- Hi, everybody, I'm Rick Warren, Pastor of Saddleback Church, Author of "The Purpose Driven Life", and Teacher of the Daily Hope Broadcast. Welcome back to our series,
Through the Book of James, and we're calling it a faith
that works when life doesn't. Principles for living through a pandemic. Now we're coming down to
our last couple of studies as we finish up chapter
five of the book of James. And we're gonna be studying
the same passage of scripture that we did last time,
but we're gonna look at it from a different angle. I told you in our last time together that the Greek word astheneo,
which is the big word used in this text, is translated
in the Bible as weakness, about half the time, and it's translated as illness or sickness
the other half the time. So it's used both ways. It can mean weakness
or it can mean illness. So in our last time together, we looked at a faith that can
transform your weaknesses. And if you missed that
session, I hope you can watch it online at either
Saddleback.com or PastorRick.com. A faith that helps us
transform our weaknesses. But today we're gonna look
at what James says about a faith that can heal illnesses. A faith that can heal illnesses. I want to begin by pointing
out that physical healing was a major part of Jesus' ministry. Matthew chapter four
verse 23 tells us this. Jesus went everywhere teaching, preaching, and healing people who had all kinds of diseases and sicknesses. Now, Jesus was a Teacher,
He was a Preacher, and He was a Healer. He didn't just care about saving souls. He also cared about educating
minds, He was a Teacher. And He also cared about healing
bodies, He was a Healer. You would be accurate in
saying that one third, one third of Jesus'
ministry was health care. That's why Christianity, our faith, is a preaching, teaching,
and healing faith because Jesus went everywhere
doing those three things. And as Christians, we build
schools, and we build hospitals, not just churches. And here at Saddleback Church, we follow Jesus' model of
preaching, teaching, and healing. You know, in the past
2,000 years Christians have started more schools
and started more hospitals than anybody else, by far,
doesn't even come close. In fact, you may not realize this, it was the Church that
invented the hospital. It was during the Antonine
Plague in the 2nd century in the Roman Empire. And later they improved that
idea, the Christians went into the cities showing
hospitality and they started a new thing called the hospital, and later in the 3rd
century where there was a Cyprian Plague, they improved on that idea of the hospital. So healing is a major part of our faith. Now, before we look at what the Bible says about a faith that can heal illnesses, I want to quickly point
out three mistaken views about divine healing. Okay, three false views,
errors, misconceptions, myths, these are common
errors about healing that simply aren't true but
you hear them all the time. So as your Pastor, I just want
to call attention to them. The fact is that all healing, all healing, of any kind,
comes from our Creator, God. Now, God may use a doctor's hands, He may use medicine, He may use a miracle, or He may use something else, but God is always the
source of all healing. He is a healing God. So let me just give you these
first three common errors or myths about divine healing. Error number one, here it is. I can buy my healing by giving. I can buy my healing, I
can purchase it by giving. Friends, that simply isn't true. You can't buy your healing. You can't bribe God to do a miracle in your life by giving an offering. You can't bargain with God either. Everything God does in your life He does by His own free grace. We don't deserve anything,
we don't earn it, we don't work for it,
and God can't be bought. You know it's interesting to me, that about 500 years ago,
there were some Christians who started selling what
was then called Indulgences, they sold these things called Indulgences. They were like tickets to Heaven. In order to fund a church
building project in Rome. And there were some unscrupulous
people started telling the peasants that they could
buy their way into Heaven, that they could purchase their salvation, and these were called Indulgences. And if you gave an offering
or giving an offering to the building fund,
then you could purchase your salvation to Heaven. That error is what incensed people and caused the Reformation, 500 years ago. Now, today, 500 years
later, nobody's trying to sell you tickets to Heaven. Nobody's claiming that you can
buy your salvation by giving. But all you have to do is
turn on a Christian TV channel to find that people are
selling Indulgences, 500 years later, only today
