The Prayer Of Faith                              05-06-16

James 5:14-15 (ESV) ¹⁴  Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
¹⁵  And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

A  word for you today. In 1984 I fell sick. I fell very sick. I mention it here just to provide you a frame of reference for this message. The details of my malady are not important here, for this is not about my sickness, but about GOD'S HEALING. Suffice it to say that, if I remember correctly, I literally  walked sick out of a hospital, went to a church service, was anointed and prayed for, literally walked back in the hospital the next day,and was pronounced "cured" by the doctors with confirming xrays and tests. The head of pulmonary medicine at Kennestone Hospital, apparently not wanting to give God the credit, declared the results "unexplainable."

A few years ago my youngest son lay comatose in a hospital room in Conyers, GA.  I remember looking at the attending nurse and asking her if he was going to make it, and being met with a long sigh and a shrug of her shoulders. Shortly after that discouraging response a man of God came to see him, and after praying the prayer of faith,  laid his hand upon my son's shoulder; to my and Shelley's surprise, my son sat straight up in the bed, looked around at us and said "What's up Pops?" and laid back down unconscious. A few hours later he was awake and kicking. Unexplainable.

Sometime shortly after(?) that incident, my stepdaughter, Shelley's daughter Jessica was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor on her kidney. A neuroblastoma if memory serves. A deadly form of cancer. After much prayer she was admitted to the hospital for surgery to remove the tumor. I will never forget that day. Sitting in the hospital with family and the same man of God, awaiting the news from the operating table, the doctor finally came around the corner. Shelley and I jumped up, began walking towards him around a corner. I will never forget what he said as he rounded that corner. "At some point between the start of the operation and the removal of the tumor, it went from malignant to benign." Those are his exact words to us. He didn't know how it had happened.Unexplainable.

Again,that same week, if memory serves, my stepson Michael broke his arm. He was upset because he wanted to play football that weekend for his local team. It appeared that was out of the question as he was in a cast from wrist to elbow. However, he was prayed for and lo and behold his arm was "cured." I believe he played that following week with the doctor's blessing. Unexplainable. Although his team Georgia Tech was soundly whipped by Tennessee. Very Explainable.
(BAHAHa!!I hope you are reading this Michael. HUGE SMILE) Unexplainable.

The list of testimonials goes on and on. My point here is just this. These "cures" or unexplained healings are not unexplainable at all. I have a very  reasonable explanation. Read the above scripture again.Here, let me pull that up for you.

James 5:14-15 (ESV) ¹⁴  Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
¹⁵  And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.   

That word "sick" can refer either to a physical sickness or a spiritual infirmity. Are you sick in body today? Why not take God's prescription? Gather some people of like faith around you. Let them anoint you with oil..."and the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick."

Possibly your sickness is something a little deeper and more serious than a bodily sickness. Maybe you are sick in spirit and soul. The remedy is the same. God is waiting for us to humble ourselves before His mighty hand, not so He can beat us up, no, no. It's so He can "raise us up." He will exalt us in due time. He is our only TRUE healer.

THE PRAYER OF FAITH.

VERY EXPLAINABLE!

Psalm 107:20 (ESV) ²⁰  He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.



God Bless