Breakin' Out the Oil, Part 2

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Since we are winding down our “FaithWorks” sermon series on the book of James, this will be the last 3-4 days of our daily devotions for a while. As we evaluate this tool, please leave a comment below with your name so that we can discern who has been reading the blog postings and plan for the future. Thanks!


“Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.” –James 5:14

Yesterday we asked whether this passage is referring to a physical or spiritual healing. We looked at the inconclusive evidence surrounding anointing. Today we will ask what it means to be ‘sick.’ Well, here James uses the Greek word astheneo, which is also a very generic word that has a wide range of meanings. Paul uses it in 2 Corinthians 12 when he describes his thorn in the flesh (NIV translates astheneo as ‘weakness’). It can mean a physical or spiritual weakness. We also have to ask ourselves whether they would have even seen a difference between physical healing and spiritual healing. The answer to that is: probably not near as big of a difference as we do today, but there would have been at the very least a slight distinction. Unfortunately, the other pieces of evidence in the passage leave us as confused as ever. So what do we do with it?

I’d like to recommend that there are two very good sides to an argument over this passage. While I think it is important to take a look and figure out what we believe, ultimately there really isn’t anything here on either side that goes against scriptural teaching (except for the extreme views, which are, well, extreme). So, my basic philosophy is to say this: I think we should be more than willing to practice these basic principles when people call for us in both physical and spiritual sicknesses.

That being said, when I look at this passage, what I come away with more than anything is not the principles to guide me in praying, but rather that in every circumstance, I should pray! Prayer needs to be our first response in both times of pain and times of celebration. We should be quick to turn to God in prayer in all circumstances. How can you turn to God in prayer this week in a way that you did not last week?