13 Is anyone among you afflicted (ill-treated, suffering evil)? He should pray. Is anyone glad at heart? He should sing praise [to God]. 14 Is anyone among you sick? He should call in the church elders (the spiritual guides). And they should pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Lord’s name. 15 And the prayer [that is] of faith will save him who is sick, and the Lord will restore him; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. James 5:13-15 [AMP]
I am coming up on 2 years as an Elder at Canyon Hills Community Church. During this time one of the most humbling things, I get to participate in, is praying over the sick, infirmed, and people in painful circumstances. However, let’s focus on the primary points of this passage above which is with PRAYER. Pray when you are not feeling well or are being treated poorly, or even persecuted. Pray when things are going great and let God know how thankful we are of His blessing on us and praise Him. It is when someone has reached a place of illness that requires someone else to pray for (or over) you. In this case it is the faith of the elders as well as the prayer themselves that the Lord works through. As elders we also anoint with oil.
There are various reasons for anointing with oil in the bible but the one we hold to in this circumstance is ‘the setting apart’ of the individual, bringing God’s attention to them in their suffering. In some cases, in biblical times, it was used for hygienic or medicinal reasons, like with the ‘Good Samaritan’ when he washed the wounds of the wounded man and applied wine and oil.
I am just so grateful to have the opportunity to come to the Lord on behalf of a Saint in need and we have seen God do amazing things through these times of prayer. Sometimes it is healing itself, sometimes it is an equipping of that person for a work God has for them, and in others it has strengthened their faith then they had become disheartened and weak in spirit.
Prayer, prayer, prayer, and more prayer.