Don't Just Wait For An Elder - Pray!

James 5:14-15

14 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.
15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
NKJV

My Comments:

James wrote that when a person is sick, he should call for the church elders and have them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of Jesus, and that he would be well as a result of such a prayer.

As much as it's written in the Bible, people have turned it into a church tradition where they say that only the church elders should come and pray for the person who has been struck with sickness. As such, there are cases where people have died as a result of their sickness before the elder could reach them.

Notice however that James writes in v15 "The prayer of faith will save the sick." I want to state my belief that we don't necessarily need to have the church elders come to pray for the sick. Going on the principle of Mark 11:22-24 where Jesus taught His disciples on having faith in God, I believe that God is no respecter of persons in regards to believing Him for Divine Healing.

Jesus also said that "Whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." (Matt 21:22). Therefore all it takes is you having faith in God's ability to heal you; that would encourage you to be able to pray that prayer of faith for yourself even in the midst of your sickness!