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 5:14-15 NLT

Faith and obedience are intertwined throughout the pages of Scripture. God commanded Noah to build an ark because a great flood was coming. Noah had faith that God's word was true and obediently built it. Gideon was told that his small army of 32,000 was too big and saw it reduced to only 300 men. With lamps and trumpets and a great amount of faith the small band shouted in obedience and a great victory was won.

Great faith often begins with a simple act of obedience. The logical conclusion of James in the above passage is that if you are sick you should be obedient and pray for healing. There is no miracle in the form or length of the prayer or what particular type of oil is used. The miracle working power is found in obediently acting out what you believe by faith. Also, notice that there are spiritual ramifications to this obedience as well, forgiveness of sins. Taking God at His word has been a proven formula for success for thousands of years.

This past Wednesday some of you were able to see God work in the immediate moment and receive the glory that He deserves. Those kind of testimonies should become normal among God's people. He will do things well in His time and in His way. It is up to us to have faith in Him and prove it through obedience.

Pastor David

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