Wholeness

Daily Reading: James 5

And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick. (James 5.15)

Devotional Thought: How tempting it is for a physically sick person to take this verse, pluck it from all context, and focus their prayers around it.  But, if you have been a Christian for very long (or have made this mistake before, as I’m sure I’m not alone in doing), you start to understand that the Word of God doesn’t exist as a verse-by-verse or chapter-by-chapter book.  It’s a story - a story of God’s love for us and his plan of redemption for mankind.  And, while it is full of God’s promises to us, it must be read as a whole to understand the context. 

So, what is James saying here when he writes that the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick?  Is he saying that everyone who prays in faith will be healed, and if they are not, then they did not pray with faith?  Of course not!  Notice that James does not use the medical term for healing; rather, the word he uses is the word save, which means "made whole."  While God may or may not bring physical healing, he will always offer wholeness.

So, keep on praying for a miracle – pray big, pray boldly, pray specifically; and most importantly, pray with the guidance of the Holy Spirit: "In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8.26-27[JW1] ).

Jenny Wade

Prayer: My desire, O Lord, is to be a vessel of your praise and glory - whether in sickness or in health.  And I want to be a vessel of faith so that others may be made whole.  Fill me with the Holy Spirit and faith so that I might pray for the one who is sick.  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 50.16-23

16 But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips?

17 For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you.

18 If you see a thief, you are pleased with him, and you keep company with adulterers.

19 “You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit.

20 You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son.

21 These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.

22 “Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!

23 The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God! ”