The Prayer and Anointing for Healing

James chapter 5 contains what has become a very controversial passage about prayer and anointing for the healing of sickness. In verse 14, he says for those who are sick with a debilitating illness to call for the elders of the church that they might pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. The next verse says this: "And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up." Many will argue that this passage is figurative and that the reference to sickness and anointing are both spiritual applications and should not be taken literally. But since nothing else in this passage is figurative, and since there is an additional reference to being forgiven if he has committed sins, it is clear that the sickness is literal and the anointing with oil is literal as well. To pray for miraculous healing in this way is the clear intent of the author since he illustrates it with the example of Elijah praying for the miraculous intervention of God through the weather which was granted. Not every sick believer will be immediately healed, but I wonder how many miraculous blessings we have missed because we refuse to follow God's instructions in simple faith, trusting Him for the outcome.