Stop Praying for the Sick

I was reading this passage today, and something jumped out and hit me:

"When the days drew near for him [Jesus] to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" But he turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village." Luke 9:51-56

There's something very interesting about the nature of authority in this passage. Read the disciples' question again, "Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?"

This occurs soon after Jesus gave the apostles "power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases" in Luke 9:1, and then sent them out to "proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal" Luke 9:2. In his commissioning speech, Jesus tells them "Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgement for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town [any town that rejects their message]" Matt 10:15. And what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah? Consumed with fire.

So, a little sanctified imagination here: the apostles have been with Jesus from near the beginning. They have now seen Jesus heal the sick, cast demons out of folks, curse fig trees, calm storms and raise the dead. Often times he performed these awesome miracles with simple commands, "Child, arise" Luke 8:54, "Peace! Be still" Mark 4:39, "Stretch out your hand" Luke 6:10, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again" Mark 11:14, "Be opened!" Mark 7:34, and "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!" Mark 5:8.

The disciples have seen the power of God in Jesus Christ. They have witnessed his authority. They were there for the miracles of their Rabbi - the one whom they longed to be like. And then the day comes: Jesus gives them authority and power and turns'm loose. What do you think happened the first time they encountered a blind man in a village? What do you think they said? How do you think they went about healing him? How do you think they prayed? Could you even call it prayer?

Now, back to our original passage:

"Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?"

Now, let me ask you: where in the world did James and John get the idea they could tell fire to come down from heaven and consume a village? It's clear that they got the idea that rejection of their message was punishable by fire from Jesus in Matt 10:15. But where did they get the idea they themselves could just, well, tell fire come down and consume a village? I mean, these guys didn't have any intention to ask God to send the fire down. They weren't going to ask Jesus to do it for them, either. And they certainly weren't going to ask the fire itself if it would come down. No, they were going to tell it to come down themselves.

Do you see it now? What do you think that would have sounded like? Maybe something like, "Fire, come down here and consume these people!" Look, I know Jesus rebuked them for their attitudes here. I'm not condoning any kind of destructive behavior by any means. Rather, I want you to learn something very important about our authority.

You don't have to pray. You don't have to ask God to do it. Jesus didn't, and it's clear that the disciples didn't either. Jesus didn't tell his disciples to go out and pray for the sick. He told them to go heal the sick. There's a difference.

This might seem like a little thing, but it's not. Prayer involves communication. It's a two-way street. Healing the sick doesn't. The only communication involved is a horizontal communication: you telling the sickness to get lost. It's a resident authority based on your relationship with Jesus Christ.

So, what's the point? The point is: You don't have to pray to God and ask him to heal the sick, because he's given you authority to do it yourself! What an exciting privilege we have! God has given us everything we need to co-labor with him and build the Kingdom!

Praise the Lord!