they're not for salvation, they're for healing. And the pitch goes like
this, if you turn on the TV, if you'll just send me a
certain amount of money I will send you a prayer
cloth, or some special oil from the Holy Land, or some Holy water, or some other little trinket that will bring physical
healing to your life. Of course it's bogus. And it's the same principle as
an Indulgence 500 years ago. Only it's not about
salvation, it's about healing. You can't buy your healing. But by the way, that's not a new problem. It happened, even in the Bible times. Let me show you, in Acts chapter eight. Acts chapter eight verses
nine down to about verse 22 gives us an example of a guy, a magician, whose name was Simon. Let me read you that, Acts chapter eight. "There was a man named Simon, "who used magic tricks for many years "to pose as a miracle worker. "He amazed everybody, and He
claimed supernatural powers. "He had a large following
and people called him "the Great Power. "But when Philip", that's
one of the apostles, "preached Jesus in His town,
Simon himself believed, "and He was later baptized." So this magician, this
conman became a Christian. Then it says later on, "when Simon saw the Holy
Spirit healing people through "the prayers in the
hands of Jesus' apostles, "he offered them", that's the apostles, "he offered them money to
buy (chuckles) this power. "But Peter said, you and your
money will end up in Hell "if you think God's gift can be bought. "Your heart is not right before God, "turn from this wicked attitude, and pray, "and ask God to forgive
you for trying to use God "to make money." Hmm, I think there's
some people need to pray that last line, today. "Ask God to forgive you
for trying to use God "to make money." Evidently, pretty quickly,
people started figuring out that they could make money
in a religious racket. But they weren't the real deal. And that's why Paul says
in 2nd Corinthians 2:17, "unlike so many others we do not peddle "the Word of God for profit." Okay, He says, "unlike
many we don't peddle "the Word of God for profit." You know that I don't take any money. I've served Saddleback
for free now for 40 years, as the Pastor. I don't take the salary from our Church. I don't peddle the Word of God for profit. On the contrary, Paul says, "in Christ we speak before
God with sincerity." Now, you may be wondering,
these people, Rick, that are on TV, doing this stuff, are they truly believers? Or are they just fakes
and phonies and con men? Well, I tell you what,
that's for God to judge. But here's what Jesus had to say in Matthew chapter seven
verse 22, Jesus said, "on judgment day, on judgment
day many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not
prophesy in your name? "And did we not drive
out demons in your name? "And did we not perform
many miracles in your name? "And then I will say to
them, no, I never knew you "and you've never been Mine. "Go away from Me, your word was evil." So, not everybody who
claims to be doing miracles in the name of God, Jesus
said, actually knows God, or knows Jesus. So you need to be careful about that. You can't buy a miracle,
you can't buy a healing. Here's the second
misconception, or myth, or error about divine healing that
you hear a lot of this day. And here it's this one, error number two. People will say, it's never
God's Will for me to be sick. It's never God's Will for me to be sick. That sounds good, and the people who teach this sincerely believe that God
always wants you to be well. They believe that illness is
never God's Will for your life, and that if you do get sick,
it's because you lack faith or you have sinned. And these teachers are often called, Health and Wealth Gospel Teachers, and if you're sick they
say it's your own fault, you just need more faith. And if you've gotten ill, you
just didn't have enough faith. And they act like Earth should
be perfect, like Heaven. But there's a big problem
with the second view too. And it's the Bible teaches
the exact opposite. In fact, the Bible teaches
us that problems, and pain, and suffering, and yes, even illnesses, are a part of God's discipling process for building our Christ-like character in bringing us to full maturity. You know, God did not
exempt His own Son, Jesus, from sorrow or suffering. Jesus had sorrow, Jesus had suffering, Jesus had sickness, Jesus had pain, Jesus had even torture and death. So why would God exempt us if
He didn't exempt His own Son? Let me show you some
scriptures that you can use when somebody says, well you
just don't have enough faith, that's why you're sick. Or you've sinned, that's why you're sick. Let me just show you some verses. 1st Peter 4:19 says this, "those who suffer, according
