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Counsels for the Church
Him only a partial, halfhearted obedience, His promises will not be
fulfilled to us.
In the word of God we have instruction relative to special prayer
for the recovery of the sick. But the offering of such prayer is a
most solemn act, and should not be entered upon without careful
consideration. In many cases of prayer for the healing of the sick, that
which is called faith is nothing less than presumption.
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Many persons bring disease upon themselves by their self-
indulgence. They have not lived in accordance with natural law or the
principles of strict purity. Others have disregarded the laws of health in
their habits of eating and drinking, dressing, or working. Often some
form of vice is the cause of feebleness of mind or body. Should these
persons gain the blessing of health, many of them would continue to
pursue the same course of heedless transgression of God’s natural and
spiritual laws, reasoning that if God heals them in answer to prayer,
they are at liberty to continue their unhealthful practices and to indulge
perverted appetite without restraint. If God were to work a miracle in
restoring these persons to health, He would be encouraging sin.
It is labor lost to teach people to look to God as a healer of their in-
firmities, unless they are taught also to lay aside unhealthful practices.
In order to receive His blessing in answer to prayer, they must cease
to do evil and learn to do well. Their surroundings must be sanitary,
their habits of life correct. They must live in harmony with the law of
God, both natural and spiritual.
To those who desire prayer for their restoration to health, it should
be made plain that the violation of God’s law, either natural or spiritual,
is sin, and that in order for them to receive His blessing, sin must be
confessed and forsaken.
The Scripture bids us, “Confess your faults one to another, and
pray one for another, that ye may be healed.”
James 5:16
. To the one
asking for prayer, let thoughts like these be presented: “We cannot
read the heart, or know the secrets of your life. These are known
only to yourself and to God. If you repent of your sins, it is your
duty to make confession of them.” Sin of a private character is to be
confessed to Christ, the only mediator between God and man. For
“if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous.”
1 John 2:1
. Every sin is an offense against God and is
to be confessed to Him through Christ. Every open sin should be as