putting this into practice today

If this is to be practiced today, how is it to be administered?

Regardless if you believe that this sickness is hamartiagenic or a
physical malady unrelated to any spiritual dimension the procedure
for conducting the ceremony of anointing and prayer will be the
same. There are certain restraints put on this in the text.

First, this is an Ecclesiastical procedure. It is not for any individual

to conduct or any para-church organization to assume responsibility
for. The doctrine of the “priesthood of all believer's” is not to be
confused with the ecclesiastical offices and gifts of the church. The
reason for calling the elders of the Church is clear from Matthew
18:19 “That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that
they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.”

The same phrase (πρεσβυτέρους τῆς ἐκκλησίας “elders of the

Church”) is used in Acts 20:17 and it refers to the constitution of the
Church as an organization. Further to this, and in opposition to the
so-called “Faith Healing” abuse of this text, it is clear that the faith
spoken of here is the faith of the elders of the Church and not the
individual. Too many have been disillusioned and disgracefully
abused by this and blamed for not having enough faith. Many have
left these so-called “Faith Healing” meetings still in the wheelchair
or on the bed, and were not healed because they “had not enough
faith.” This is an easy copout for failure on the part of the healer.

Second, this is an extraordinary procedure. If this is going to be

carried out by the church then it is not to be entered into lightly, but
with much prayer and guidance. This procedure is different from
praying for the individual in the weekly prayer meeting. This is not a
provision for every individual to take advantage of in every
difficulty. Nor this is a procedure to be repeated if physical healing is
not the outcome; the promise is not a blanket promise without
conditions. All prayer is to be prayed according to the will of God.

5
 The Prayer of Faith and the Healing of the Sick

Endnotes

6
i
Jay E. Adams, Competent To Counsel, (Phillipsburg: Presbyterian and
Reformed Publishing Co., 1970), 105
ii
John Owen, The Works of John Owen, (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust,
1988), 4:465.
iii
John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Trans: Henry Beveridge,
2 Vols. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1975), 2:465. (Book iv. xix,
19).
iv
Ibid (Book iv. xix, 20)
v
Richard Lenski, in “James”, Commentary on the New Testament, reprint; 1966,
12 Vols. (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 2001), 10:662.
vi
James Montgomery Boice, Sure I Believe-So What. (Ross-shire, Scotland:
Christian Focus Publications, 1994), 147.
vii
Thomas Manton, James, reprint; 1693, (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust,
1988), 449.