James No.15 Teaching on prayer

Father, we're so glad to come into your presence this morning. Father, we've come here to worship you. We pray that you would open our hearts, open our minds this day, that we might each receive a word from you.

Father, that we might be built up in the faith, that we might be able to serve you more faithfully, and to be ready for when Christ returns, when he comes to call his elect home, when he takes us up to be with him in heaven forever. Father, we ask this in the name of our Saviour. Amen.

Luke chapter 10 verse 25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And he said unto him, What is written in the law? How readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right. This do, and thou shalt live.

But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow, when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that showed mercy on him.

Then said Jesus unto him, Go thou, and do thou likewise. Now I want to read to you from the epistle of James, in the fifth chapter, from the thirteenth verse. Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray.

Is any one 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.

The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other, and pray for each other, so that you may be healed.

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.

Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. Now this is the second occasion that I come back to this particular passage of Scripture. And I do so because last week I promised at the communion table that I would take up some of my concluding remarks, and I would develop them further as we draw attention to this very interesting, fascinating, practical subject of prayer, and the need to intercede in a variety of circumstances, some of which can be completely opposite.

For example, in the opening verse we have projected the picture of somebody in trouble, and we're told by James he should pray. And then we have someone who is very happy in a spirit of elation. Equally we're told that he should pray in the form of praise and worship.

And as you go through all those several verses, you will discover repeated each time the word pray in one of its various forms, either as a noun or either as a verb. Well, and here is tremendous teaching in every situation, whether, as I say, I'm joyful or whether I'm depressed, whether I'm being blessed, whether I'm being buffeted. It says the Apostle James, I am to be in a spirit of prayer.

And as I said to you last week and have a time to enlarge upon this morning, even the very concept of singing together is praise and prayer which is acceptable before the Lord. And therefore in whatever situation we are, in times of difficulty, where we express our problems to the Lord, in times of great blessing, then we join in singing, corporate singing, before the Lord and we praise and bless and worship his name. So many ways in which we can engage in these holy practices of prayer and praise, all that comes under that one general heading of worship.

But it was not just generally that I wanted us to look at this subject today. I want to take on or take up from where we left off last week when I was specifically thinking in terms of a particular instance when the Christian is inclined to pray. And it is, of course, that situation described for us from the 14th verse right down, I believe, to the 16th verse of my passage.

And here we have the whole thought of prayer for the sick. And into our minds comes such phraseology as divine healing or faith healing and this sort of thing. Well, how are we to react to it today? This is the question that I put to you and I suggested how one or two people had interpreted this passage of scripture not only today but down the years.

Let me remind you of one or two suggestions that have been made. There was that of the early church, or rather, shall I say, there is that of modern scholars and preachers today who, looking back on the early church, would say that this particular insight into how sickness was dealt with in the first two centuries is really bottled up within that time period. In other words, it just applied to apostolic times, days before the canon of scripture was complete.

But now we have a complete revelation of God's word. We no longer need to engage in this particular practice. And what's more, we have other resources to which we can go when we are ill.

Well, I dismiss that notion. On the basis that no reference here is made to the apostles. Rather, reference is made to the continuing ministry of the elders.

The elders will last until Jesus comes back as an office within the church, even if we admit that the apostles were foundational and were not to be replaced, at least in essence. So, on that basis alone, I would say that this argument does not stand up. We're told that elders are to pray for the sick people if such a request is made.

And then, you remember, I brought to your attention the practice of the Roman Catholic Church down the years as looking upon this particular scripture as being something that is to be applied particularly when someone is dying and extreme unction is given them as they're anointed with oil on their eyes, on their mouth, on their ears and as the priest declares absolution so that the sick person can eventually pass into the presence of God and presumably in a much better state because he's had the ministration of the Roman Catholic priest. Well, I rejected that version as an interpretation. On what basis? Well, here we don't find in James is a preparation for dying, but rather a preparation for living.

The expectation here is that the person who has the ministry far from dying is going to get well. The prayer of faith will make the sick person well and the Lord will raise him up. Well, there are other things that I would like to say about Catholic theology in this area, but perhaps leave that for another occasion though one respects the sincerity of our dear Catholic friends even though one points out what seems to me to be a misrepresentation of this particular passage of scripture.

