The Power of Prayer (and the Problem of Pain)

Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. (James 5:13-15)

Most of us have read this passage of Scripture before. We know that prayer is important--that God hears our prayers and answers them (though not always in the way we want). As good Christians, we "know" these things...

At the same time, most of us have known other good Christian people--people just like us--who have died too young. They begged God for healing, but God was silent. They believed in God for healing, but He had other plans. We all know someone like that. And I think, if we were honest, that messes with our heads sometimes. We have lots of questions for God:

God, why do you allow pain and suffering?

God, why didn't you heal ____________ ?

God, can you really hear me? Where are you!?

We all have these questions. And, sometimes, because of these questions we begin to doubt God. We may still want to trust in God, but our faith is shaken. And often times, for this reason, we stop praying. We disobey the command in James 5 to pray because we're afraid that God won't answer our prayers. We're afraid that God won't show up and do the miraculous. We don't want to look like idiots when God doesn't show up, so we simply don't pray.

Most of you know that my dad is terribly sick. In fact, if something miraculous doesn't happen soon, my dad's time left on this earth could be very short. His chemo treatments have not been working. The doctors aren't sure what else they can do. It's getting down to crunch time, and it's time that we seriously get on our knees in prayer.

Tonight we will be putting James 5:13-15 into practice. My dad has called the pastors and the elders of his church together to pray over him and anoint him with oil for healing. We are trusting God for a miracle. It's scary...I mean, what if God doesn't show up? But yet in faith we know that God has the power to heal, and in obedience to His Word we are asking for His healing touch.

PLEASE JOIN US IN PRAYING FOR A MIRACLE!!!

One more closing thought. About a year ago, I ran across a passage of Scripture as I was reading through Isaiah that shed some new light on situations like my dad's. In the first two verses of chapter 57, Isaiah writes:

The righteous perish,
and no one ponders it in his heart;
devout men are taken away,
and no one understands
that the righteous are taken away
to be spared from evil.
Those who walk uprightly
enter into peace;
they find rest as they lie in death.

It's difficult to think of things this way, but I really do just want my dad to be restored and healed. And I know that in his glorified, eternal body, my dad will be in peace and free from pain. Selfishly, I want many more years with my dad, but God knows what is best. God may choose to heal my dad by "sparing him from evil" and allowing him to "enter into peace." And who am I to argue with God?

But regardless of God's answer in this situation...

WE MUST PRAY!!!