Sick in Heart

“And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up.” James 5:15.

Boy, did I storm Heaven’s gates with this verse over the past year. I carried this “promise banner” each time I approached God as if He wouldn’t remember the promise He made through this verse. I remember reading this verse after Beth’s death and feeling very uncomfortable. It made me feel that maybe our prayers weren’t enough and they lacked faith according to this verse.

This verse was part of exhortations given to the early Christians by James, the half-brother of Jesus. Those baby Christians had turned to Christ in words but not in actions. James intentions were directed more towards the sick condition of the heart of a Christian. James was not speaking here of the physical sickness but the sickness of the heart and spirit which God will always heal. This is the absolute promise of God in 100% of the cases. Spiritually speaking, He will always heal our hearts and spirit if we approach Him in sincere faith and ask Him for this healing.

Prayers offered in faith can certainly heal and restore a person’s physical health but God’s purpose and priority will always be the restoration and healing of the spiritual health of a person or group of people. If a physical healing happens to support God’s will for the primary purpose then the infirmed person will be healed.

The words “raise up” are defined “to cause somebody or something to move to a higher level of position.” In relation to our circumstances the sick person God was trying to heal may have been those who looked upon our situation with a sick heart, a heart bent away from God. Through their prayers and renewed faith they were healed spiritually and “caused by God to move to a higher level of position” in Christ.

As far as Beth goes, my prayer was answered. She was healed in the ultimate way and moved to the highest level of position through her healing, the position that walks with Christ hand in hand and experiences Him face to face.

The challenge is not only to claim Christ but through our actions show that Christ claims us!