to the Will of God, "according to God's Will,
should commit themselves "to their faithful Creator
and continue to do good." That's 1st Peter. Did you notice the phrase, "those who suffer
according to God's Will?" Sometimes you get sick
and it's God's Will. Yeah, it's not your
fault, just part of living on a broken planet where
nothing works right. People are getting COVID-19 right now. They didn't do anything
wrong, they just got it. Some of the greatest
Christian Saints of history, lived their entire lives
with chronic illness. I mean chronic illness, chronic pain, and they were never relieved of it. And God used that chronic
pain in their lives and that perpetual illness
to draw them close to Him and actually make them great Saints. You know, last week we
talked about Paul's ailment, which He called a thorn
in my flesh, He called it. Some kind of, we don't know what it was, some kind of bodily infirmity,
a weakness, an illness, and three times He asked God
to take it away and God didn't. And He said, instead, I'm gonna leave it and I'm gonna give you
the grace to handle it. You remember that when we
started this book of James, the very first thing He said was this. "Don't be surprised
when you have troubles, "and trials, and pain." Don't be shocked by it. So, of course, it's not always God's Will that you're gonna be,
your perfect in health. Things are gonna go wrong in your life, you're gonna have trials, and
troubles, and tribulation. In fact, Jesus said, in John 16:33, "in the world you will have trouble." So there's no way you're
gonna go through life free of illness. Let me show you three
things that Paul said in the Bible about this second error, of that it's always God's
Will for me to be well. Philippians 1:29, "for you
have been given not only "the privilege of trusting in Christ, "but also the privilege
of suffering for Him." That's part of the privilege
of being a Christian. Colossians 1:24, Paul says, "there are things that
Christ still suffers "through His body, the Church." And Paul says, "I am accepting in my body, "my part of these things
that must be suffered." "I'm accepting in my body
the part of these things "that still must be suffered." He said, the Church, which
is the Body of Christ, still has sufferings. And you're part of the Body of Christ, so there's going to be
sufferings in your body too. 1st Thessalonians 3:3, Paul says, "we want no one to be unsettled." Otherwise, you know, blown
away, "by these trials. "You now, "you now know quite well, that
we were destined for them." Whoa, 1st Thessalonians 3:3, we were destined to actually
have some pain in our lives. You know, all sunshine and
no rain makes a desert, as the old saying goes. Now, there's a third
error about divine healing that you need to know that's not true before we can look at the text. And here's the third error or myth. Some Christians who
say that miracles ended with the completion of the Bible. Okay, some well meaning Christians believe that there are no more miracles today. That all the miracles
you see in the Bible, that when Jesus was resurrected,
and He went back to Heaven, they believe that all the
miracles He did to prove He was the Son of God,
were no longer necessary. Okay, well, I get your point,
obviously Jesus went back to Heaven, He proved He was the Son of God through the resurrection. But in order to believe that view, that there are no more miracles happening, then you have to, number one,
ignore a whole lot of commands that Jesus gave us regarding
asking in prayer for miracles. And two, you have to explain
away a number of promises that Jesus made. And then number three,
you have to explain away the billions of miracles
that have happened in the last 2,000 years. Jesus, His desire to heal
people, has not changed one bit. Hebrews 13:8 says this, "Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday "and today, and forever. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, "and today, and forever." The same Preacher, Teacher,
Healer of 2,000 years ago, wants to preach and teach and heal today, through His body, today. And who is His body today? You and me, the Body of Christ. Even today, Jesus is still our Teacher, He's still our Savior,
and He's still our Healer, and He's our Redeemer. And with that settled, those three things, I just wanted to get those out
of the way, we can now look at James chapter five. This will go quick but it's a
faith that can heal illnesses. James chapter five verses
13 to 18 says this. James five, starting with verse 13. "Are you hurting? "Then you should pray. "Are you happy? "Then you should sing songs of praise. "Are you sick? "Then you should call the
church elders to pray over you "and anoint you with oil
