The Healing Power of Prayer

She was two years old, and in a typical two-year-old fashion, had enough energy for three people. She loved to run around the house and spin in circles. But ever since she fell down three weeks ago in a full-speed run in the dining room, she hadn’t walked. There was no swelling of the foot. No wound. The X-rays showed no break. The doctor’s were as baffled as the parents. But the two year-old girl wasn’t walking—and she wasn’t faking it, either. For nearly three weeks, she resorted to crawling. She cried out in pain whenever she had to put on a sock or shoe. Something was wrong. Her parents asked the church to pray for healing. Thursday, the after that prayer meeting, their daughter started walking. It was a limp at first, but by the end of the week, she was running, spinning, and playing like she used to.

What happened? Coincidence? Chance? No. This is just one simple true-life anecdote that could be combined with hundreds more in which Christians have experienced God’s healing power in direct answer to prayer. Believers have experienced God’s amazing healing of cancer, disease, and other terminal illnesses. There is healing power in prayer. But it’s not just experiential evidence that proves this fact. It’s God’s Word.

What the Bible Says
James 5:14-15 tells us this: “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.”

The Problem:  Sickness
The passage makes it clear that one problem people face is sickness. Not much has changed in the 2,000 years since James wrote his letter. We still experience sickness, even though modern medicine has been able to mitigate many of the diseases and symptoms we experience.

The Solution: Prayer
The spiritual advice the Bible prescribes for sickness is prayer. First, the sick person calls for the leadership of the church. The leaders attend to the sick person. The action that they take here is very important. The main verb is to “pray over him.” The anointing with oil, an accompanying action, is a recognized symbolic act. Based on other New Testament symbolism, we understand that the anointing oil symbolizes the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:18, Acts 10:38).

The Manner: Faith
Faith is an important component of prayer. Verse 15 tells us that “the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick.” Often, praying can degenerate into a mere wish list of what we want. Prayer is far more. Prayer is an act of faith in an all-powerful God. The prayer for healing is a prayer of faith.

The Result: Healing
What is the result of praying for the sick person’s healing? Answered prayer. The Bible states it in terms of a fact—“And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.”

God does heal people. Prayer is the means. While we must not expect God to adhere to our desire that He heal every occasion of sickness that we experience, we must not neglect prayer altogether. The Bible commands it, and prayer does work.