17 September 2023
Two-Minute Features | 24 September 2023 | 10 September 2023

The Prayer of the Elders for the Sick (TMF:2185)

Friday, September 22, 2023
Peace to Live By: The Prayer of the Elders for the Sick (TMF:2185) - Daniel Litton
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       But really, the people praying is anointing the person’s head with oil, as David talked about in Psalm 23 with God doing that for us. What a great blessing that is! But again, that’s not to say that afterwards the person shouldn’t been helping themselves to get better, doing anything they can depending on the specific situation. Sometimes not much can be done. But regardless, only depending upon the prayer and not helping ourselves I don’t think is the best course of action. I do believe that God helps those who help themselves. Why, didn’t you help yourself when you called upon the elders to pray? That was a first step that you took. Anyhow, the prayer that the elders offer up to God will indeed help the person who is sick. In the case of bodily sickness, granted, this may be in this life—that is, the person may recover. Or, that person may end up transcending—for James says, “the Lord will raise him up.” Since all that matters is God anyway, there’s no fear here. For the person who has Given Up Control, or surrendered, then whether they live or whether they die everything is fine.

Being Sick: The Lower Level Traits (TMF:2184)

Thursday, September 21, 2023
Peace to Live By: Being Sick: The Lower Level Traits (TMF:2184) - Daniel Litton
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       On the flip side, what are the negative character traits? Those are unhappiness, lowness, bitterness, hopelessness, anxiety, self-righteousness, aggravation, and wantingness. Hopefully, as we read over this second list, we don’t find that we closely identify with these characteristics. If so, no worries. We just need to look at where we ought to improve, to move up, and set our focus on those areas. But James’ model here is cheerful versus suffering. We see then the importance of prayer when we are at the lower end of the consciousness scale. Yes, indeed. And depending on what our suffering actually is, let’s say it’s hopelessness, then it might be appropriate to call for some of the elders at your church to pray over you. There’s nothing like a group of high ranking Christians praying for their follow person. I’m sure there are different ways to go about this. Email might be the easiest. I don’t think the people all have to be present together. If you take the anointing of the oil as literal, then perhaps you’ll want to do that.

Being Sick: The Higher Level Traits (TMF:2183)

Wednesday, September 20, 2023
Peace to Live By: Being Sick: The Higher Level Traits (TMF:2183) - Daniel Litton
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       We know because James goes on the say that the elders of a person’s church should be called to pray over them if they are suffering. This goes to show us that suffering is not be desired, then. It’s not our end goal. We don’t desire to suffer. I know, I shouldn’t have to say all that but I think that I do because unfortunately there are certain individuals who teach that suffering is good, and that it’s our goal to suffer. Note then, the contrast between the higher levels of consciousness versus the lower levels. Here are the character traits again: faith, easygoingness, acceptance, enjoyment, love, joy, peace, and patience. These are the upper attitudes that I have identified, and I’m sure, you could come up with similar or even additional positive character traits. So this is the picture of what we want to be like. On the flip side, what are the negative character traits? Those are unhappiness, lowness, bitterness, hopelessness, anxiety, self-righteousness, aggravation, and wantingness.

The Cheerful & The Suffering (TMF:2182)

Tuesday, September 19, 2023
Peace to Live By: The Cheerful & The Suffering (TMF:2182) - Daniel Litton
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       Next, now in verse 13, we read, “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” James kind of looks at both ends of the spectrum here in regard to our mental state, as Christians, where we stand in our pursuit of happiness. On the one hand, there is the person who is suffering. On the other hand, we have the person who is cheerful, who is happy. Notice, right off the bat, that what is our goal? What does James say our wish, our desire, is to be? Which person are we to be like? Well, obviously, the cheerful person. We know because James goes on the say that the elders of a person’s church should be called to pray over them if they are suffering. This goes to show us that suffering is not be desired, then. It’s not our end goal. We don’t desire to suffer.

Thinking Incorrectly About Things (TMF:2181)

Monday, September 18, 2023
Peace to Live By: Thinking Incorrectly About Things (TMF:2181) - Daniel Litton
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       It certainly is true that sometimes people will condemn us when we really haven’t done anything wrong. The lower a person is on the levels of consciousness the more they will be focused on themselves. In that case, if we do something like, say we decide to move to a different state, there may be a group of people that are upset with our decision. But that’s because they are focused only on themselves, and how the decision affects them, and not how it is good for the person actually moving. Sometimes our minds can play tricks on us and try to get us to think that God is mad at us when he really isn’t. This ‘personalization’ or ‘mind reading’ from David Burn’s Cognitive Distortions can really mess with our heads sometimes. I think that it must be the case that God is mad at me because I feel guilty. But the presence of guilt doesn’t always mean that we have done something wrong. It may be that we just ‘think’ we have done something wrong and really haven’t. When we assume we know what God is thinking that can get us into trouble with ourselves.