Verses to Abide In
“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. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.” James 5:14-18 ESV
Digging Deeper
I have been anticipating this week’s verses with a grateful heart for all of those who have prayed for me as I have battled chronic illness. I cherish the time when our church elders came to our home and circled around my bed with Michael—because I didn’t have the strength to get out of it at the time—and prayed over me.
There are threads of spiritual and physical truths intertwined here that I have grown in through the years.
In my early twenties, I was filled with shame, guilt, fear of judgment, and fear of failure.
I wanted to be healed physically, but not if it came at the cost of righteousness (knowing that the illness had me relying on God like I had never done before).
I don’t know if that even makes sense, but that is where my heart was at the time.
I had a lot to learn about grace.
God was very patient with me and brought me both physical and spiritual healing and freedom in the depth of his love.
Close to thirty years later, God is still teaching me about grace.
He often has done so in community with others.
I need to pause a moment here to tell you that I do not say this—about community—lightly. It took a lot of humbling myself and of God working in my heart for me to be able to open up to others, confess my sin, and allow room for dialogue about it without being overcome by fear and condemnation.
It is a beautiful part of the relationships God has given me now that God is still growing me in.
It is very easy to stay in a space of discouragement, discontentment, complaining, loss, and dejection while dealing with chronic illness.
Even now, as God has enabled me to do so much more physically, I still need to pace myself and space out activities—which makes me miss important events or just miss being with others.
Those closer to me know my weaknesses and pray for me to have a spirit of praise.
And God has given me a spirit of praise in answer!
I have times when the temptation to be anxious comes, but God in his grace—through his word and prayer—smooths out the anxiety and replaces it with peace and joy.
Inexplicable joy!
That is my confession to you as someone who deals with chronic illness, as well as my witness of the healing he has brought to me both physically and spiritually.
Chronic illness is not my identity.
My identity is in Jesus.
Jesus is my hope, my strength, my joy, my righteousness, and my salvation!
P.S. I also am very thankful for the doctors and medical help God has led me to through the years. Blessings upon blessings!
Digging Deeper
From Don Anderson about Elijah in James 5:17-18
Remember the story? Ahab and Jezebel leading the northern kingdom deeper and deeper into wickedness and into sin and the worship of Baal. Elijah has the courage to go in and face Ahab by saying “God’s judgment has come. It isn’t going to rain for three and a half years.”
He goes to the brook and he goes over to the widow of Zarephath and then finally God said: “It’s time to confront the king.” And you remember they had the Super Bowl on Mount Carmel where the prophets of Baal tried to call fire out of heaven and dear old Elijah about three in the afternoon just put the rocks down and got the sacrifice on the rocks and he said “I want you to see that I’m not using any secret matches. Get me twelve barrels of water and dump it on it.” So they doused that thing. And then he just said “God we can use a little fire down here.” And Boom! wiped up everything. And all the people are saying “He’s God! He’s God! He’s God!” They slew 250 prophets of Baal.
Then he turned to Ahab and he said “You better get back to Jezreel because I think there’s a rain coming.” Now it’s a perfectly cloudless day, OK. So he sends his servant up the hill. He comes back and he says “There isn’t anything.” So this goes through six cycles where Elijah is praying for rain. And there’s nothing up there! Six times! And finally on the seventh time the servant comes back and he’s just ecstatic. He says “There’s a cloud the size of a man’s hand!” And on the evidence of what Elijah knows about God, he says “Ahab, you better get to the barn because you’re going to face flash flood warnings all the way to Jezreel.”
And God poured out the raining.
I’m just saying that God delights in His heart when we take time to pray big and to pray excited prayers of faith, trusting Him to move mightily for the glory of God to the saving of souls.
Let's Pray
Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise your holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all your benefits—
you forgive all our sins
and heal all our diseases,
you redeem our life from the pit
and crown us with love and compassion,
you satisfy our desires with good things so that our youth is renewed like the eagle’s (Psalm 103:1–5 NIV).
Thank you, Lord.
We praise you.
Is there any sin that I need to confess to you and/or to another right now or as soon as possible in you?
Search my heart…show me…
Please forgive me for…
Lead us in your way everlasting (Psalm 139:23–24).
Lead us in being able to pray for the sick.
Thank you for being faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9 ESV) so that we can be that righteous person whose prayers can be powerful and effective (James 5:16 ESV).
May it be so of us, not for our own passions (James 4:3 ESV), but for your glory.
We lift up _______________ (the name/s of someone who is sick) to you.
We ask for healing in the name of Jesus.
We ask in faith (James 5:15).
We ask, seeking your will (Luke 22:42).
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all (1 Chronicles 29:11).
We ask that your purpose would be fulfilled and worked in and through _______________ (the name/s of someone who is sick) and would spread to those around them.
May they know in their core your compassion and grace, that you are slow to anger and abounding in love (Psalm 103:8).
Help them to confess their sins to you and to others (1 John 1:9; James 5:16). May they not hold on to any guilt or shame, fear or anxiety, but walk in the freedom of your forgiveness through your Son (John 8:36).
May they know that as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is your love for those who fear you. May they trust that as far as the east is from the west, so far have you removed their transgressions from them (Psalm 103:11–12).
May they have wisdom for each day, each moment, especially with any doctors or medical treatments, but also in using the strength (no matter how minimal) that you do give them for your glory (Ephesians 5:15–17). Give them purpose in living life for you with pure perseverance and determination that only you can enable (Hebrews 12:2).
May they boast in the hope of the glory of you, God. Not only so, but may they also glory in their sufferings, because they know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because your love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us (Romans 5:3b–5).
Yes!
May it be so for these ones who are dear to you!
The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.
Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word.
Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will.
Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the Lord, my soul
(Psalm 103:19–22 NIV)!
Amen!
Prayer in Song
“Words of My Friend” is a song I wrote for Cheryl, a dear sister in the Lord, during her battle with cancer. It is a collection of her thoughts, her favorite verse (1 John 3:23), and her prayer requests. I am sharing it here with the thought that one of the best ways to pray for someone who is sick is to ask them how we can pray for them. Healing? Yes! But there is more in their heart that we can pray for, learn from, and be encouraged by.
May God’s great power work in and through you,
Laura