| “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.” |
| —James 5:16 |
I’m quite certain that, over the course of the years I have written for this blog, I have shared the story I read in Jess C. Moody’s book, Don’t Miss It If You Can. This delightful book, published in 1965 by Word Books, is arranged as a Dictionary might be arranged. Each topic begins with a successive letter of the alphabet.
Under the letter “O,” Dr. Moody writes:
Oral Roberts. Every time I see Oral on television, I can’t help but hearing God say, “Please, Oral, I’d rather do it myself.”
For those of you who have no earthly idea who Oral Roberts was, I invite you to click here for more information about this famous televangelist and healer. As a side note, I recently came across an article that recorded the death of Dr. Jess C. Moody on December 7, 2018, at the age of 93. It’s hard for me to think of him as that old. But then, having reached “Geezer-hood” myself, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
My point is that God has always been in the healing business. He longs to heal us in each of the modalities of human life: heart, soul, mind, and strength—or, emotionally, spiritually, intellectually, and physically. It is appropriate to pray for healing. It is equally appropriate to expect God to lovingly move His mighty hand to meet the healing needs of our lives.
Of course, sometimes He will heal us by removing us from this life and, in death, raise us to eternal life with Him. But, no matter what He may choose to do, He will gently and tenderly imbue us with His healing touch whenever we need, really need, that healing.
No book in the Bible speaks more to healing than does the one written by the Apostle James. With apologies to my dearly loved Roman Catholic friends, James is accepted in the Protestant expression of Christianity as the human half-brother of the Lord Jesus Christ. You may recall that all of Jesus’ siblings rejected Him as the Son of God until some point in time quite near, or just after, the crucifixion. To say that James may well have needed some healing in his life because of this initial grave error is not beyond the realm of possibility. This need probably helps explain James’ intense interest in healing. For example, James writes these words recorded in James 5:16:
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.
This verse is generally used to illustrate God’s response to the need for physical healing. But, I believe that this verse, and in fact the entire Book of James, is focused on healing within any of the four modalities of human life.
As we begin this day, whether we need healing for our hearts, souls, minds, or strengths, let us go to God in prayer and ask Him for such healing. We will certainly do well to recognize that our God is One who heals, as well as One who forgives.
Based on a blog originally posted on Wednesday, August 1, 2018
