Is anyone sick among you? Let THEM call.

A thought came to me while I was reading about healing. The Bible says to pray for those who are sick. It also says in Matthew 10:1 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. The power and authority was given to these disciples to extend the character of God's intentions by commissioning them to an assignment given from Jesus himself.

This is the very assignment of the church. The assignment is to do "WHATEVER THE FATHER SAYS to do! I believe as the extention of Christ himself -we His BODY are to fulfill the intentions of the FATHERS DESIRES FOR HIS PEOPLE. It could be that some people are confused or ignorant of what the Father's desires are.

I also like what James 5:14 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. If there is a person who is sick "let them call" this is the point. God deals with each one of us on a personal level....certainly the initiative lies with the sick person.

If you think about most of the accounts of people in the New Testatment they called for Jesus when they needed healing. But there is another aspect to look at; we (those that would receive healing) must know that He (God) is willing and it is His desire to see us healed. We sometimes run into trouble with healing when we attempt to project God's will onto another individual's life who may not have this same understanding of God's will.

Look at Matthew 8:2-3 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." Then Jesus put out [His] hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

This scripture says, it was the leper's idea that he should COME to Jesus (as was the same with many other accounts in the bible). It also says that the leper needed to know if it was the Lord's will to heal him.
Food for thought!
Barbara