In the later parts of the 1800’s, I think it is safe to say that some of the medical practices of the day were rather…questionable, to say the least. At that time it was believed that a certain liquid would be an excellent replacement for human blood. Do you know what it was? Milk. Yes, milk. The thinking was that because of the natural oils that are present in milk that it would turn into white blood cells, and while there are apparently a small amount of successful produres, a very large amount of procedures resulted in the death of the patient.
Probably one of the most well known medieval and even colonial medical practices is the practice of bloodletting. At that time it was believed that bloodletting was a treatment for an entire host of ailments, all the way from something as simple as a sore throat to the plague. According to reports, George Washington, the first President of the United States, was riding his horse on a cold and snowy day around his estate of Mount Vernon. It is said that because he wanted to be on time for dinner, he chose to remain in his wet clothing until his arrival back home. Later that night he awoke feeling very sick, and had difficulty even breathing or talking, and asked to have some of his blood bled. For the next 8 hours he was bled over several bloodlettings, losing an estimated 40% of his blood. Whether or not this practice was the eventual cause of his death is unknown, but the theory of bloodletting as a medical practice has been largely discredited today.
But throughout the centuries, and through all of the “miracle elixirs,” medication and processes that have been used to combat sickness and disease, there is a method that unfortunately not enough people take advantage of. The power of faith and prayer.
James 5:13-15 “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
Is any sick among you? 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 shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.”
Did you see the cure for illness? The cure is prayer and faith! Not some kind of sketchy medicine which may or may not have several negative side effects. Not some kind of odd method it procedure. Prayer. And. Faith.
Prayer and faith are indeed very powerful things, things that not everyone seems to remember to turn to when they are feeling ill or “under the weather.” But there was a woman in the Bible who finally realized that the cure to her disease wasn’t found in doctors or medicine, but in something far greater.
Mark 5:22-34 “And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,
And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.
And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.
And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”
For twelve years this woman tried to find a cure for her sickness. Twelve years of going from physician to physician, pretty much at their mercy of whatever they did to her, but she didn’t get any better. Not only didn’t she get any better, but she spent everything that she had, only to get even worse! That’s like buying a pair of winter boots because you only have socks on, and they take your money and the very socks right of your feet and leave you with nothing! But this woman had heard about Jesus and the amazing miracles that He was performing, and in her heart she knew that He could heal her. She knew they His power was so great that she would only need to touch just the clothes of the Lord and that she would be healed. What stuff the Lord say was the reason that she was healed. Her faith.
I feel that this is a passage of Scripture that many people read, but don’t actually let sink in deep into their hearts. They don’t really have faith enough to believe in the Word of God when it says whatever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive (Matthew 21:22). All things are possible to those who believe. Do you forget that it was through Elijah’s prayer that a child was brought back to life?
1 Kings 17:17-24 “And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.
And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?
And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.
And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?
And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again.
And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.
And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.”
This child’s soul had left his body! But what did Elijah do? He prayed! He had belief in his God that He could bring that young child back to life, and He did! No doctors involved, no medication needed! Just a faith-filled prayer.
How about one more example before we go?
Acts 28:7-9 “In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius; who received us, and lodged us three days courteously.
And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him.
So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island, came, and were healed:”
How was it that this man and all of the other people afflicted with sickness were healed? Was it through a milk blood transfusion? Was it through draining the blood out of your body?
No. They were healed because of prayer and faith. Never forget that.
In Christ,
Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 