in the name of the Lord. "And the prayer that is offered in faith "will heal the sick person "and the Lord will raise Him up. "And if you've sinned, you'll be forgiven. "Therefore, confess your
faults to each other "and pray for each other
that you may be healed. "The earnest prayer of a believing person "is powerful and effective. "For example, Elijah was a
human being, just like us. "Yet when He prayed earnestly
that no rain would fall, "there was no rain for
three and a half years. "And then He prayed that it would rain, "and it poured down and
everything began to grow again." Now we read that passage last
week but we're coming back to look at it from the angle
of illnesses, not weaknesses. You know, I really love that
last phrase, where it says, after Elijah prayed, "and
everything began to grow again." Friends, that's a verse of hope, that's a verse of hope that
we all need in this season of the COVID-19 global pandemic. I'm praying for everything
to start growing in your life again. So many people need healing today, not just those who are sick physically, some of them are sick from the pandemic, and others are sick from
other kinds of illnesses. But there's so many people
needing healing today, not just physical healing, but economic healing, financial healing. The economy is sick, our culture is sick, our nations are sick. And we need healing in
so many, many areas. That's why this is an
important message today. I want you to know this, that
in that passage I just read, James five, in just six verses, James mentions prayer, seven times. If you're taking notes go
back and circle the word pray or prayer, seven times in six verses. He didn't want you to miss the point. Here it is, healing comes through prayer. Not through Healers, healing
comes through prayer. When someone prays for you,
there is the healing there. So, what I want to do in
just the last few minutes, is simply ask four questions. When should I pray for healing? Number two, why aren't people
healed every time we pray? Number three, who can pray for healing? And finally, how do I pray
for healing for myself and for other people? This is a very important message. So I would encourage
you to take notes on it. Number one, and you can
download it on the websites. Number one, when should
I pray for healing? Well, in that passage I
just read, James mentions four specific times to pray for healing. And we find these four circumstances in the four different
words and phrases He uses. First, He says, are you hurting? Remember last week I told you
that Greek word kakopatheo. Kakopatheo means you're having trouble, you're having a tough time,
you're suffering, hurting, you're hurting. And then He says, are you sick? That's astheneo, which means I feel weak, or I feel sick, or I feel ill, it can be weakness or illness. Then He says, the sick person,
that's the Greek word comma, which means I'm weary, I'm worn
out, I feel like giving up, I'm tired, I'm drained. That's the word kamno. And then He says, and Elijah prayed, and it didn't rain for
three and a half years. And so He prayed for rain
and it sent a gully washer. And no rain for three and a half years, he's talking about a drought, a dry spell. Some of you, right now, are
going through a dry spell in your life because of this pandemic. Everything's been shut down in your life. You're going through
a spiritual dry spell, or a physical dry spell,
or an emotional dry spell. Things have dried up in your life. So, based on those four things
He just said in that passage, here's the answer the first question. Okay, write this down. When should I pray for healing? Four things, any time I'm
hurting, sick, tired, or empty. That's it. Any time I'm hurting, I
should pray for healing. Any time I'm sick, I
should pray for healing. Any time I'm tired, I
should pray for healing. And any time I feel empty,
I should pray for healing. I know some of you are thinking, Rick, those four words describe the
totality of my life right now. I'm sick, and tired,
and empty, and hurting. Well, then this is the
time to pray for healing in your life, and have other
people pray for healing in your life. Next question, question number two, why aren't people healed every time? Well the answer is pretty simple. We simply don't know God's Will. God's not gonna give you
something against His Will, because God always wants
what's best for you. You don't always know what's best for you. I, you know, I could pray for things that really wouldn't be good for me, but I don't know God's Will. And God uses illnesses in many ways. So when we pray for healing,
we're asking God for healing 'cause all we know is, all
we can see, is our side. And God says, just pray what you ask for, pray what you desire, pray
