Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

 HEALING OF BODY, MIND, AND SPIRIT –medical mission Sunday

James 5: 13-20

Vs 15 and 16:  And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.  Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

If we desire our prayers to be powerful, they must be prayed in faith. In Mark 11:24, Jesus reminds his disciples “I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” and in Matthew 17:20  when the disciples failed to heal a demon-possessed boy, Jesus tells his disciples, “I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you”.The apostles who had been baptized in the Holy Spirit needed to have faith to carry out their miracles.

Sometimes healing doesn’t mean healing in a physical sense, but a spiritual sense. When Jesus heals a paralytic, he first tells the man that his sins are forgiven (Mark 2:1-12). Although Jesus does heal him later in a physical sense, he draws attention to the fact that spiritual needs have to be met prior to physical ones. Although we may have physical ailments in this life, spiritual wounds require the healing of a Savior. However, if God wills the healing, a prayer of faith can be a means by which God works to orchestrate that healing.

Some years ago there was a widely published news report about a conclusion reached by a former professor of Harvard Medical School. He pointed out that there are illnesses that we have been cured of without even knowing that we had them. He cited many instances that revealed unmistakable traces of diseases that the body had conquered without persons even knowing they had them. This professor concluded that the human body is biased in favor of life, and he identified this healing process as the work of God within us.

The passage in James 5:13-14 indicates we should pray at all times, in all circumstances. The passage doesn’t just cover praying for a believer who is sick, but this article does focus on that aspect. First, we should pray for forgiveness of our sins and pray when we find ourselves in lowly circumstances where we need to rely on God and when we’re happy.

Second, in the case of praying over a sick person, we should reach out to as many believers as possible, including church leaders, and ask them to pray over a believer who is sick.

Third, in all prayers, we need to assert our reliance on God, knowing he’ll fulfill his will and promises for believers.

                                                Prayer
Dear Lord, help us to pray in faith at all times regardless of the circumstances

                                     Thought for the Day

Whether the ailment is physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional, prayer in faith is the answer

                                        Anish Thomas
                        The Mar Thoma Church Staten Island.

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