Church is a body of believers who pray. If you are looking for prayer for the sick then you must look to the Church. Anyone who has been to a church and anyone who has been to a prayer meeting knows that most prayers requested are for someone who is sick. James, being the head of the church in Jerusalem, is in his ever practical way lets the congregation know that if they are sick, they should come forward so the elders of the church might pray over them.
The Front of the Church?
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. James 5:14 ESV
Some might imagine that James is saying that the sick should some forward to the front of the church in front of all the people and be healed. This kind of thing is popular for the TV evangelist nonsense. This is not what James is saying. The TV Evangelist is putting on a show. That show puts God on the spot as a Santa \answering prayers of good little boys and girls. No that is not what James means.
Prayer is Serious
And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Mark 2:3-5 ESV
No preacher wants the church disrupted in such a way as what happened to Jesus. Jesus attracted chaos because his time was limited but for the order and well running of a church James is not asking for the members to do this. And there is no need when there are spiritual elders who can go directly to the members in their homes to be prayed over.
Give Prayer Time and Attention
And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. Mark 1:29-31 ESV
I imagine this is the model that James is thinking of when he wrote 5:14. James writes to the church to call for the elders to come to you in your home in the same way one would call for the doctor to come and see how you are doing. Call for the elders that they may pray over you and anoint you with oil getting both the physical interaction as well as the spiritual interaction we all need and as God has designed.
Get the Elders Involved
In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’” Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, “Now, O Lord, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly 2 Kings 20:1-3 ESV
In times of need people turn to the church because whatever comes next is out of their control. When you are sick you rest and hope to recover. If you break an arm you want it set and then you rest and hope to recover. This period of rest is when men’s minds and hearts turn to God. Hezekiah turned to the Lord while Isaiah was there and God healed him. Call for the elders to come and pray for you if you are sick.
The Church Wants to Help
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2 ESV
Churches have always been available in these times of need. The church wants to help those who are in need and out of that industrious desire to help much of what we recognize in our modern day hospitals were founded by Church organizations.
| Hospital Name | Founded | Church Organization |
| Mission Hospital | 1885 | North Carolina Baptist Convention |
| Riverside Methodist Hospital | 1892 | Methodist Episcopal Church |
| Baylor University Medical Center | 1903 | Baptist General Convention of Texas |
| IU Health Methodist Hospital | 1908 | Methodist Episcopal Church |
| Wesley Medical Center | 1912 | Methodist Church |
| Baptist Memorial Hospital | 1912 | Tennessee Baptist Convention |
| Methodist University Hospital | 1918 | Methodist Church |
| Methodist Hospital | 1919 | Methodist Episcopal Church, South |
| Baptist Health Medical Center | 1921 | Arkansas Baptist State Convention |
| Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center | 1923 | North Carolina Baptist State Convention |
The institutional organizations have taken on a life of their own but the root of what created them is still found in the church today. If you are sick, then call for the elders or deacons to pray for you.