the desires of your heart. But then we trust God,
that if it's not His Will, because He knows something else, He's not gonna answer with a yes on that. God answers every prayer,
sometimes yes, sometimes no, sometimes wait, sometimes you
gotta be kiddin'. (chuckles) We don't have time to list all the ways that God uses illness and
sickness in our lives. But let me just mention three. Why does God sometimes
allow sickness in my life? Three reasons, number
one, to get my attention and to redirect me. To get my attention and redirect me. Sometimes God has to lay
you flat on your back in order to get you to look up to God. He makes me lie down in green pastures. Psalm 19 verse 71 says this. "It was good for me to be
afflicted," that's sick. "It was good for me to be afflicted, "so that I might learn your decrees." Sometimes God uses illness
to just get my attention and head me in a different direction. Another good verse is
Proverbs 20 verse 30, look at this verse, Proverbs 20 verse 30, in today's English version. "Sometimes it takes a painful experience "to make us change our ways." (laughing) Anybody want to give a
testimony on that one? You could all give a
story in your small group on how it takes, sometimes
it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways. Now, this first reason
is what the Bible calls, a sickness for discipline, or a sickness for training. The Old English word is a
sickness under chastisement. But this is, sometimes
God allows us sickness to redirect us, get our
attention and redirect us. Second reason, sometimes
God allows the sickness to be a testimony for others. Did you know that? He knows He can trust you with an illness, and He knows
that you'll be a good example to other people, particularly unbelievers. Paul says, in Philippians
chapter one verse 12. "I want you to know, my
dear brothers and sisters, "that what has happened
to me has helped spread "the good news." Where is Paul, he's sick
and in prison in Rome, when He writes that. He's sick and in prison,
and he's in a lonely damp, dank, dark, cold prison dungeon. He says, "I want you to
know that what's happened "has help spread the good news." I could spend a whole message on this but I'll just say it like this. After walking with God for six decades, I've been a Christian now, 60 years, I have come to the conclusion that maybe the greatest witness,
you, you will ever have in front of unbelievers and other people who don't know Jesus yet, is your example, the way you handle pain. I have found that to
be true in my own life. That in the moments of pain
in my life, God was using that as a witness to my
neighbors and to the world. Christians aren't exempt from problems. We have the same ones everybody else does. We just have our relationship
to Christ to strengthen us, and comfort us, and encourage us, and give us hope and wisdom. Sometimes God lets you be
ill 'cause He can trust you to be an example of patience
and Godliness to others. And the Bible calls this kind of sickness, a sickness to the Glory of God. A sickness unto the Glory of God. Jesus talks about it when
Jesus went to heal Lazarus, who had died, that was a deadly illness. Jesus, announced this
sickness, this is John 11, chapter 11 verse four. "This sickness, will not end in death. "It is an illness for the Glory of God, "to bring glory to the Son of God." Did you know that there
have been illnesses in your life that God wanted to use to bring glory to Himself? Now if you're griping and
complaining and being bitter the whole time, there's no
glory going to God on that. But when you respond to pressure and pain in a positive way, it brings Glory to God. So there's a sickness for
discipline and training, there's a sickness for
bringing Glory to God, but sometimes God just allows
the sickness, number three, to take this into eternity. To take us in, this is
called, the Bible calls this a sickness unto death. And He said about Lazarus,
that's not a sickness unto death, it's the second kind. A sickness unto death. If you could be healed by every illness, just by having enough faith,
then if you had enough faith you'd never die, and you'd end up living
on this Earth forever. 'Cause anybody had a lot of
faith, would just never die. And that certainly isn't God's Will. Hebrews chapter nine verse 27 says this, "God has already appointed a
time that each of us will die." Did you know that? It's one appointment you're
not gonna be late for. God has already appointed a
time that each of us will die and then our lives will be judged by God. So, one of the reasons God allows illness is sometimes He wants to take you home. Okay, He wants to take you to Heaven. Your time on Earth is done. And if you could be healed