And then you will recall I suggested to you that there is the idea that this is in effect the church passing on to the ministry of the doctors responsibilities for attending to the human body. And I said that this appealed to me in degree because whenever you read of doctors in scripture, whenever you read of health regulations and pieces of advice in scripture given as far as the body is concerned, it does appear that the scripture, that the Christian faith is very kindly disposed to the medical profession. And we know so well that oil played a part in the story that Jesus told of the good Samaritan.

Oil had medical properties which were recognized to be valuable in days gone by. The apostle Paul, you remember, tells his young friend Timothy on another occasion to take some wine to help to settle his rather weak stomach. And you will also recall, as I mentioned last time, how the apostle makes reference to Luke as the beloved physician, a man whose services possibly Paul was glad to benefit from himself during his missionary journeys.

So although the Bible most definitely lays hands, so to speak, on the modern medical profession and indeed the practice of medicine down the years, in no way can we say, however, that the full interpretation of the significance of this passage can be explained in terms of the ecclesiastics passing over to the medical authorities responsibility for the looking after of sick people. So what are we left with? Well, we're left with what Pastor James said in his epistle some two thousand years or so ago. If a person is sick, let me remind you, let him call for the elders of the church.

And Pastor James makes some comment about the prayer of faith being offered. And there's also reference here to oil being applied. And we're told that God, in His grace, has the potential, has the ability to save the sick person, to save him physically, and also to save him spiritually in case there is unconfessed sin.

And this will all be to the glory of God. And you remember how James goes on to enlarge upon this. He speaks not only of physical healing, but in the 16th verse, he goes on and gives a more general instruction.

He says to people, well, confess your sins one to another. And even in this whole area of spiritual sickness, as you acknowledge who Jesus is, your sins will be healed. Very often the New Testament, when it speaks about forgiveness of sin, it uses the metaphor of healing.

And here we get an example of this. It's not directly related to the previous verse, which is specifically for sickness of the body, but there is an interconnection between sickness of the soul and sickness of the body. And we are enjoined, Christian people, to confess our faults to one another, to pray for one another, and spiritually we shall know healing.

We're further encouraged. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful. It's effectual, says the authorized version of the Bible.

And we're given that superb example of faith, that superb example of a man who in intercession changed situations, none other than Elijah from Old Testament days. Elijah, a man like us, and yet because of his prayer he was able to achieve some rather remarkable results. Well, it seems to me that in essence this is what James is saying.

And he's still saying it by the power of the Spirit today, because the Word of God is ever contemporary. So, even having examined some of the areas of interpretation that have been suggested down the years, I put it to you that because we're Bible-believing Christians we must take God's Word as it stands. No theological pretense as to an excuse to leap over various verses of the New Testament has ever sounded to me very creditable at all.

We are to interpret God's Word in its immediate context and to take what it simply says as being what God intended it to say today as was the case yesterday. So then, we're still left with this problem. What do we do about this whole notion of divine healing and faith healing and what have you? Well, I confessed last week, and I will repeat the confession, that I'm still a learner in these things.

There are areas in my understanding of God's Word where I still do not have perfect clarity. And indeed, I reckon that I won't have full understanding until that day when I am before Him. But I will share with you what to me seem to be reasonable conclusions to draw, having confessed that there are some areas where I'm unclear, and perhaps some of you have a greater understanding than I have in some of these unclear situations.

But let me now try to bring into perspective this whole business of prayer for the sick. And I'll approach this, if I may, in a logical fashion by suggesting to you one or two general observations that it seems to me must cover the attitude of evangelicals to this very, very interesting, very practical subject which must strike us all as being of personal value to our family circles, if not to ourselves as individuals, at some time or other. Well, my first proposition is this.

There can be no doubt at all that the Church has a healing ministry. The Church has a healing ministry. As I say, attempts to get round this smack to me of the theology of convenience, more than the theology of conviction.

The last verses of Mark's Gospel, which despite the comments of some scholars, I still recognize to be part of God's inspired Word, indicate to us what Jesus' instructions were to his disciples to go out into the world and to preach the Gospel. And we're told about rather remarkable phenomena which will accompany within the sovereignty of God that proclamation of the Gospel. And this really is just our Lord repeating what on previous occasions he has said to his disciples.

You will read of this in Mark chapter 6 and also in Luke chapter 10, when on other occasions during his own ministry he sent them out on evangelistic tours of the villages and the towns. Not only were they to preach the Gospel, but they had the ability to heal the sick. Indeed, in the reference I gave you from Mark's Gospel, we discover that they would anoint people with oil.

