James 5:13-15, 19-20 - Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. ... My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Of course the big problem in this reading is verse 15: "And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up." There are some Christians who take this verse as a guarantee that, if they only have enough faith, God absolutely has to heal the person they are praying for. And then, if that person doesn't get well, they lose their faith—or they turn on the sick person and accuse him or her of not having enough faith, and that's why it didn't work.

But we need to look more closely at this passage if we want to understand it. James is giving a series of instructions to the young church—rules of thumb to follow in different situations. If you're happy, sing. If you're suffering, pray. If you're sick, ask the church to pray for you. These are general instructions—they tell you what will normally happen in a given situation.

Do they apply to every single situation? Evidently not. After all, we see several cases in the New Testament where people get sick, and do not recover immediately in spite of prayer. Paul mentions one man named Trophimus who was so sick Paul had to leave him behind while travelling (see 2 Timothy 4:20). Paul also recommends Timothy to drink wine occasionally, "for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments" (1 Timothy 5:23b). Then there is Dorcas, who actually dies in Acts 9, and doesn't rise from the dead until they call Peter to help. And in all of these cases, nobody is blaming anybody else for lack of faith.

So is James just wrong? No. He's describing a common situation. But God can choose to let things turn out differently, and that's what the rest of the Bible tells us—even Jesus Himself, with His prayer in Gethsemane, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done" (Luke 22:42b). If God can say "No" to His own perfect, sinless Son, we should not be surprised when He sometimes says the same to us.

God's "No" to Jesus became His "Yes" to us—the people Jesus went on to save when He lay down His life for us on the cross. And it's worth remembering, too, that God's "No" to Jesus in Gethsemane also became His "Yes" to Jesus in the garden of the empty tomb—where Jesus rose from the dead, never to die again. And that is the good hope we also have for those we love and pray for when they are sick.

WE PRAY: Dear Father, I don't understand Your choices, but help me to trust in You anyway. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.

Reflection Questions:

1. Have you ever prayed for a sick person?

2. What happened?

3. Can we ever understand all God's choices? Does "No" mean He doesn't love us?

Today's Bible Readings: Isaiah 37-38    Romans 5

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