every time, by everything, then you'd never die. What I'm saying is, we pray for healing, trusting for God's Will to be done. As Jesus prayed in the
Garden of Gethsemane, Father, if it's possible, and He says, I know it's possible,
take this cup from me, don't let me to go through this pain. Nevertheless, thy will be done, not mine. And that's what we do when we pray. God, it's my desire that you heal me, it's my desire that you heal
my son, my wife, my brother, my sister, my friend. Nevertheless thy will be done. 1st John 5:14 says this. "This is the confidence that
we have in approaching God, "that if we ask anything
according to His Will," underline that, "anything
according to His Will, "He will hear us." All right, so we've looked at
when we can pray for healing, four different times. We've looked at what happens, why some people don't get healed, why every prayer isn't
answered with a yes. Number three, who, who can pray for healing? Do you have to be the Pope,
or a Pastor, or a Missionary, or somebody super Holy? Who could pray for healing? Write this down. Any child of God can pray for healing. Any child of God can pray for healing. You can come to your Heavenly
Father and say, daddy, I'm sick, I need your healing. This is what James five
verses 16 and 17 says, Let me read it again to you, "the earnest prayer of a believing person "is powerful and effective." Now let me stop there. "The earnest prayer of
a believing person." It doesn't say you have
to be a super Saint. You just have to be a believing person, and you have to be earnest. "The earnest prayer of a believing person "is powerful and effective." "For example," He says,
"Elijah was a human being "just like us, yet when
He prayed earnestly." And you know the rest of the story, all those miracles happened. Elijah's life was filled with
one miracle after another, but the most comforting thing
about that verse is this, Elijah was just like us. He's just like you, he's just like me. He wasn't some super Saint. God used Him because He
dared to pray for miracles, he dared to pray for healing. Okay, if He didn't have
to be somebody special, He said he was just like us. I mean He had the same temptations, he had the same weaknesses,
he had the same sins, same faults. If God only heard the
prayers of perfect people nobody's prayers would ever be heard. God hears the prayers
of sinners, of failures, of all of us who are imperfect. You know, earlier in
this text, James says, "you can call the elders of
your Church to pray for you "and anoint you with oil." And of course, we do that
at Saddleback Church, we do it all the time. And we've talked about this many times. But in our Church, we've only
got about a dozen elders, and we've got about 30,000 members, so we can't keep up with everybody. Now, what is it, what's He talking about there where He says,
"while you pray anoint with oil." Well we've talked about this before. Oil is simply a symbol of the Holy Spirit. That's all it is. Just like water in baptism
is a symbol of your death, and burial, and resurrection in Christ. Just like water in baptism,
oil in praying for healing, it's just a symbol of
your faith and trust. There is no healing
power in any kind of oil, so don't go writin' off for
some kind of special oil. You know, you could use Crisco,
or whatever, it's just oil, just like the water in a
baptistry is just normal water, but it's a symbol of your faith, that's what matters, that
symbol of your trust. Now, you don't have to be an
elder to pray for other people. There are many, many,
many other scriptures in the New Testament. Talk about praying for each other, praying for healing for each other, and we even anoint each other
in the name of the Lord. You know I talked to
our elders, last week, knowing that I was gonna
be teaching on this about planning a drive-thru
anointing service during COVID-19. So you look forward to
that, I'm hoping we can do that at every campus. Drive-thru anointing service. So stay tuned. But in the meantime, as your Pastor, I authorize all of you,
in your small groups, to pray for each other, to pray
for healing for each other, and to anoint each other
in the name of the Lord. Why? Because Jesus said this,
in John 14 verses 12 to 14. Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, "anyone who has faith in Me
will do what I've been doing." What was He doing? He was just, the verse right before that, He's talking about the
miracles that He'd done. All the miracles He'd done. And He says, then He
turns to His disciples, after talking about the miracles, and He says, "I tell you the
truth, anybody who has faith "in Me will do what I've been doing. "He will even do greater
