The Bible says that faith comes by the word of God (Romans 10:17), and not so much by prayer. When the disciples petitioned Jesus and said, “Increase our faith,” Jesus did not pray for them to receive more faith or impart more faith to them by some other operation, but he taught them about faith instead. He said that if they had faith as small as a seed, they could command a tree to be uprooted and be planted in the sea, and it would obey them (Luke 17:6).

By the way, this is both difficult and unnatural. It is difficult because of the extensive root system of this kind of tree, and it is unnatural because the command calls for it to be planted in the sea. Jesus was the most extreme teacher of faith, much more extreme than any teacher today who has been called a heretic. His promise went far beyond the restoration of natural order, such as the healing of a body. He promised a fantastic, unnecessary, and outright freakish miracle, and he promised it to “small” faith.

James said that we should not only say to someone, “Be warm and filled,” when we can give that person something. Likewise, we should not pray for someone to have faith when the Bible says that faith comes from the word of God, and we have the word of God. Give that person the word of God. Teach him. You can pray that he will have a spirit of wisdom and revelation to grow in the knowledge of God and to grasp the blessing of redemption (Ephesians 1:17). Then he will increase in faith.

It seems absurd for a person to pray for himself to increase in faith, because the Bible says that if you do not have faith, do not expect to receive anything from God (James 1:6-7). So on what basis would you receive faith this way, if you need faith in the first place? That said, I would not nitpick too much about this. I would not forbid someone to pray for faith if he understands that this would only be an indirect way of praying for things that actually produce faith, such as knowledge of the word of God. But then why would the person do it? Why not pray in line with what the Bible says about how faith comes? Yet I will not condemn him for this. My main concern is to call attention to the fact that the Bible itself says that faith comes from the word of God, and not just by asking for it. When a person prays for faith, he tends to neglect this fact.

Faith is confidence in what God has said. It involves conscious agreement. To increase in faith, learn the word of God, and think about it day and night. Speak it to yourself, over and over again. Then put action to it and do what it says. God’s word must totally replace what you think. It must become what you think. It must become your identity. It must become YOU. Your beliefs and opinions must become the same as what God says. When someone asks you what God says about healing and what you think about healing, he should receive the same answer from you. What does faith say? “The word of God is near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart” (Romans 10:8).

You can appear entirely sound in doctrine, but as long as it is only God’s opinion, and as long as you refer to it with nothing more than reverent detachment, you will not partake of its promises. It would all be the gospel — for someone else. You can appear totally right just by repeating what God says, but as long as it is only what he thinks and not what you think, then it only means that God is right, and not that you are right. God gave Abraham his name. After that, Abraham did not keep saying, “God says I am Abraham,” but “I am Abraham.” And he was. God called him a father of nations, and so he considered himself a father of nations, and introduced himself as a father of nations.

Related to this topic is that people tend to pray too soon, and too much, but neglect the word of God. It is often more effective to give someone the word of God on healing than to immediately pray for him to receive healing. Prayer has become a religious reaction, even a spiritual excuse. People just pray, pray, pray, pray, and nothing happens, and then they blame it on the “will of God.” If this is what they do, it is better not to pray, but first look to the word of God.

In fact, many people receive healing without prayer when they learn that God says that they can be healed, that healing belongs to them, that sickness is satanic oppression, and that Jesus took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses. But very few people receive healing by just praying, and praying, and praying, all the while believing that it is still up to some unknown “will of God” regardless of what the Bible says. If you want to know the will of God, look to the word of God, and not to your condition or outcome. Walk by faith, not by sight.

As for James 5:14-16, the passage instructs the sick person to request healing. Keep in mind that even those who had the least faith in those days likely still had much more faith than people nowadays. They had a supernatural worldview that modern Christians reject. To confine the biblical worldview to the pages of the book is also to reject it, because the book itself asserts that it is for all of reality and history. Thus a person who requested healing at that time likely had much more faith than many of those who request healing today. Therefore, we must put teaching first, and not prayer, which is not prayer at all when it is done without faith. Pray when you are ready. Pray when you have faith.

In some circles, James 5 is considered instructions for baby Christians, because any Christian who knows his rights in Christ should not need someone else to pray for his healing. I would not belittle someone who requests healing on the basis of this passage, and a Christian might need assistance if he suddenly deteriorates. We are here for one another, and he should not hesitate to ask for help. But I understand the point, and it is not wrong. James 5 is only one way to receive healing. What will the person do if he is at a place where elders are not available? Redemption is not bound to locations. God is not only the God of the hills or the valleys, but of all creation. And what if all the elders reject what the Bible says on healing, as is very likely the case today? Who are the elders themselves supposed to call when they need healing? What if I have faith to receive directly from God right now? Why should I need to wait?

Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man. A person can read God’s promise and receive salvation by himself, and when he sins afterward he should not need a preacher to guide him through every prayer for forgiveness. In the same way, a person can also read God’s promise and receive healing by himself. Calling for help is an option, not a requirement. I have never requested prayer for healing. I would do it if I ever need to, but I have never needed it. I have always received by my own faith. For me, it is much easier and faster, and I would not need to endure people whose idea of ministry is to gossip, patronize, and pontificate, but who cannot pray with an ounce of faith. A Christian should eventually grow in the word of God enough so that he could help the elders pray for the sick instead of needing the elders to pray for him.

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