Prayer of faith – The unused power of Christians

“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….” (James 5:13-15 NIV).

These are troubled times. Many people are in the kinds of troubles that our brother James anticipated when he wrote the above-quoted Bible passage. Christians are not insulated from troubles, problems, sicknesses, and realities of life, including the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. Our natural tendencies are that when we are in trouble or are suffering, we complain, blame, think negative thoughts and negative solutions, or give up entirely. However, Christians have at our disposal a positive and powerful weapon to handle troubles and sufferings, that is, the prayer of faith.

Having a weapon at our disposal is one thing; using it is another. We do not pray in faith as often as we should. We spend a lot of time thinking about our troubles, sufferings and problems, but not a lot of time praying about them in faith. James invites us to pray when we are in trouble or are suffering. The act of praying draws us closer to God and gives us hope. It is an exercise of faith in fellowship with the Almighty God.

Then, there are times when we are happy. Some may be happy because they have everything they need. Others may be happy because something good has happened to them. Still others may be happy because they have conditioned themselves to be happy regardless of their circumstances. Whatever the reason for our happiness, we cannot pretend that it was all by our own efforts and that God had nothing to do with it.

Our happiness comes with a responsibility. Those who are happy should sing songs of praise as a form of gratitude and thanksgiving to God for His goodness and mercies. Doing so could even open the windows of heaven wider to us. There is a reason why birds sing happily in the early hours of the morning!

The last portion of the Bible passage is something we do not practice very often. James says that if anyone is sick, he or she should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. Note that it is the responsibility of the sick person to initiate the healing process, as much as possible, by bringing the condition to the attention of the elders of the Church, including ministers, pastors, priests, elders, and society or class leaders (collectively referred to as “Church elders”). The sick person has to demonstrate faith in the process by taking the lead, if possible.

James must have been aware of spiritual gifts such as wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, speaking in tongues, and interpretation of tongues (see 1 Corinthians 12:8-10). These spiritual gifts are given to each Christian as determined by God. Yet, James places the responsibility for the prayers collectively on the Church elders, not just on individual pastors, priests or those who may have special gifts of faith, healing, or miracles.

The Church is the body of Christ and all parts of the body must function well to achieve God’s purposes. Certainly, not all Church elders will have spiritual gifts related to healing. However, Church elders without any of the spiritual gifts related to healing are as valuable to the healing process as those who may be endowed with the spiritual gifts. It is the unity of purpose by Church elders that produces the outcome more so than one person displaying his or her healing or miraculous powers. Exercising our faith together is important. That is why Christ teaches that if two of his followers agree on anything they ask, it will be done by his Father in heaven; and that where two or three are gathered in his name, he is there with them (Matthew 18:19-20).

When Church elders or leaders of Christian organizations are selected, the priests, elders, and leaders pray for them and sometimes lay their hands on them. Those prayers and laying on of hands are not mere formalities. They are means by which God’s anointing and blessings are bestowed on the elders and leaders to empower them to do His work. There is power in fellowship. What one pastor or elder alone cannot do, the Church elders in fellowship may be able to do. This may be an example of the priesthood of believers mentioned in 1 Peter 2:9. Therefore, the collective prayers of Church elders and leaders can yield powerful and effective results.

James also directs us in the above Bible passage to pray to God and anoint the sick person with oil in the name of the Lord. The name of the Lord Jesus Christ is over and above every other name. The name of Jesus has power. It brings hope and healing. Whatever we do or ask for, we should do it or ask for it in the name of Jesus (see John 16:23-24).

Sometimes, one does not need to have a special gift to be used by God. I recall an incident in my senior year in high school. One night, a first- or second-year student in my dormitory knocked at my door with a strange request. He said he was having nightmares. Anytime he tried to sleep, he had bad dreams that he was being chased by a pride of lions. He came to me in part because I was the secretary of the Scripture Union (“SU”), a Christian organization at the school, and shared a room with another senior member of SU, also called Daniel. The boy, too, was an SU member and he believed that if he slept in our room that night, the bad dreams would stop. It was an unusual request. The boy’s assigned room was the largest room in the dormitory with several older boys, but he believed he would be safer with the two of us, and it worked for him.

However, I thought the boy needed prayers, and not just sleep on his mattress in our room. If he were being chased by sheep, goats, or even dogs, I would have been more confident, but I thought that lions required reinforcement. So I walked to the next dormitory to look for the president of SU to join us in praying for the boy, but he was not available. On my way back, it occurred to me that two Daniels should be able to handle dreams and lions. We prayed for the boy and he slept like a baby in our room. We dared to believe that we could pray to God to deliver a young boy from lions chasing and disturbing him in his dreams.

It’s been so long and I do not think the other Daniel may remember because we did not talk about it after that. Looking back over forty years later, I cannot help thinking that I may have killed the young boy’s dream of perhaps becoming a big time runner or athlete. You see, when I asked him whether any of the lions in the dreams caught up with him he said no, and that he was able to outrun them. A young boy outrunning lions? Those were probably free training sessions to prepare him for a future career as a runner or athlete, but I probably killed that dream.

On a more serious note, we have to remember that the battle is not ours, but the Lord’s. If God wants to use any of us, He will give us the grace and power to do so. We did not consider ourselves as having any special gifts to deliver the boy from lions in dreams. All we had was something probably smaller than the mustard seed faith that Jesus talked about (see Matthew 17:20 and Luke 17:6). On his part, the boy had faith that if he came to some of the elders of SU, his problem would be solved, and he was right.

Some Christians may not feel confident to pray about certain things. Our confidence is our faith in God. That is why James encourages us with the name of Prophet Elijah after the above-quoted Bible passage. We hear Elijah’s name with awe and admiration. We place him on a pedestal and with good reasons. Among other things, he single-handedly defeated 450 prophets of Baal; he prayed that there would be no rain for three or more years and there was no rain until he prayed for rain and there was rain; and he was taken directly to heaven without experiencing death.

In spite of these, James ends his Letter with a message that Elijah was a man just like us! (see James 5:17). The great Prophet Elijah was a man just like us? That is comforting and assuring to ordinary Christians like us. God created us in His own image and gave His Son Jesus Christ to die for us. We are precious in God’s eyes and have been given the grace and power to pray. Let’s use them, and let’s pray in faith. God will answer our prayers at the right time.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Prayer is the key. May God grant us the grace to seek Him daily through our prayers.

Dr. Daniel Gyebi, Attorney-at-Law, Texas, U.S.A., and Founder, PrayerHouse Ministry, Kumasi, Ghana.

PrayerHouse Ministry is dedicated to providing a quiet facility for Christians to pray individually by themselves without any intermediary priest, pastor or any other person. This is a free service. No money is demanded or accepted. One facility is located at Kyerekrom / Fumesua, near Building and Road Research Institute Offices, one mile off the Kumasi-Accra Road and next to a house called Grace Castle. If you are interested, please contact Agnes at 054-7498653. Another is located at Kantinkyiren, at the junction of Kantinkyiren and Konkori, off the Kumasi-Obuasi Road, branching left at Trede junction. Contact Kwadwo at 020-8768461 / 0246-989413.