Now, here we have then the ministry or the testimony in the Gospels as to the ministry of the disciples. And when Jesus has been removed and taken back into heaven, and you start to read the Acts of the Apostles, the fifth book of the New Testament, well, what do you discover? Well, exactly what you might have thought. The Apostles acting, that's what that book means.

The Acts of the Apostles. But acting in what capacity? Well, acting as representatives of the Christ. And you will find miraculous phenomena recorded in degree in the Acts of the Apostles.

Sometimes people are healed on an individual basis, like the man who was a cripple at the beautiful gate of the temple. On other occasions there will be many people who will be healed as a result of the healing ministry of Peter. So, when you move on into the Acts of the Apostles, it doesn't seem as though there is any restriction on this whole area of miraculous phenomena in terms of what Jesus did and what the disciples were to do.

You get a balance, a throughput, a continuation. Now, it's on that basis alone that despite whatever may be the inadequacies of my own ministry in the twentieth century, I am bound to the conclusion that there can be no doubt that the Church has a healing ministry and should have exercised such down the years of its history. But there's something else that I want to put as a general observation.

And it is this, that we are always to recognize that the ultimate origin of sickness is evil. The ultimate origin of sickness is as a result of sin. Adam was not born with a sickly constitution.

When we look at our Lord Jesus Christ, the last Adam, the embodiment of all that God would intend for men and women to be and to experience physically, there's no trace, there's no substance to any notion of sickness within the divine frame of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why did sickness come into the world? Well, it's a consequence of rebellion against the Most High God. There was nothing wrong with Adam when he was first created.

He was created good. God saw his handiwork. It was perfect.

So also the whole world was good. There were none of the problems that you have today as a result of earthquakes. There was none of the difficulty of irregular and rapid growth which causes weeds and so on and so forth.

There was no disorder at all in the world. God saw that the world was good and he rested on the seventh day knowing that his handiwork was of the standard that he expected. Now, having said that, it seems to me that you can justify this from the New Testament that the world as it was originally made was a good world.

Our bodies as originally intended were perfect bodies. Thus the Apostle Paul in Romans 8 speaks about the world groaning under the bondage of sin. He talks about the human body groaning because of pain.

As though this wasn't what God intended, as indeed it wasn't. The present situation as it now is. And one day in God's grace we shall know the rejuvenation of the heaven and the earth.

To quote Milton, we shall know paradise restored with a renewed earth, a renewed heaven and what's more, renewed bodies for you and for me. So my second proposition is that sickness is as a result of evil, it is as a result of sin. The third one is this.

On this earth as we understand the teaching of the New Testament and the application of the Gospel message, physical health is not the goal of Gospel preaching. Physical health is not the goal of Gospel preaching. The Apostle Paul makes reference in the letter that he writes to the Corinthians, the second letter and the fourth verse.

He refers to his own body and he says that it's a decaying body. He says, though outwardly we are wasting away, yet he goes on, inwardly we are being renewed day by day. When he speaks to the Philippians in a similar fashion, he speaks about this vile body of corruption and using exactly the same word writing only to the Corinthians, the first letter, he talks about this corruptible body one day putting on incorruption.

So the observation that I'm making is simply this at the moment. That physical health is not the ultimate goal of the Gospel as it is preached to a fallen humanity. One day there will be health in all its perfection.

John tells us in the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter 21, about the new heavens and the new earth, about pain being eliminated, about there being no more tears, no more distress at all. Because in what lies beyond, in the regaining of paradise, then the sickness which is associated with sin will have no part or parcel at all. So now the third observation that I would make, or rather the fourth observation that I would make.

We are to beware of what I would call, bearing in mind these two things. We are to beware of a blanket theology in the whole area of dealing with sickness. You say, what do you mean? Well, let me remind you what I've brought to your attention so far.

The Church has a healing ministry. The end goal of the Gospel is the health of the soul rather than the health of the body. That's not to say that the Gospel and preachers and our Lord Jesus are disinterested in the state of the body, but the end goal is the health of the soul.

And one day the bringing to the soul a new body, which will be part of the inhabitation of God's rejuvenated heavens and earth. But there are certain texts of Scripture, of which James is one, which seem to indicate to us that God has a concern for the physical well-being of his people, notwithstanding the other observations that I have just made. Now what I'm arguing against is this.