miracles than these "because I'm going to the Father. "And I will do whatever
you ask, in My name." Here's prayer, "I'll do
whatever you ask in my name, "so that the Son may bring
glory to the Father." Wow. (chuckles) Now, I don't see many of
us doing greater works than Jesus Christ. How in the world are we gonna
do greater works than Jesus? Well, I'll tell you how. Because when Jesus was
here in His physical body, He could only be in one place at one time. So He could only heal one person here and then one person there. He couldn't be in China,
and in Europe, and an Africa at the same time. But now, the Body of Christ is
spread all around the world. We are the Body of Christ. And 2.3 billion people can
pray for healing for people at the same time, in every
continent, and every country, and every city, and every
state, and every province. So that's how we do the greater
works, together, together. We're not limited to one
body, the Body of Christ is now spread out all around the world. Finally, let's look at, real simply, how do I pray for healing? How do I pray for healing for myself? And for that matter, how do I
pray for healing for others? Did you know that God wants to make you to be a healing agent? Yeah, you, normal you, you
don't have to be an elder, God wants to use you to pray
for healing in people's lives. It's not that complicated. Just three things James teaches us. Number one, make sure my heart is clean from sin. Okay, that's the starting point. I can't have behold manta unconfessed sin, and then go out and pray for either myself or for somebody else at same time. That's why, in verse 16, He says this, "confess your faults to each other, "and pray for each other
that you may be healed." I said it last week, I've
said it thousands of times, revealing your feeling is
the beginning of healing. Confess your faults to each
other, clean out your life, take out the garbage, confess your sins, get
'em out, get rid of 'em. Now you're never gonna be perfect. You've heard me say before,
you will never be sinless, but it is possible to sin less. You're never gonna be
sinless, but you can sin less. And you can confess, and
be cleaned out inside, revealing your feeling, confess
your faults to each other, pray for each other that you
may be healed, that's step one. Step two, be specific when I ask. Be specific when I ask. Too many people are afraid
to put God in a box. And so they won't even ask,
specifically, for healing. They'll say, Lord be
with this sick person, and show 'em Your love, and
help them to know You're with 'em. And that's all fine and
good, but over 20 times in the New Testament,
we are commanded to ask. Ask, seek, knock. If you ask anything in
My name, I'll do it. And you need to be specific. James says in chapter four verse two, "you don't have because you don't ask." And I have been with many,
many people that said, pray for me, I'm sick. And I say, Lord, we just
ask you to be with him, to bless him. What's a blessing? How would you, if a blessing
hit you in the face, how would you know that it hit you? I mean, sometimes a
blessing is an illness. If you don't know that. Is that what you really praying? So, be specific, you don't
have because you're not. And I often say it like
this, God, You've told us, many times in Your word to ask, and You've told us to pray for healing. So I'm just obeying You. I'm asking for You to heal this person. Just heal him, okay, it's up to You. I can't control it, I
don't have any power in me. But You've told us to ask,
I'm asking You to heal him. I'm doing what You say
to do, keep Your promise. Keep Your word. Heal him. Okay, be specific when you ask. And number three, it's
real simple, ask in faith. Ask in faith, that's the
third thing James says to do. James chapter one verse
six, "when you ask, "you must believe and not doubt. "For the double minded man is
unstable in all of His ways." So, if you don't think God's gonna heal, if you don't believe, then don't even ask because you're just wasting your breath. But He says when you ask, you
must believe and not doubt. Why, because God has His
promises and His word. I'm trusting God for His Will to be done, but I'm gonna do what God says to do. I said, God, You've told us
to pray, You've told us ask, You've told us to pray for healing. I'm praying for healing, I'm asking. Now keep Your word. And then you just leave it up to God. I want to close, right
now, by praying for you. But in order for this to be effective, I would like for you to think of an area that you need healing in your life. Okay, and so you can be specific about it. Now I don't have to know it,
God knows it, and you know it, it doesn't matter to me
about, I don't have to know it to pray for you. So, but think about something, an area, do you need a relationship
