Stand Up and Walk

“Therefore, confess ( the original tense is in the present participle;
which would have better been translated ‘be confessing’)
your sins to one another, and pray for one another,
so that you may be healed.
The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” James 5:16

I am forever amazed how often we saints of God live in physical and spiritual defeat. All of us realize, and most of us glory in the inheritance we know we will be receiving when our Lord returns and takes us unto Himself for all eternity. What amazes me, however, is that most of us don’t realize the inheritance we have now. We are the righteousness of God, not because of our deeds, but because Jesus made us such when He gave His blood for our sins at Calvary.

I’m relatively sure we’re all familiar with the verses in Ephesians 6 that admonish us to take on the full armor or God so we can stand strong in the battle against evil. But, I suspect most of us forget Jesus’ admonition to his disciples in Matthew 16 when he tells Peter the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. It appears the church (God’s congregation of warriors) in America thinks we should be living in a defensive posture, vainly trying to hold what little ground we have taken. We are living as paupers and a defeated army because we have forgotten we are children of the King. God tells us the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. That means we are supposed to be on the offensive, not the defensive.

Most of us apparently don’t believe God wants to heal both our physical and spiritual infirmities. Most of us seem to think God wants to bring glory to his name by strengthening us spiritually in the midst of our physically infirmities, so we can testify to those around us how joyful in Christ we are in spite of those physical problems we are patiently enduring. James 5:15 does not say, and the prayer offered in faith will enable the one who is sick be joyful in the midst of his sickness. It does say, “. . . and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.” Consider this, it’s impossible for a soldier to march forward into the strongholds of the enemy while he is lying on his back. And, I am abundantly aware God does not heal everyone of every disease every time prayer is offered seeking that end. And critical to the context of James 5 is the church and it's godly leadership known as Elders. I was asked the other day if Elders have some special kind of dispensation, to which I immediately replied, "Absolutely!" Of course that special dispensation only applies to elders who meet the biblical instruction for their selection as provided in I Timothy 3, Titus 1, and Eph 4.

I suggest however that God doesn’t respond to most of our prayers asking that a brother be healed of an infirmity because He knows full well that brother isn’t living like a soldier to begin with (James 4:3). He knows that brother only wants to be healed so he can continue living the self-indulgent, impotent, ineffective, unfruitful life he lived before the sickness. God wants to heal us for service not to ease our pain and discomfort. He wants to heal us because it brings glory and honor to His Name. He wants to heal us because He loves us. He wants to heal us because healed soldiers make the best warriors. He wants to heal us because we are the saints of righteousness fighting a battle with demons from the kingdom of hell. If you’re too old and worn out to be of any use as a soldier any longer, just pray God will ease your pain and He may do that, especially if you lived like a soldier when you were well.

If, on the other hand, you are ready to get back into the battle fighting for the lives of those lost souls who surround you every day of your life, call for the elders of the church, let them pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. The immutable God of the universe, through His inerrant word, says He will restore you and raise you up (James 5:14, 15). The only thing you have to decide is whether or not you believe Him?

Living in Christ’s Love,
Brother Dave