Coming to such statements of Scripture and having what I refer to as a blanket theology. Let me give you an example away from James for a moment. Here is this statement in Isaiah and the 53rd chapter, you remember, which speaks about us being healed by the stripes of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And very often when people refer to that fourth verse of Isaiah 53, when you hear evangelists they say, Do you believe this? By his stripes we are healed. Do you believe healing is in the atonement? And the person who has come to the evangelist says, Yes, I do. All right, I've prayed for you.

Therefore you are healed. By his stripes we are healed. Faith unlocks the key to this verse.

We've prayed for your healing and therefore we claim it. Now that is what I would call the blanket theology. That we are to be warned against.

It is not as easy as that. There are not simple formulas that cover every instance in the area of spiritual blessing, let alone in the area of physical recovery. Thank God as Christian people, we are called upon to look through the whole counsel of God's Word.

It's one of the reasons why I like to be an expository preacher, though inadequate at that. Because when I go by exposition through God's Word, I bring to you a syllabus which is chosen by the Holy Spirit and not by me. And therefore there are subjects that I deal with on a Sunday morning in particular, which of my own choice, of my own volition, I probably would hop over.

Now that's exactly the same in this whole area of healing. Be careful not to go for a blanket theology. By his stripes we are healed.

I've got faith. I come to the evangelist. He prays for me.

I come to the pastor. He prays for me. Therefore, I'm healed.

No, it doesn't work just like that. Let me give you another example of why I suggest to you caution in being simplistic in your approach to certain statements of Scripture, be it in regard to spiritfulness, the baptism of the Spirit, or be it in regard to healing. And I'll do so by taking an example that probably you've never thought of before.

I hope that remark doesn't sound presumptuous, but possibly it will be accurate. Here is our Lord in Luke chapter 4. And he's preaching in the synagogue in Nazareth, and he makes reference to the fact that the Scriptures of Isaiah have been fulfilled in his ministry, or will be fulfilled in his life. He talks, for example, about him, the Messiah, having the ability not only to bring healing to those who are blind, but to set the captives free.

Luke chapter 4 and verse 18. To set the captives free. Now what does that mean in essence? Well, you could say it refers, spiritually speaking, it refers to people who have been enslaved by sin.

But let's take it literally for a moment. To set the captive free. Who is a captive? Well, a prisoner is a captive.

Are there instances in Scripture, in the lives of the apostles, where they will be imprisoned? Indeed there are. We go back to the Acts of the Apostles. And on several occasions in the Acts of the Apostles, we find Peter, or John, or Paul, or his colleagues imprisoned.

But Jesus has come to set the captive free. Does he do this? Indeed he does. In certain circumstances, and that is a most important comment, in certain circumstances, he sets the captive free.

Peter and John, they're released from prison as a result of an angelic messenger who acts on behalf of God. And in the fifth chapter of the Acts, there's the greatest jailbreak of all time, at least up to that moment when these two get off scot-free. In Acts chapter 12, exactly the same thing.

An angel appears, chains fall off the prisoners. In Acts 16, there's an earthquake. And Paul and his companion are allowed to go free.

All right, now come to Acts 21. Paul is a prisoner. He's going to be a prisoner for four years.

And remember, Jesus has come to set the captive free. Or so we understand in Luke chapter 4. And yet for four years, Paul is a prisoner in Jerusalem and also in Caesarea and eventually to Rome. And he's not released.

And if you follow the tradition of the life of the apostle Paul and Peter and believe that it's exact, you will find that later on in their lives, they're once again incarcerated. They're in jail, probably in Rome. And they're not set free.

But the Bible says Jesus has come to set the captive free. Now, I don't suppose these instances give you any particular problem at all. Maybe you've never even thought about them.

And you have enough common sense to realize, well, God in a variety of ways ministered to these people in their differing circumstances. On occasions, it was an angel. On another occasion, it was an earthquake.

And when Paul is on the journey to Rome, when he's tossed around on the sea, you remember in the ship that he and the Roman centurion and those who were with him were sailing. Who would you say was free and who would you say was a prisoner? It seems to me that those men were terrified. The apostle Paul, the man in slay, the man in chains, he's the one who's free.

He's the one who's giving the orders. He's the man who has a freedom of spirit. And, of course, that is what Jesus does.

He gives you freedom of spirit. And there are times when he gives you literal freedom and causes the dungeon door to swing wide open and allow you to go free. Now, let's come back to starting point.

