Wednesday
Read James 5:13-20
13 Are any of you in trouble? You
should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. 14Are
any of you ill? You should send for the church elders, who will pray for them
and rub olive oil on them in the name of the Lord. 15This prayer
made in faith will heal the sick; the Lord will restore them to health, and the
sins they have committed will be forgiven. 16So then, confess your
sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you will be healed. The
prayer of a good person has a powerful effect. 17Elijah was the same
kind of person as we are. He prayed earnestly that there would be no rain, and
no rain fell on the land for three and a half years. 18Once again he
prayed, and the sky poured out its rain and the earth produced its crops.
19 My brothers and sisters, if any
of you wander away from the truth and another one brings them back again, 20remember
this: whoever turns a sinner back from his or her wrong way will save that
sinner’s sould from death and bring about the forgiveness of many
sins.
Think
Do you pray?
James reminds his readers to pray - and to ask for others to pray for
them. Specifically the 'elders of the
church.' Oil was seen as medicinal and
symbolic of God's Spirit.
The forgiveness of sins and healing of diseases is closely associated in
Biblical literature; but even though we pray in faith and receive forgiveness
of our sins we don't always get better.
Sickness is not a punishment for sin - or the result of a lack of faith
- as some are led to believe.
Pray
Do you know anyone who is in trouble?
Pray for them. Do you know any
one who is sick? Pray for them. Do you need prayer? Ask somebody to pray for you.
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