The Prayer of Faith

Matthew 4: 1 - 11

In the ESV Bible, this passage is titled The Prayer of Faith. When we read this, our focus might be drawn to the verses about praying for the sick. However, as a disclaimer, we need to remember that such headings were added by editors and are not part of the inspired Word of God. While they can often be helpful, they may also reduce the richness of meaning of a passage. For instance, verse 13 may not fully fit within the context of a prayer of faith. It is indeed a prayer, but in what sense is it specifically ‘of faith’?

What James conveys here is actually quite simple. In life, there are times when we suffer in our lows and times when we rejoice in our highs. The temptation could be that when we are in our highs, we may stop relating to and praying to God. However, we can reflect personally which one is more difficult: to pray when we are suffering, or to pray when we are cheerful? We might spontaneously answer that it is easier to pray when we are suffering. But that may not always be the case. Some, when in suffering, do not pray. They may feel too discouraged or even embittered. So it is not necessarily true that praying is easier in times of suffering.

Some time ago, I wrote an article about how our ministry should be driven by love and not by our bitterness, pain, or hurt. Of course, this doesn’t mean we are not allowed to feel hurt. But the question is: how do we express that feeling? Do we bring it before God and walk through it with Him, or do we internalize it and embrace the bitterness? It’s puzzling that some people allow their pain and bitterness to grow inside them rather than bringing these to God. There is no one who can help us apart from God Himself. If we don’t really believe that other people or our community can help us, how could we believe that our pain itself can heal our pain?

Therefore James says, “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.” We need to express our feelings of bitterness, disappointment, and discouragement before God. When we read the story of Job, we see that he said many things that were not correct, but at least he still talked with God. We must have the courage to open up our broken-heartedness to Him. This is what helps us grow. Some people cannot grow because, in their suffering, they do not respond to God. Instead, they respond to the difficulty itself or to the person who hurt them. We tend to forget that our God is real and personal, and we can come before Him. No one grows simply by responding to the circumstances, because circumstances themselves have no power to transform our lives. The only way we can truly grow is by responding before God, and before Him alone.

James also says, “Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. ” This is, of course, not just any kind of praise, but praise offered as our response to glorify God. Just as it is not always the case that those who suffer will come before God, it is also not always the case that those who are cheerful will come before Him. We read in the story of the ten lepers healed by Jesus. It was a true miracle, not a false one. But what was their response? Nine of them responded with joy, yet only one returned to Jesus. And Jesus asked, “Where are the others?” This shows that even in times of joy, it is not always the case that people will respond to God.

Sometimes suffering can crush and destroy us. But we must also be careful, because cheerfulness can also destroy our life. Those who continually forget God in their cheerfulness may find themselves unprepared when suffering comes, because they have never walked with Him. In the end, our life will be like a roller coaster full of highs and lows. Some try to avoid this by using antidepressant medication or by being stoic; by not becoming too euphoric in times of joy, and not too discouraged in times of suffering. But being stoic is not the solution. The true answer lies in how, whether in cheerfulness or in suffering, we come before God. Do not be cheerful without God, and likewise, do not suffer without God. For God Himself has suffered, so let us go through our suffering with Him.

The passage then speaks about prayer for the sick, which has prompted much debates. Verse 14 says, “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. " There are several interpretations of what the anointing with oil means here. Of course, we should not interpret this as though the oil itself has magical properties. There are some interpretations that we can accept. For example, from medicinal perspectives, those who are sick need oil. Others interpret this from religious perspectives. For example, in Roman Catholicism, they see this as a sacrament. Whereas for us Protestants, we do not see this as a sacrament but understand it as a beautiful symbolic action, as it connects the visible realm with the unseen.

If we read carefully, we see that it is not the oil itself that heals. Verse 15 states, “And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. " The healing is not without the sick person’s faith. Thus, it would be careless to interpret the oil as having the power to heal in itself, regardless of whether the sick person has faith or not. In the Old Testament, oil is connected with joyfulness. Someone who is sick is certainly in a state of suffering, not joyfulness. Oil is also connected to the Holy Spirit, who gives true joy and healing, and who can raise the faith of the sick. As we have discussed, it is not always the case that someone who is suffering will come to God. They may be so depressed and discouraged that they are no longer able to have faith. Therefore, they need to come out of that condition by learning to come before God. However, it is not they who can raise themselves up; it is God who will raise them up.

So we should not understand these verses as referring only to physical sickness, but also to spiritual sickness. Verse 15 continues, “And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ” This, of course, does not mean that everyone who is sick must have committed sins, although that possibility exists. Rather, when we are sick, it can be a good moment for self-introspection. Sometimes God can shape us, including through sickness, so that we may examine whether there are things in our lives that are not pleasing to Him and ask for His forgiveness. It is always good, therefore, that when we go through suffering, we confess our sins, because there is always something to confess. Doing so also helps us grow in humility and patience as we endure suffering. Those who are sick may feel entitled to say anything, even to scold others. They want to be tolerated because they are suffering. However, James invites us instead to confess our sins and come before God. And his concern is not only at the personal level but also at the communal level, as we read in verse 16, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”

Our problem is that we don’t always have the same sensitivity to spiritual sickness as we do to physical sickness. We are often very concerned about our physical health but pay much less attention to our spiritual health. Some people do not realize that an inability to forgive others is a form of spiritual sickness. There may be hatred or unresolved trauma in their lives, and these are also forms of sickness. In the article that I wrote, I want us to remember that our ministries should be driven by love, not by our pain. Just as we might scream in pain when a physical wound is touched, our actions can sometimes be a cry to be loved or understood. But shouldn’t we seek all these things in Christ, who truly provides, rather than from men? Yet again, the problem is that we often do not come to Him when we are suffering.

James encourages us to confess our sins to one another, and in doing so, to also forgive one another. When we wrong others, we learn how to ask for forgiveness; and when we are wronged, we learn how to forgive. This is the beauty of Christianity. It is not because we live in a perfect, ideal community where no one hurts or is hurt, but because there is confession of sins and forgiveness of sins. And not only that, we also live in a community where we pray for one another. In this context, James says, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. ” Sometimes this verse is taken out of context, but here it is clearly connected with the practice of confessing sins and forgiving one another. Therefore, it is important for us to confess our sins, to live a humble and transparent life, to avoid being self-righteous, and to have a life driven by love so that we may forgive those who have wronged us.

We hope that we may all grow in this. No one is immune to hurt or discouragement. No one is so perfect that they never hurt others. But if we grow in the love of Christ, our lives will be different. We will even be able to pray for one another. In the same way, prayer meetings are extremely important in the life of the church. A church will be healthy if its members persevere in praying for one another. Someone once wrote that Satan is not worried about the number of church events, the amount of money, or the number of church members. But he will be very worried if the church is a prayerful church. Unfortunately, we often fail to recognize this spiritual battle, and we become sluggish in prayer. As a result, we hurt one another, we do not confess our sins to one another, and we do not forgive or pray for each other. The community begins to break apart. We start to gossip and have negative thoughts about one another. This is how Satan works to destroy the church.

Let us, therefore, be transformed in our understanding of the importance of praying for one another. We hope that through this, we may witness the love of Christ that is real among us.