Why have I given you this illustration? Well, I'm warning against a blanket theology. The whole idea of interpreting our Lord's promise in Luke for just in one area. There are a myriad ways in which sometimes the promises of Scripture are to be and have been worked out.

So, these are four general observations which I wanted to make and which I had another 25 minutes to develop them as an introduction to the subject. There can be no doubt the Church has a healing ministry. There can be no doubt that physical health is never the ultimate goal of gospel preaching, although it is one of the blessings that can come as a result of the ministry of Jesus through his Church.

There is no doubt that the origin of sickness is in evil itself. And we are to beware of a blanket theology of approaching text and not taking into consideration the whole counsel of God. Well, with these observations in our mind, let's come to James 5. And what are we to say about this? Well, here we have the apostle enjoining that those who are sick shall call the elders of the Church and they can anoint the said person with oil.

And I reminded you last time that oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Who indwells the Christian? Well, the Holy Spirit. What can the Holy Spirit do? He can quicken, says the apostle Paul.

He can quicken your mortal body. He will do it at the end of the age. That's what Paul is saying in Romans 8. That's the logical conclusion of his argument there.

He will quicken us at the end of the age. Ah, but the apostle Paul is quite capable of conceding, because he's known it himself, that there are quickenings of the body, here and now, when God so allows and determines. So, the use of the oil.

It gives us no problem. It has a medical symbolism and it also has a spiritual significance. What about laying on of hands? Ah, you say, well, laying on of hands isn't mentioned here.

That's precisely the case. It's not mentioned, but presumably the oil doesn't fly out of the cruise and hit the person on the head without a little bit of human activity. So, one concedes, with the rest of Scripture appealed to, that laying on of hands was at least part of the ministry of one of the brothers who carries out the injunction of James here.

Well, why the laying on of hands? Well, this is a very interesting thing. This whole business of touching people, in a spiritual sense, is very significant. The Lord was often touched, sometimes involuntarily.

He didn't realize it, at least. People seemed to do it spontaneously. And then he recognized, someone has touched me.

Why did they want to touch the Lord? Well, they believed that virtue could be passed from him to them. And then there were occasions when he deliberately touched people. And you will find in Mark, chapter 6, that the disciples go out in the name of the Lord and they lay hands on people.

Well, I put it to you again. Why the laying on of hands? Well, there's symbolism, obviously. But there is also, I think, an inbuilt belief, somehow or other, that you can communicate some strengthening properties, some consoling properties, as a result of laying hands.

Let me give you a simple illustration. Here's little Johnny, falls down in the garden and he comes in crying. Flings himself in mother's arms or in daddy's arms.

And what happens? Mum or dad rubs it better, rubs it better. Now, you've experienced that yourself. Perhaps it's a few years since anyone did it to you, but nonetheless, you know the sort of thing that I'm referring to.

This whole business of the communication of consolation and healing through the laying on of hands. Now, Christian people, who are they? They're partakers of the divine nature. What does that mean? That the life of Jesus flows through me.

That's a mind-blowing concept, but that's what scripture says. So it can well be, and indeed is, the occasion. There are the occasions.

When my hands can be laid upon a person and within the will of God, they can be helped, certainly spiritually, and possibly even physically, to a recovery. I wanted to say more about that, but I'm battling so very, very much at the moment against time. What else have we here that might create something of a difficulty for us? Well, we've got the notion of the prayer of faith.

What is the prayer of faith? Well, it seems to me that the prayer of faith, it is arguable, that it could be the prayer that is exercised by the elders, or it could be the prayer that is exercised by the person who has asked for the laying on of hands. I don't see how you can be too deliberate in this area. But the point of the matter, the point of the thing that is important is this, that a prayer of faith is exercised.

And it's exercised as a result of the initiative, at least prayer is offered, as a result of the initiative of the person who's sick. It's they who say to the elder, will you come, will you pray for me, will you bring your colleagues and pray for me? All right, that's just about as much as I wanted to say, apart from one thing. What about this prayer of faith then? How do I understand it? Because there are times when I have confessed to you, when I have prayed for people, and more often than not, physically they have never been improved.

Though I know of not one situation in ten years where we have done this, and there has not been some drastic help towards the faith that the individual had. I really want to go on at this point and make a distinction, but I don't think I'm going to have time to do it today, so I shall have to leave it until next week. I want to talk to you about the distinction between what one means by receiving a promise in Scripture, and applying that promise to someone specifically.

