Greek Word Study: James 5:14-17
14 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:
15 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.
16 Confess your faults one to another, that ye may be healed. The effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain…
sick: astheneo {asthenei} (as-ten-eh’-o) feeble in any sense
elders: presbutereros (pres-boo’-ter-os) elder
church: ekklasia (ek-klay-see’-ah) assembly or body of Christ
pray: prosechue (pros-yoo-kay’) intensely serious (proseuzasthosan-let them pray)
name: onoma, (onomati) (on’-om-ah) authority and character
prayer: euche ( yoo-kay’) petition
sick: kamno {kamnata} (kam’-no) exhausted
forgiven: aphiemi {aphethisetai} (af-ee’-ay-mee) to send forth, put away
(words in parenthesis are as seen in the original Greek textus receptus: Stephanus 1550, Elzevir 1624, Wordsworth 1870 etc)
When we were born in sin and continued to sin, we received death as a payment for our wages (Rom 6:23). In the Old testament the debt was paid with the blood of goats and calves (Heb 9:12). When Jesus came he bought us with the price (1 Cor 6:19,20) of his blood so that we would have direct access to a relationship with him. He broke down the middle wall of partition (Eph 2:14-16, 1 John 4:10) to reconcile us.
Forgiveness is to stop feeling angry or harsh towards someone for making a mistake, or error of judgement (Luke 17:3). We can only make a correct judgement when we have enough information from the right side. When we learn God didn’t come to condemn us but to love us (John 3:17,Rev 3:20), we ask him to forgive us and come in agreement with his word that he is faithful and just and desires to forgive, separating our sins as far as the east is from the west, not dealing with us after our sins and iniquities [mistakes and habits](Ps 103:12).
In the past, our own imagination mixed in with words from the devil, made us cowards in our relationship towards God, blinding us (2 Cor 4:4) from His light (John 9:5). Because Jesus has made an everlasting pathway (John 14:6) of intercession for us (Heb 7:25), this barrier is broken down.
The barriers (gates of hell) try to tell us we can’t go back to God, that we are guilty, and when we give him that access to us, he tries to make us recite to ourselves that we can’t live right, we can’t pray right, we wont ever do miracles for God’s kingdom, you’re not one of those people. He knows you cannot serve two masters (Matt 6:24) at the same time. If he can make you focus on his words (the things in life that are wrong) he causes you to forget (or forsake James 1:24) God’s words and steals your attention from the Lord (John 10:10), taking away precious moments of your life especially if he sees that you have a divine appointment (Dan 10:13). It is his desire to slowly devour (discourage, intimidate, torment, weaken) a soul (1 Pet 5:8) if one allows it (2 Cor 2:11,Heb 2:15). He has attempted to punish us when we made bad decisions from being in the flesh to make us have fear, worry or doubt about the future, instead of God’s promises for our future (Jer 29:11).
When we receive the Word of God, which our spirit always has a belief in, every time we hear his voice (recalled or meditated by ourself, a spoken or written word) this truth Makes us free (John 8:32,James 1:25). We are rescued (saved) from the unheavenly positions (prisons) of the enemy. The more Word we pour in our souls and position ourselves to hear higher levels of spirituality, the easier it becomes (Matt 11:30) to find our way back if we step away momentarily (John 10:9) and awake (resurrect) from our sleep (1 Cor 15:34) and break down the barrier.
When we break down our barrier(s) our obedience is fulfilled, and we are ready to avenge disobedience (2 Cor 10:6, Matt 7:5). Greater is He that is (lives more than visits) in you, then he that is in the world (pride and desires of the eyes and flesh 1 John 2:16). We take the keys (to unlock barriers of bondage) that Jesus gave us (Matt 16:19) to free others by using the power of the Word and the guiding of the Holy Spirit. This includes the manifestations of the Word of knowledge, wisdom and prophecy. We will line up with Gods word to pray for unsaved and tormented souls and take action with power.
