Devotional Guide, Today’s Reading – Saturday October 8, 2022

Theme: THE SAVING AND HEALING POWER OF GOD ALMIGHTY

Text: “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing  psalms. Is any sick among you? 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:  And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” – James 5:13-16.

Comment: As long as they are in this evil world, worshippers of God would be sick of one thing or the other from time to time. They are enjoined in the Scriptures, as in the citation for today, to pray for Him to heal them or guide them to the right medication for their ailments. There are however conditions where medicines are of no avail, in which case people have to pray God to cure them in His due time. Without strong faith however, such prayer will be of no avail. See Hebrews 11:6; Matthew 21:21, 22. For one’s prayers to be heard however, one must avoid sin in all forms. – Psalm 66:18.

 

The Lord Jesus Christ sternly rebuked his disciples, calling them a “faithless generation” when they could not heal a boy possessed by a demon. (Mark 9:19) In explaining the son’s travails, the father pleaded with the Saviour: “but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.” It was then the Saviour told him: “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” Desperate for help the man “cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief”. (Mark 9:23, 24) With these words of faith, the boy was made whole.

 

The devil is even more active in this age than at any other period of human history. Faith is therefore vital for us to be freed from the devil’s afflictions.  See Acts 26:18.