that needs to be healed? Do you have a physical ailment
that needs to be healed? Do you have a mental illness
that needs to be healed? Well, we're gonna ask,
we're gonna pray right now. We're going to trust God in His word. We're gonna leave the results to Him, but we're gonna do what God says to do. And if He says to do it, then
we have to obey Him and do it. So I want you to think
of something in your life where you need healing. Financial healing. Or maybe from depression,
or from worry, from anxiety, or maybe you need a job,
maybe you're out of work. Whatever it is, I want
you to think about that, I'm gonna give you about 10
seconds here to think about it, and then I'm gonna close in prayer. All right, let's bow our heads. So just think of what
you want to ask God to be healed of. And it won't hurt for you to
share it with your small group and ask them to heal, or
pray for your healing too. That's powerful. But I'm gonna pray for
you, and you pray for you, and then you can get other
people to do that too. Lord, I don't know all of
the hundreds, even thousands, of issues that are gonna be
brought before you right now. You're not too busy. You can, Your circuits
don't get overloaded. You can handle billions,
billions of requests at the same time. And so, as each of us come
to You in our point of need, where we need, maybe, a
healing from bitterness. There are people here,
Lord, who need healing in their bodies, in their
organs, in their muscles, in their backs, in their
brains, in their bones, in their digestive system. There are people who need
physical healing right now. We're just doing what You say. You've told us to ask. You've told us to believe. You've told us to trust. So we're asking You to
keep Your word right now, and we come to You, not in
doubt, but in confidence that if we ask anything
according to Your Will, it will be done. We say like, Jesus, Lord, this is what we want. Nevertheless, thy will be done, not ours. But that's not a lack of
faith, our faith is in You. We want Your Will in our lives. And if that happens to be
this healing, so be it. May we not stand in the way
of the gift You want to give. Lord, there people here who've
never opened their lives to Jesus Christ. They've never received
healing for all of their sins. For all of their guilt, the
bad things in their lives. May they, right now,
receive Your salvation. If you've never asked Him to do that, say, Jesus Christ save me, forgive all my sins, accept me into Your family,
make me a new person. I want to be your child, I
want to be in your family. I want to learn to know You. Just say that, say,
Jesus, I want to believe in You today, and I want to trust You, and I'm asking You to save me. Father, whatever the
needs are, as the Pastor, a shepherd of this flock, I'm asking You to hear these prayers. And I pray that whether the
glory comes through us seeing a miracle, or whether the
glory comes through us being a witness of the right attitude, that either way You will get glory. We pray this in Your name, Amen. Now, if you invited Jesus
Christ in your life, I am so happy for you. Will you get out your phone right now, and I want you to text me, text to 99,000, the word, newstart, one word, newstart. If you don't have a
phone, you can email me, newstart@saddleback.com. I'll send you some
information to get started in your new Christian life. If you're not in a small group, we meet in small groups each week to join an online support group,
text small group to 99,000 or email, smallgroups@saddleback.com. And then we give our thanks
to God every week, saying, Lord, thank you for getting
us through another week by giving our tide and
our offering to God, and I hope you'll do that, that you'll give online
at Saddleback.com/give, we're feeding 10's of thousands of people and we're helping all
kinds of people during these difficult days of COVID-19. And by the way, if you'd
like to serve other people, which we have over 23,000
people serving right now on a regular basis to help with our First Aid for Families project, you can text to 99,000, the word, serve, and we'll get some information to you. I want you to know I'm praying for you. I have one word of caution,
the next two weeks before the election, is gonna
be the most divisive, controversial, conflicted time, probably we've had in a long time, and my prayer is that you'll
stay off of social media for two weeks. Just the Bible says in a
multitude of words, there is sin, that you're not gonna
change anybody's attitude and all you're gonna do is get upset. Just stay off of social
media for the next two weeks. That's my advice as your Pastor. God bless you, everybody,
I'll see you next weekend.
