The answer
The Prayer of the "Unction of the Sick " known by the name "The Lamp Prayer" is essentially, and above all, a prayer on behalf of the sick, and their anointing with oil, but it also has many benefits.
1. It is an opportunity for meeting together in the home, and of blessing the home by prayer, and of raising up incense. It is a chance for the Father Priest to visit and read the Absolution, and pray for all those in the home. All these
benefits are in any case irrespective of the kind of prayer that is said and its purpose.
2. The Prayer of the "Unction of the Sick" includes many other prayers, such as the Lord's Prayer, the Thanksgiving, the Trisagion and the Kyries, along with a number of other prayers asking for God's mercy, all of which are beneficial.
3. The Prayer of the "Unction of the Sick " comprises all the main intercessions which are offered to God with the raising of the incense, including those for the sick and the departed for the travellers and for those who are awaiting baptism and confirmation, as well as prayers for the Church, for its meetings, for those who offer its sacrifices, and the heads of state etc. So everyone who attends this finds his situation is included in it somewhere.
4. The Prayer of the "Unction of the Sick" also contains prayers calling for individual repentance and asking for God's mercies. And we ask Him to accept us just as He accepted the woman who was a sinner, and Zacchaeus the tax collector, and to pardon us just as He forgave the debtor. Anyone, even if he is in perfect health, will undoubtedly benefit from these humbling, contrite prayers, and will be led to repentance through them, if he follows them with an open heart.
5. It also includes the reading of at least seven chapters from the gospels, chosen for their particular wisdom. And simply listening to the Bible being read aloud in the home a number of times is something beneficial.
6. Let us not forget the holy rituals in these prayers, like the incense and the candles, the oil and the hymn, all of which are of great benefit, even to children who might not understand them all , and they make everyone feel that the home has become a part of the Church.
7. Because of this, we feel that it is right to continue this custom of saying the Prayer of the "Unction of the Sick" in people's homes, even if there is no-one there who is ill, for anyone of us might have a hidden illness which we don't know about, and there are always psychological and spiritual imbalances which we might have but may not recognise.
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Thrice-Blessed Pope Shenouda III of Blessed Memory