St James amplifies this assertion with further instructions: the sick man should summon the elders of the congregation to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. He also enjoins his flock to confess their sins to one another, and pray for one another, and then they will be healed (Jas. 5.14-16). In these brief instructions the basis of the ministry of healing is expounded. The essential requirement is an openness to the action of the Holy Spirit. The three obstacles in the way are a lack of faith in God's healing power, a sense of guilt that makes one feel too unworthy to be healed, and a deeper fear of being healed, possibly because of an unconscious resistance to the demands and responsibilities of everyday living.

Prayer, the ascent of the mind to God in aware receptivity, always works to the extent that the divine presence is known. As Jesus teaches us, "Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened" (Matt. 7.7). The emphatic nature of Jesus' teaching on the answer to prayer makes one think about his own prayer in Gethsemane: he asked his Father that, if possible, the cup of suffering might be taken away, but nevertheless he submitted his will to that of the Father (Luke 22.41-2). Since Jesus' work was to save, or heal, humanity by assuming its sins and bringing them to God as a free offering, he himself had to share fully in the pain and degradation of humanity at its lowest ebb. "Christ was innocent of sin, and yet for our sake God made him one with the sinfulness of men" (2 Cor. 5.21). Although Jesus' prayer for relief was not answered, he had the power within, that of the Holy Spirit, to survive the onslaught of immense cosmic evil. This power was the outcome of an intense prayer life in the period before the passion and crucifixion.

This is our paradigm of prayer for healing also. Through the example of Jesus and his presence with us when we call upon him in faith, we shall likewise receive the strength to cope with our malady. Cure is what we understandably crave, but what God wants is a total healing, so that we may manifest something of the divine image in which we were fashioned. The living example of this image is Christ himself, who is the same yesterday, today and for ever (Heb. 13.8). As this passage goes on to warn us, we should not be swept off our course by all sorts of outlandish teachings. These at their very least divert our gaze from the one from whom all true healing comes, Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Therefore in our own sickness, whether of body, mind or soul, let us first of all own up to our past faults, both to ourselves and to those around us whom we may have offended. In the primitive Christian community of St James' time there was such loving trust that each member could confess without embarrassment to the other; but we, alas; in our secular society, have to be more circumspect in revealing our confidences. Nevertheless, confession is a very important part of healing: confession both to God and to those we have hurt. Then we can be fully open to the intercessions of those who care for us, inasmuch as the emotional block of guilt is removed. The emotional release also stimulates our will to get better, because the prospect of health becomes increasingly attractive. In this way our responsiveness to God's love as manifested in the prayer of our friends, increases still further.

Finally, there is the matter of anointing with oil that has been consecrated. This reminds us that the common articles of daily usage, such as oil, water, bread and wine, receive something of God's blessing when they are dedicated to his use in humble service to our fellow creatures. There is love, as it were concentrated, in such material. The inherent holiness of matter is fully revealed.

May I so pass through my own valley of darkness, Lord, that when I emerge healed on the other side, I can give of myself freely and with understanding to all those in the throes of suffering. May my witness be a source of encouragement to the bereaved, the harassed and the outcast.