Confess Sins – Pray for One Another
James 5:14-16 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 offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
I want to pass on a couple of thoughts about the words in bold.
Sin can have a role in sickness. When we get sick possibly the first thing we should ask of the Lord, “Is there any sin involved in this sickness?” And then Listen. Confession of sin to God and one another is the pathway to victory for sin. I John 1:9
Lingering sin hinders fellowship and our prayers. So it makes sense that we should confess any sin (just as soon as we are aware of it) as a part of our praying.
Another thought from the verse is ‘pray for one another so that you may be healed’. I get the idea from this that if I have a need, I should think of someone else with a similar need and fervently pray for them. It is in praying for another that my own need is met.
This is one of those powerful ‘one another’ principles in scripture.
This is a difficult passage Lauris. I know God heals, that we are to pray for healing and restoration but God sometimes doesn’t physically heal the person despite having elders pray and anoint them. He didn’t restore Butchto this life. I believe he was healed when God took him home.
I know, dear friend. My brother was believing God for healing in this life on the day God welcomed him Home. I agree, God had a much more complete and longer lasting healing for them. Our sadness here is only for each other as we miss our loved ones, but we also rejoice together because we have the assurance we’ll see them again very soon never to be parted again.