Sick? Call the Elders, Pt. 2

September 23rd, 2026
by Lance Waldie

James 5:14-15a …call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; 15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up…

In the context of a spiritually weak believer who is tormented by sin and-or the harsh trials of life, unable to go it alone and in need of prayer, James exhorts them to “call for the elders of the church.” Notably, it isn’t the elders who are to seek out the sick; it is the sick who are to seek out the elders “to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”

What is assumed here is that the weak Christian in need of prayer is actually a part of a local church, not one who calls themselves a Christian yet who fails to attend church and has no elders who pray regularly for him or her. “He must call for” (Gr. proskalesasthō) is a Greek aorist imperative which not speaks of urgency, it means that the weak person is to do the calling, not the elders. This implies that the person in need has recognized his or her weakness, confessed and repented of sins, and is prepped and ready for the aid that only the church elders can provide.

What the elders are called to do is pray “over” a weak Christian— “over” meaning “in proximity to”—beside, next to, etc. Now since nowhere else in the NT are church elders expected and called to “pray over” a weak person, it is likely that this action is the same as laying hands on the person while they pray for them as Jesus did in Matthew 19:13. In other words, this kind of prayer is done in person, not from a distance.

While praying for the weak believer, the elders are to be “anointing” (Gr. aleiphō) him with oil. This is a participle modifying the main verb “to pray over” (Gr. proseuchomai), also an aorist imperative of urgency. Although prayer by the elders is the main verb, “anointing” is the accompanying action, being subordinate to prayer. Since the Greek term for “anoint” (aleipsantes) means to “rub with oil,” not chriō which is used for ceremonial anointing, rubbing is in view. This aleipsantes is also used for the woman who “poured” perfume on Jesus’ feet (Luke 7:38, 46) and for Simon who failed to “put oil” on Jesus’ head (Luke 7:46; cf. Matt. 6:17). James thus wants the elders, after being sought by the weakened believer, to refresh their subject by literally anointing them with oil while praying over them. Oil being a common source of refreshment in Israel’s hot, dry climate, it appears that the elders’ prayer “in the Lord’s name”—the name of Jesus, was accompanied by physical anointing for refreshment (cf. Pss. 23:5; 45:7). Thus, the elders had to be present for such prayer since physical anointing requires such.

Having firmly established that prayer accompanied by doubt is sinful (1:6), it seems evident why a repentant sinner would call for the elders to pray over them in the first place, for in their weakened condition, the believer doubts! But having recognized such weakness, the believer calls for the strong (elders), and he makes a wonderful claim: the prayer of faith from the faithful elders “will restore the one who is sick” (v. 15); it will revive the weak, doubting Christian. Astoundingly James does not say, “It might restore,” or “Perhaps God will show mercy”; he says “the prayer offered in faith will restore the sick, and the Lord will raise him up.” Such a guarantee means that James is not talking about physical illness but spiritual weakness.

Food For Thought
Even Paul’s prayer that he prayed three times for physical healing was denied by God, for there are times when God strengthens our weaknesses by keeping us weak (cf. 2 Cor. 12:7-9). Also, in 2 Timothy 4:20, Paul had to leave his sick friend Trophimus behind in spite of the fact that he possessed the gift of healing, being an apostle. Perhaps this means that God is not as interested in our physical comforts as He is our spiritual healing and well-being.