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James 5:14-15 ESV
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 one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
I. God’s Will and Our Prayers
A. Praying is an act of faith and confession that God is sovereign.
B. The prayer of faith is belief that not only can God do it, but that God will do it, if it is His will to do so. (1 Timothy 2:1-4)
C. The prayer of faith is praying not to bend the will of God but to see God bend our will match His own because we trust He knows what is best.
II. God’s Will to Heal
A. God always His people in one of 3 ways: physical, spiritual, or both. (2 Corinthians 5:1-2, 6-8)
B. God may choose to heal those who are not His people in the same 3 ways.
III. God’s Will to Show Mercy in Death
A. We need to learn to see death as an answer from God and act of mercy for those with whom God is pleased. (1 Kings 14:9-15, Genesis 3:21-24)
B. The fact that we die at all is actually a mercy on the part of God because it is through death that we have been spared from eternal separation from God. (Genesis 3:21-24)
C. God did not spare Himself from death but through His death has orchestrated the death of death. (Romans 8:32)
D. By destroying the power of death, we are set free from living in slavery to the fear of death. (Hebrews 2:14-18)