I'll just give you one illustration to whet your appetite and to bring you rushing back next Sunday morning. On one occasion I was asked if I would go and see a man here in Worthing, because he was sick, and I went to see him, and he'd had a stroke, and I listened to what he had to tell me, he couldn't speak very well at all, and during the course of my visit to him, I found myself saying, you know, this sickness from which you are suffering is one which I believe you will recover from. And I did something completely unpremeditated, I prayed for that man, and asked that he might recover.

I had a witness in my heart that that brother would be well and strong, and back here in the tabernacle. I well recall him coming in after that. It was quite remarkable.

Now he was a mature man in the faith, so what I'm going to say next, you've no need to think that he had somehow or other felt that he could purchase God's blessing. He came and he gave me an envelope, and in the envelope were 50 pounds, which he wanted to be put towards the mission fund here in the tabernacle. I said, what's this for? He said, it's not to pay for my recovery, but it's a thanksgiving to God that he answered prayer on the occasion when we were together, and the occasion when you laid hands on me.

And so this brother came back into our fellowship, and he was with us for a number of years until the Lord eventually called him to glory. I'll tell you another similar occasion in South India. I was asked if I would go and see a woman who was demon possessed.

Now generally speaking, I run a mile from that sort of situation. I'm not qualified in this area at all, and I feel somewhat incapable of dealing with it, but I got no choice at all, because I was there at a particular church for some meetings, and I said, all right, somewhat reluctantly, I'll go and see this woman. So I went to see her, and I listened to her through interpretation, which made the whole situation very, very difficult, and then I prayed for her.

As far as I remember, I didn't lay hands on her. I prayed for her, and I left her at that, and I could see no obvious improvement in her condition, and I went back home, or I went back to the place where I was staying. It happened to be that I was staying with a lady of extreme charismatic persuasion, and I understood what the servants of Naaman must have listened to when Naaman complained that Elisha hadn't dealt with him as he ought to have been dealt with because of the leprosy.

You remember Elisha didn't come down and cast out the demon of leprosy, and so on and so forth, and this was all that Naaman had expected, and it was exactly the same that this woman had expected of me, and she gave me a right telling-off, and after I completed the series of meetings, I went away, and I wasn't back in that area of India until two years later, and my interpreter, who happened to be the same man, he said, you remember praying for a woman who was demon-possessed? I said, yes, I do, and I remembered the impression that I had to pray positively for her, but I didn't touch her, as far as I remember. Apart from my prayer, I believe that she would have been made whole. He said that woman had no further problem from that day to this, and that was two years ago when I was last in India, the whole incident being four years prior to my telling you now.

Well, what do you conclude from that? There are occasions when a person is aware that he is praying the prayer of faith. There are occasions when a person who calls for the elders of the church is aware that the prayer of faith she has, he has, within his breast to be offered, and as ministry is applied, that they will be healed. Now, it's in this whole area that I believe we need to give fresh consideration to this teaching of James, and indeed this whole business of praying for the sick.

Sickness is an evil thing. There's no blanket theology, I repeat, that covers every situation. We need to deal tenderly with people, and our explanations as to why God heals and doesn't heal have to be biblical explanations, not simplistic explanations which hurt people who can't understand why God hasn't healed them and yet heals someone else.

It's nothing necessarily to do with sin. It's nothing necessarily to do with a lack of faith on their part. It's everything to do with the will of the Lord and the praying of the prayer of faith.

But my time has gone. I'll come back to it again next week. When we disperse our wants in prayer May we our wills resign That not the Lord may endure them It is not our mission It is not our duty And Lord, as we have tried to look into one of the areas of our discipleship and the teaching of your word which creates us the greatest of problems we pray constantly for the tuition of the spirit and help us to have great faith and great understanding for the conditions of your people and those who are sick and in pain in our fellowship here those whose circumstances baffle us in that you allow them ever to get into them help us to appreciate that you are the sovereign God you set the captives free and you ultimately or immediately heal all sick people who confess the name of Jesus Christ So we thank you We see not just in terms of the now but we see also in terms of the future and we look to that day when all our theological problems shall be resolved that day when we're in paradise regained when there shall be no more pain and no more sorrow and no more baffling problems until that day keep our eyes fixed upon you and hold us in the faith for Jesus' sake Amen