LEARNING DAILY

 

James 5:16, Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

 

There is a reason for confession. It isolates the wrong behavior and recognizes it as sin. Until the sin is confessed, it cannot be forgiven (David Jeremiah). I doubt many of us confess our sinful behavior to others – too much pride is involved and no one wants others to know that they sin. Sin must be confessed to our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. He sits at the side of the Father as our Advocate, our defense attorney, who reminds Him that we have believed in Him and our sins have been forgiven. We must confess sin when it is committed. He knows we will not live our lives sinless because we are human. Lack of confession blocks the healing power of God. James is encouraging all believers to express their needs and dependence upon God through prayer. In previous verses, James has emphasized responding to troubles by praying to God, responding to good things by praise and worship, and calling for the elders of the church to pray for us when sick or in need.

 

I have written the last part of James 5:16 in bold print to emphasize what I believe to be another promise from God in His Word. What is fervent prayer? May I suggest that it is setting ourselves apart from all others, shutting ourselves up with God until He brings peace to the need we have come to Him with. May I ask when was the last time you spent all night in prayer crying out to the Lord, “wrestling” with Him for healing, wisdom, revelation, deliverance, purity, or to be Christlike in your behavior, thought life or anything else? There is no condemnation in that question. When I point the finger at anyone, I have four pointing back at myself!

 

Pastor Ed Newton has stated several times lately that “Everyone wants the anointing but not the brokenness that comes first”.  David Wilkerson has written, “People want prosperity and security, the blessings, but are not willing to take a stand [for Christ]”. What are they saying that must be taken away from this page of the blog? My interpretation is true Believers must seek God in earnest in order to see what God has for them. God wants each of us to take the necessary time, earnestly seeking Him because he loves us so much. Understand the power of prayer! Go back and read James and see he is emphasizing that the earnest, forceful, heartfelt prayer will produce great results. This does not require any of us be super great Christians; each of us must know that prayer is important to God. He hears us when we pray; I wonder what he does when we go to Him in earnest prayer, determined not to leave His presence until that need is met. Prayer must become a priority in our lives! The prayer, the earnest, forceful prayer of a righteous person (one who is walking the narrow way in faith and being led by the Holy Spirit) is powerful and effective.

 

Let me give you an example. A former student was being led to start a church. He was not sure what God’s will was regarding this. He was leading a group of 50 or so in Bible study every week. I kept telling him that he already had a church. But he took the time to get alone with God to fast and pray until God gave him clarity about what he was to do. He started the church. The first Sunday over 200 people showed up. Several years later the church is debt free, and the church attendance has caused him to go to two services. Blessing upon blessing has occurred because he earnestly sought God and continues to do so.

 

What would the Church be like today if we confessed our sins, our needs to one another? What would the Chrich be like if each of us would earnestly seek God first and His righteousness? What if we would stand on the Word of God as David Wilkerson suggests and earnestly seek God as James suggest? Do you remember the page of the blog that spoke to asking, seeking, and knocking? God’s Word all works together, doesn’t it?!