Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.  James 5:16

I don’t want to rip this verse out of the context of the scenario that we discussed yesterday- the confession of and prayer for the sick who is being disciplined by God.  Today’s verse does have an application for us today.

James tells us to confess our faults or sins to one another.  If we were open and honest about our sin rather than hiding our sin our sin wouldn’t grow.  Sin that is covered up gets bigger and bigger and takes more and more to cover up.  What’s interesting about this scenario is that the person is sick because of the chastening of God.  If this man would have practiced the discipline of confession, he may not have gotten to the place where God had to discipline him with this sickness.

James also says to pray one for another.  In fact, he says that the energetic, passionate prayers of godly men have the power to accomplish much.  I know it seems like a “no-brainer” that we should pray for each other, but how much do we really do that?  Do you pray for other people on a daily basis?  Are your prayers just about you or are they about others?

Application:  2 Words of application:  1. Confess- to God and others. 2. Pray- for others.Which of these do you need to do today?